How to Pre-Plan Your Funeral: Benefits, Options, and What to Watch Out For

June 10, 2026·5 min read·FinalKeepSake

Funeral pre-planning is one of the most considerate things you can do for your family. The decisions that need to be made within 72 hours of a death — under grief, under time pressure, often under significant disagreement — are decisions you can take off their plate entirely. Here's how to do it right.

Start With a Written Statement of Wishes

Even if you do nothing else, write down your wishes and store them somewhere your executor and family can find. This doesn't require a legal document or a funeral home contract — a simple written document that covers:

Burial or cremation preference
What you want done with your remains
The type of service (or no service) you'd prefer
Music, readings, or other preferences
Any specific wishes about who speaks or what is said
Where to find relevant documents (life insurance, burial plot deed, pre-need contract)

This document is NOT a legal will and does not bind your family — but it gives them a clear guide and removes the guesswork.

Researching Funeral Homes in Advance

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, funeral homes are required to provide itemized price lists over the phone or in person upon request. You can call multiple funeral homes in your area, get their General Price Lists, and compare costs without any commitment. This research alone can save your family thousands of dollars and hours of work.

Pre-Funding: The Benefits and the Risks

Pre-funding locks in prices and ensures your arrangements are paid for before you die. The main benefits: price protection against inflation and full payment handled. The main risks:

Funeral home closure or sale — regulations vary by state; verify how your state protects pre-need funds
Portability — if you relocate, transferring the contract may involve costs or complications
Your wishes may change — especially for long-lived arrangements, what you want at 60 may not be what you want at 85

If you pre-fund, use an irrevocable funeral trust rather than leaving funds directly with the funeral home, and choose a well-established, independently owned funeral home.

Tell Someone Where Everything Is

A pre-plan does no good if your family doesn't know it exists. At minimum, tell your executor where your written wishes are stored. Better: use a digital legacy platform or secure document storage that your family can access when needed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is funeral pre-planning and why should you do it?

Funeral pre-planning (also called "pre-need" planning) is the process of making decisions about your own funeral and burial in advance — before death — rather than leaving those decisions to your grieving family. Pre-planning ranges from simply recording your wishes and preferences (a "pre-need statement" or end-of-life instructions document) to entering a formal contract with a funeral home that locks in prices and pre-funds the arrangements. The benefits of funeral pre-planning: (1) You make the decisions rather than your family — the death of a loved one is one of the most emotionally overwhelming experiences a family faces; funeral decisions need to be made quickly (typically within 24–72 hours), under acute grief, under significant sales pressure, and often with family disagreements. Pre-planning removes this burden; (2) You can express your own wishes — burial vs. cremation, the type of service, the music, readings, and tone; the casket or urn style; the cemetery or scattering location; without your input, your family guesses; (3) Price protection — if you fund your pre-arrangements, many funeral homes offer price protection so that the funeral you've selected will be provided at today's prices regardless of when you die; this hedges against funeral cost inflation; (4) Potential Medicaid planning benefit — in some states, a pre-funded funeral arrangement (irrevocable funeral trust) is exempt from Medicaid spend-down requirements, allowing assets to be protected while preserving Medicaid eligibility.

What is the difference between pre-planning and pre-funding a funeral?

These two concepts are often confused but are meaningfully different: (1) Pre-planning (without funding) — you record your wishes, preferences, and instructions for your funeral; you may complete a statement of funeral wishes, discuss your preferences with family, or even select a specific funeral home and discuss arrangements without entering a financial contract. This costs nothing and provides the communication benefit without any financial commitment; (2) Pre-funding (prepaying) — you enter a contract with a funeral home, select specific services and merchandise (casket, vault, services), and pay for them in advance. The money is typically held in a state-regulated trust or used to purchase a life insurance policy assigned to the funeral home. The funeral home agrees to provide the specified services when you die, typically at the pre-contracted price. The risks of pre-funding: (a) Funeral home bankruptcy or closure — your money may be at risk if the funeral home goes out of business, even with state trust regulations; the level of protection varies by state; (b) Lack of portability — if you move to another city or state, transferring a pre-paid funeral contract can be complicated and sometimes involves losses; (c) Irrevocability — some pre-need contracts are irrevocable, meaning you cannot cancel them and get your money back; this is sometimes a feature (for Medicaid planning purposes) but is a risk if your wishes change. You can get most of the benefit of pre-planning (communicating your wishes, relieving family burden) without the financial risk of pre-funding.

What decisions should you make in a funeral pre-plan?

A comprehensive funeral pre-plan covers: (1) Disposition method — burial (ground, mausoleum, or green burial) vs. cremation vs. other emerging options (aquamation, composting); (2) Location — if burial, the cemetery and section; if cremation, what happens to the ashes (kept, scattered, interred, made into memorial objects); (3) Type of service — traditional funeral service (with or without viewing/visitation), memorial service, celebration of life, graveside service only, or no service; (4) Religious and cultural elements — if applicable, the denomination and any specific rituals, prayers, or clergy preferences; (5) Readings, music, and eulogists — specific pieces you want played, poems or scripture you want read, and any people you want to speak; (6) Body preparation — if burial, embalming vs. unembalmed (for green burial); casket selection; viewing preferences; (7) Flowers and memorials — your preferences about flowers, charitable contributions in lieu of flowers, or other memorial expressions; (8) Practical matters — obituary wishes, pallbearers, reception or gathering preferences; (9) Pre-selecting a funeral home — you can research and select a funeral home in advance, even if you don't pre-fund. Record all of this in writing, store it somewhere your executor and family can find it, and tell at least one person where it is.

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