How to Plan a Funeral Step by Step

Funeral Planning Checklist

When you’re overcome with grief, every task seems overwhelming. To ease your strain, we’ve compiled this list to walk you through planning a funeral, step-by-step. We’ve also created a checklist that you can download for free to keep track of where you are in the process so you’ll be well prepared.

Contact the deceased's legal representative

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When you contact the legal representative of the deceased, you will learn whether he or she has a prearranged funeral plan. If a plan exists, it will give direction on how to proceed with funeral arrangements.

Select a funeral home

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If the deceased didn’t have a Preneed Funeral insurance policy, select a funeral home, and schedule time with a funeral director. A funeral director helps families plan and carry out funeral services.

Choose a form of disposition

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Disposition is the manner that human remains are handled, such as burial or cremation. You'll also need to decide whether other preparations of the deceased are needed, such as embalming or type of cremation.

Choose a service type

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Types of services include:

Religious funeral service: A funeral typically held at a religious place of worship and involves prayers and rituals from the deceased’s religious background.
Military funeral service: A funeral service that can happen at the deceased family’s request if the deceased was a part of a military organization, and it sometimes involves an honor guard participating in the funeral service.
Fraternal funeral service: A funeral that incorporates aspects from the deceased’s fraternal involvement.

Choose a location for the funeral service

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You may hold the service at a religious location, like a church, or you may select a place that held special meaning for the deceased.

Find and schedule a clergy member or officiant

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Clergy are ordained with a religious organization or church and perform pastoral services, while an officiant has no religious ties but is able to lead funerals.

Select a casket

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If burial was chosen, select a casket, which is a specially made box used to contain a deceased person’s body, and decide whether it will be open or closed at the funeral.

Select a burial container and/or vault

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A burial container or vault is typically made of concrete and encloses a coffin to assist in preventing it from sinking.

Select accessories

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Choose clothing, jewelry, and glasses for the deceased.

Choose final touches

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Discuss cosmetology and hairdressing for the deceased with the funeral director.

Select a cremation container

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If cremation was chosen, select an urn or niche space and a cremation container.

Arrange a cemetery plot

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Find the cemetery deed or proof of ownership. A cemetery deed is a document that proves someone owns a grave and has the right to be buried in it in the event of their death.
If the deceased hasn’t purchased a plot, you will need to secure interment space and get an exact location of burial disposition. An interment space is where an urn or casket is buried in a cemetery.

Make grave arrangements

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Arrange for opening and closing of the grave at the cemetery.

Secure endowment care

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Endowment care is the general maintenance of an individual’s gravesite in a cemetery.

Arrange the graveside committal service

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This service is a funeral ceremony held at the gravesite at a cemetery.

Reserve the cemetery chapel

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Secure use of the cemetery chapel for committal prayers, which are said at the graveside committal service, if applicable.

Choose a grave marker

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Better known as a gravestone, a marker is placed over the grave to mark where the deceased was placed.

Arrange the visitation

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Choose a time and place for the visitation service, which is a time when the family of the deceased makes itself available to friends and extended family members who want to express their sympathy.

Prepare the obituary

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Provide information about deceased to the newspaper to have an obituary created. An obituary is an article that announces a person has died and offers detailed biographical information.

Select speakers

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Decide who will deliver the eulogy, which is a speech or piece of writing that praises the life of a deceased person.

Select scriptures and/or readings for the service

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Choose text that has special meaning to the deceased or tells a story about him or her.

Gather items for a memento display or memorial board

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It’s an opportunity to display personal possessions or photographs of the deceased to show others a glimpse of his or her life.

Choose forms of media

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Decide on memorial video production, pictures, music, etc.

Choose charities

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Select charitable contributions for memorials in memory of the deceased, if desired.

Purchase register book

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If you want to collect more than guests' signatures, you may also use memorial prayer cards, if desired.

Select pallbearers

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Family or friends can assist in carrying the coffin at a funeral.

Select music

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Schedule instrumentalists and vocalists and choose music.

Arrange flowers

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Find a florist, select floral arrangements, and designate transportation to funeral service.

Arrange transportation

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Arrange a hearse to transport the body of the deceased from the funeral service to the cemetery.
Arrange a car to transport close family members from the funeral, to the cemetery, and to the post-funeral reception.
Arrange transportation and lodging for out-of-town guests.

Organize reception

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Select a location for the post-funeral reception.
Contact the church or a caterer to arrange food for the post-funeral reception.

How to Plan a Funeral Step-by-Step

Funeral Planning Checklist

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Prepaid Funeral Plans

Whole life insurance

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How to Plan a Funeral Step-by-Step

Funeral Planning Checklist

Get an insurance quote now on favorable terms

Term Life Insurance

Prepaid Funeral Plans

Whole life insurance

Wills starting at $0