When a person dies, someone has to make the funeral arrangements. Sometimes the decedent will name this person in his or her will along with instructions on how he or she wants to be interred. What happens when there is no will or directive, though? Here is how to determine who has the legal right to make decisions about a decedent’s funeral arrangements and what to do if there is a dispute.…
Read More »For many decades, obituaries were composed with the intention of being placed in a newspaper that would have a limited run of a day. They were not written with the intention of being available for other people to see forever online. The modern obituary needs to be written by a loved one who is aware that readers may be strangers who come across it years from now. With that in mind, there are things that you should never include in an online obituary, even as a joke.…
Read More »Leave something behind to honor your loved one when visiting their resting place. There are some signs of significance that you can leave at a grave or interment site that pays homage to the deceased, and that has an underlying meaning. Some memorials for your loved one’s resting place are: A cairn. After flowers, stones and rocks are the most popular items left on gravesites. This stems from Jewish tradition and leaving rocks behind on graves is believed to help keep the soul down after burial.…
Read More »Planning a funeral can mean more than selecting the prayers and hymns, inviting a minister to lead the service, and selecting a casket for your loved one. There are many ways you can cherish your loved one’s memory during the funeral and after. Here are just a few unique ways you can add a personal touch to your loved one’s funeral while honoring his or her legacy. Create A Family Cookbook…
Read More »When you are faced with the death of a loved one, the pain can be overwhelming, and it can seem unfair that this is the time when you are called to make a variety of decisions about the person’s burial, headstone marker, and funeral. Memorial grave markers can seem like the most intimidating part of the process, since you know that this will be a visible, permanent way of memorializing the deceased person.…
Read More »The opening remarks of a funeral set the tone for the entire memorial service. They can soothe at least a bit of the pain of fellow mourners and draw people’s attention towards the celebration of a life well lived. Here are some of the essential things that you should include within the opening remarks of the funeral. Consider Prioritizing the Feelings of Mourners It is said that people never forget how you make them feel even after the other details of a memory fade.…
Read More »After someone passes away, you may come face to face with some bad memories of them. Nobody wants to think negatively about the deceased, but that can be inevitable. Whether the bad memories were caused by your loved one a bystander, these bad memories can quickly lead to resentment. In grief counseling, you can deal with the trauma. Nothing is off-limits. You can even delve into dealing with trauma from early childhood.…
Read More »Funeral planning can be stressful for some. Not because planning a funeral is especially difficult, but because the circumstances surrounding a funeral can be difficult. Not only is the family in mourning, but they also have to take care of a major event. This is why pre-planning a funeral is a great idea if possible. However, if you can’t pre-plan, there are still many things you can do to simplify the process.…
Read More »Making or pre-planning funeral arrangements are not as difficult as you might think. However, if you are planning some type of above-ground “burial,” such as a mausoleum, you need to plan far in advance. This is because you need to give the cemetery time to build the mausoleum. If you also plan to have a private family mausoleum rather than be entombed in a community mausoleum with dozens of people who are not family, then you need to get started sooner rather than later.…
Read More »When someone you know dies, you should do all that you can to rearrange your schedule so that you can attend the visitation or funeral—or, ideally, both. In some situations, however, you won’t be able to visit the funeral home for these events. Perhaps you’re away on business or have scheduled a vacation for which you’ve already paid a deposit. It’s not the end of the world if you have a legitimate reason that you can’t make it to the funeral home, but there are some steps that you should take to show the grieving family members that your thoughts are with them as they mourn.…
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