FUNERAL DIRECTIONS - IN YOUR WILL?

Your will is not the place for funeral directions; it just will not do. Often, by the time your will is located, your funeral will have already been carried out.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote a four-page letter of instructions - he simply wanted to be buried in a plain pine box, with no grave liner. He did not want any extensive proceedings when he died.

Unfortunately, by the time his instructions were found - in his safe - FDR had been buried with all the pomp and circumstance of a state funeral. He would have viewed all of this with grave misgivings, because he did not dig fancy formal funerals.

Incidentally, did you know that, in his estate plan, Franklin provided that his great and good friend was to be provided for out of his wife's share of his estate? This caused a great deal of discussion when it was discovered after his death, but, of course, it all passed over his head.

If there is a pre-need funeral services contract with a funeral establishment, that will govern, even over the wishes of next of kin, unless a judge orders to the contrary. If there is no pre-need funeral services contract, the wishes of the decedent, which have been set forth in any written document signed by the deceased person in the presence of a witness, shall govern.

If you do not make any arrangements beforehand, and if there is nothing in writing to show what you want to happen, your spouse, your surviving children, your surviving parents, or your siblings, in that order, have the right to make funeral arrangements. If you do not have a pre-need funeral contract, we suggest that you set forth your wishes in writing, have someone (not necessarily a notary public) witness your signature, and distribute copies to family members, your lawyer, and a close friend.

If you are going to sign a pre-need, pre-paid funeral services contract, read it carefully. Does the contract, for example, provide that if you move to a retirement community, and are buried there, the contract benefits may be transferred? Let us have a look at the proposed contract before you sign it.

We will be discussing funeral arrangements in detail in the next edition of our Trust and Wills Bulletin. If you would like a copy, please call Susan Vetterlein at 508-771-3132.