What Goes in Funeral

Created by IronClad Family Support, Modified on Tue, Jul 28 at 11:12 AM by IronClad Family Support

Families make these decisions in about forty-eight hours — grieving, exhausted, often disagreeing, and usually spending more than they meant to. Anything you record here takes that weight off them at the worst possible moment. Even a few lines helps.

Three subcategories live under Funeral. Funeral instructions cover the service; burial plots cover where you'll be laid to rest.

New to how the forms work — required fields, attachments, the wizard-or-fill-it-in choice? Start with Understanding the Forms, and see the full how-to in Create and Maintain a Funeral Plan.

Funeral instructions

The service itself. None of these require a final answer today — a partly filled plan is still a plan.

What kind of service would you like? (required) — traditional burial service, cremation, memorial / celebration of life, green (natural) burial, donation to science, no service
Funeral home or provider — if you have one in mind
Have you prepaid any of this? — fully, partly, no, not sure
Prepaid plan / policy number
Who should lead the service? — clergy, celebrant, family, none
Songs, readings, or rituals you'd want included
Who should make these arrangements?
Anything else your family should know

The prepaid field prevents paying twice: prepaid funeral plans are regularly paid for a second time, because the family never knew one existed. If you've arranged anything — even partly — say so here and record the plan number. It's one of the most concretely money-saving things in your entire vault.

Naming who makes the arrangements ends the most common conflict: without one person clearly responsible, grieving families can split over who decides. This isn't a judgment on anyone else — it's clarity about who has the final say, so the people you love aren't arguing on the hardest day of their year.

Burial plots

Where you'll be laid to rest, and any plot you or your family already own.

How would you like to be laid to rest? (required) — burial, cremation, entombment (mausoleum), scattering, other
Cemetery or location — and for scattering, the place that matters
Plot or niche number — if you already own one
Who holds the plot deed?
Headstone or marker wishes — inscription, style, material
Is this prepaid?
Who should handle this?
Any other instructions

The plot deed is a classic lost asset: family plots bought decades ago are the ones everyone knows exist and nobody can locate the paperwork for. Record the cemetery, the plot number, and who holds the deed — otherwise your family may pay for a new plot while owning one already, or lose access to a space meant to keep them together.

One thing about timing

Funeral decisions happen in the first two or three days — often before a vault set to release on death has actually reached anyone. If your funeral wishes only arrive after the arrangements are already made, they can't do their job.

Two ways to solve it: assign these records to an emergency vault set to release on request, or use the preview link to share them with your spouse or the person you've named now. The full reasoning is in Create and Maintain a Funeral Plan.

What Goes in Funeral

Funeral instructions

Burial plots

One thing about timing

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