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You may have questions about the benefits of preplanning. In addition to saving your family the difficult task of deciding what kind of funeral or cremation arrangements you want, you also spare them from the financial responsibility when you prepay.

Preplanning can be accomplished on a few different levels. If you are like most people, you may have mentioned in passing what kind of arrangements you want, or at the very least, whether you prefer cremation or burial. One step further would be to choose a funeral home and make your own arrangements, including signing authorization forms that will eventually give the funeral home the ability to follow through with your wishes.

You may even choose to prepay for your arrangements. This can be done in one lump sum payment, or monthly over a 3, 5 or 10 year period of time. The money is placed in an interest-bearing life insurance policy to compensate for inflation over time.

To ensure that your wishes are followed you may consider designating someone to be your agent in an Advance Health Directive (Power of Attorney for Health Care). This person can then have the final authority on any funeral arrangements you choose.

For estate matters, it is advisable to create a will, a living trust (to keep your estate out of probate), and a general power of attorney to appoint someone to handle your financial matters after your death.