Most of us don't want to think about what happens after death. But with how expensive funerals can be, it's not a bad idea to partially plan your funeral in advance so that your family won't have such a big burden. If you do decide to prearrange your funeral, don't forget these four essential steps.

Get An Insurance Policy

The most important step you can take to relieve stress on your family after your death is an insurance policy designed to cover the cost of your funeral. And the sooner you act, the better a deal you'll be able to get with the insurance company.

Before signing anything, make sure that the policy will pay out immediately after your death without hassle. You certainly don't want your funeral to get delayed unnecessarily because of some arbitrary restriction in the contract.

Choose A Casket

Since it's such a large expense, families often have a hard time choosing what casket to use for a funeral. While some may want to pay a lot for something ornate and expensive, others will say that elaborate boxes are a waste of money.

Luckily, it's easy to choose what particular make and model of casket you want and prevent debates of this sort. Choosing a casket beforehand will both streamline the funeral process and dramatically reduce the stress of planners.

Get A Cost Estimate For Everything Besides The Casket

You won't know whether your insurance policy actually covers the kind of funeral you want until you specifically plan out everything beyond the casket. Even just a brief consultation with the church and funeral home, like Parsippany Funeral Home Inc, you choose will allow you to greatly narrow down your price estimate.

Planning costs in advance is also a great way to ensure that your family doesn't overpay for services after your death. In the haste of trying to get everything done quickly, no one will be efficient as you at keeping costs as low as possible.

Choose How You'll Be Buried

Just like with caskets, your family will be torn over what kind of gravestone to buy. Additionally, choosing a gravestone in advance allows it to be carved exactly how you want.

And of course, if you want to be cremated instead of buried, it's important to make your intentions clear. Cremation may be significantly cheaper than burial, but since it's a relatively less common route to take, most family members won't advocate for it by themselves.

Once you get started, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to prearrange your funeral. Just a little effort and money now will save a large amount of stress and financial hardship for your family in the future.