Why It Is Best To Make Final Arrangements As Part Of Your Estate Plan

An estate plan should be comprehensive. You can use your estate plan to make provisions for your minor children, your property and assets, and your end-of-life care. It is also a best practice to include instructions for your final arrangements as part of your estate plan. At Fisher Law LLC, we help people and families find peace through planning. Within this blog post, our Boston estate planning lawyer explains what final arrangements are and why they are so important.

What are Final Arrangements? 

Broadly defined, final arrangements are plans that are made for handling one’s non-legal and non-financial affairs after their death. Along with other things, final arrangements typically include decisions related to all or any of the following:

• Funeral services;
• Burial or cremation; and
• Any specific wishes regarding the disposition of their remains.

Notably, these arrangements are often detailed in a will. Though, in some cases, a separate document is also used. Final arrangements can also encompass instructions for memorial services, donations in lieu of flowers, and other personal touches that reflect the deceased’s preferences.

Why Include Final Arrangements in Your Estate Plan 

Are you developing an estate plan in Massachusetts? Here are two key reasons why you should include final arrangements:

1. Retain Control: To start, making financial arrangements allows you to retain control over the end-of-life processes, ensuring that your personal preferences for burial, cremation, and memorial services are respected.
2. Reduce Stress: Another advantage is that pre-planning final arrangements dramatically reduces the stress on your loved ones during a time of mourning. They are spared the burden of making tough decisions while dealing with their grief. 

Three Tips for Making Final Arrangements in Massachusetts 

How do you make final arrangements? As a best practice in Massachusetts, you should generally use your will or include an addendum to your will. Your final arrangements should:

1. Provide Instructions: Clearly document all your final wishes in a legally recognized format, such as a will or a specific funeral planning declaration. Massachusetts law will respect these directives.
2. Be Clear: Ambiguity can lead to disputes or misinterpretations of your wishes among family members. Use explicit language to detail your desires for your funeral, burial, or cremation. You may also want to address smaller details—music, readings, etc—that you want included in any funeral/celebration of life ceremony.
3. Consider Funding: According to data from Get Sure, the average cost of a funeral in Massachusetts is more than $7,000. By providing funding for your funeral and burial, you can take pressure off of your family.

Set Up Your Boston, MA Estate Planning Attorney Today

At Fisher Law LLC, our Boston estate planning attorney provides solutions-focused guidance and support to clients. If you have any specific questions or concerns about making final arrangements as part of an estate plan, please do not hesitate to contact our firm today. Our firm provides estate planning representation throughout the Greater Boston area.

Source:

getsure.org/average-funeral-cost-massachusetts/