WHY PLAN AHEAD?
Why Should I Plan Ahead?
Not everyone likes to plan ahead, but pre-planning your funeral arrangements not only gives you peace of mind about your final wishes being honored but alleviates some of the stress and burden your loved ones are going through as they experience the grief associated with the loss.
The staff of Sunset Memorial Gardens
is happy to assist you with your funeral pre-need by helping you make decisions about your funeral service in advance and guiding you in helping eliminate some of the unnecessary stress brought on by a loved one’s death.
Benefits of Preplanning
Planning Ahead Lets You Decide How You'd Like To Be Remembered
Creating your own unique life celebration allows you to make sure that your wishes and desires are respected upon your passing. In addition to the plans for your final arrangements, there are also legal forms that you can execute to ensure your wishes are not changed. These, if utilized, should be on file with your chosen funeral home. While we do not provide legal counsel, we can share the proper forms and help you learn the options available to you.
However you decide to be memorialized, simply or with all the traditional elements, pre-planning and preparation gives you control over the personal decisions that must be made when a person moves on from this life. Planning can be meaningful for your family, as well, if you choose to include them in the process. It can help them to feel connected to you both in life and in death, knowing that your arrangements reflect exactly what you envisioned them to be. Again, it's all up to you when you plan in advance.
It Takes The Pressure Off Of Your Family
When a loved one passes, the family faces a huge number of tasks and decisions that must be dealt with immediately. This all happens as they are struggling through grief and a range of difficult emotions. By taking care of your arrangements before the time of need, you’re relieving them of many of the most difficult and personal decisions; giving them more time and energy to focus on supporting each other. They won’t have to ask themselves, “Am I making the right choices?” and can instead focus on what matters: saying goodbye and celebrating your life - just as you wished - with those who cared about you most.
It Gives You The Option To Pre-Pay, But Only If You Wish
While pre-funding your final arrangements is certainly not required in order to pre-plan, pre-payment means that your funds will be set aside and protected against inflation and unforeseen increases in cost. You can stop the out of pocket increases at today's pricing, leaving more for your family. They won’t have to worry about payment of the guaranteed services and merchandise, and can have peace of mind knowing that everything is handled. Our Family Service Counselors would be glad to provide you with more information and help you understand the payment options available. It's totally up to you.
However, Please Know This
Making your plans known and putting them on file with your chosen funeral home is equally as valuable whether you pre-pay or you do not. The decision-making that the family is spared is a tremendous gift; so time spent planning is never wasted. In fact, it can be argued that while simply having money set aside but without making the decisions and leaving a plan for your family to follow is certainly a help...it still leaves the most emotional aspects undone. It is also a fact that planning and making the choices ahead of time more often saves a family from emotional over-spending in a time of extreme emotion. The plans you make are truly the greatest gift you will leave with regards to pre-arranging.
