If you want to be comprehensively prepared, you may want to consider all of the finer details when you are devising your estate plan. It is possible to address important elements in advance, including your final arrangements, as this can ease the burden on your family.
Personal Decision
Do you want to be cremated or buried? Is there a certain type of memorial service that you would prefer? Do you have a particular member of the clergy in mind?
These are personal questions, and you can answer them yourself instead of leaving everything up to your loved ones. After your passing, your loved ones will be handling their own emotions. It can be difficult to make decisions when you are grieving.
Plus, everyone in the family may not be on the same page. Your son may assume that you want to be buried. Your daughter may believe that you would prefer to be cremated based on a conversation you had with her. Disagreements can arise, and this can cause hard feelings at the worst possible time.
There is another facet that you should take into consideration, and it can be a touchy subject for others to address on your behalf. Let’s say that you do in fact want to be buried. Do you want an expensive high-end casket and tombstone, or will something that is more modest suffice?
You can rest assured that there are funeral directors that leverage this equation, so you may want to empathize with the family members that will be making the decisions.
Letter of Last Instruction
If you can see the wisdom in expressing your wishes in advance, you can record them a letter of last instruction. This is not a legally binding document. The letter is used to share practical information with your executor or trustee. It can also provide clarification for your entire family.
You can explain exactly how you want your final affairs to be handled when you are creating this letter, but that is just part of the purpose. The administrator will need to know the location of documents, keys, access codes, and login information for your online accounts.
Your letter of last instruction can address all of these details. It can also provide necessary information, like names and telephone numbers for people that should be notified about your passing.
Planning Your Own Funeral
The letter can be used to explain how you want to be laid to rest. You can also work directly with a funeral home of your choice to plan and pay for your funeral in advance.
In this manner, you will make your own choices, and you can explain them to your family members. When the time comes, they will make a call to the funeral home and your personal vision for your final arrangements will be actualized.
Download Our Estate Planning Worksheet
After speaking with countless clients over the years, we have an understanding of the information that they are typically lacking. As a response, we have developed an estate planning worksheet that you can go through to gain a more complete understanding of the process.
This resource is free, so you should definitely take advantage of the opportunity to build on your knowledge. You can visit our worksheet download page to access your copy.
Need Help Now?
If you have already determined that it is time for you to work with an Oklahoma City estate planning lawyer to put a plan in place, you are making the ideal connection. Every situation is different, so personalized attention is the key to a properly constructed plan.
This is exactly what you will receive when you choose our firm, and we will always be available to make revisions if and when they become necessary. You can send us a message to request a consultation appointment, and we can be reached by phone at 405-843-6100.
Since founding Parman & Easterday in 1985, Larry has led over 1,000 free, community-service education programs and helped more than 10,000 Oklahoma families go from putting off their estate plan to getting it done. His goal for every client is the same: to become the person their family calls "the one who took care of everything."
Larry is the author of three books: The Straight Shooter's Guide to Estate Planning; Estate Planning Basics; and Guiding Those Left Behind in Oklahoma. He served as Oklahoma's Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce, and his firm is the only member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys in the state.
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