Rest in peace knowing your family won’t have to guess about your final wishes.

 

Through the centuries, there have been many burial traditions that we consider very strange now.  Mummification? A burning raft pushed out to sea?  Who knows what future generations may do. Today, you have some quite amazing choices when it comes to your remains. 

If you decide to go the traditional route, a funeral home can guide you through choices which may include being interred in your local cemetery, in-ground burial in a vault, in-ground crypt or mausoleum, above-ground lawn crypt, private mausoleum for burial or cremation with room for your entire family, public community mausoleum above ground for burial, or cremation remains. 

You could choose a natural burial, with your remains placed directly into the ground in a biodegradable casket and allowed to decompose, or a green burial, with your body buried into ground with no pesticide traces and no other bodies in caskets or that have been treated with embalming fluids. 

“Leave the earth, better” is the motto of betterplaceforests.com where they will mix your cremains with soil and place beneath a private tree in a peaceful forest. Your friends and family can gather at “your” tree for a personalized memorial service. This service is available now in California and Arizona but the movement and options are growing.

If you are to be cremated and you want your ashes to be scattered, be sure to check your state and local laws before you make those plans.  You might consider contacting the Neptune Society, which can help with pre-arrangement plans and a burial at sea, with or without military honors.  According to the Neptune Society, 39% of the U.S. population chooses cremation over traditional funerals.

Eternalreefs.com offers a living legacy. Your cremains will be mixed with environmentally safe materials to create an artificial reef, then placed in the ocean where reefs need restoration and your remains will become a part of undersea habitat.  

Freeze drying isn’t just for veggies anymore.  In promession, a body is immersed in liquid nitrogen, then vibrated to shake it apart, and the liquids are allowed to evaporate.  These freeze dried remains are then buried.

With any of the options you may consider, pricing can vary greatly, so do your homework.

When you use Will and a Way, you can rest assured that your family will know your wishes. You’ll spare them a lot of tough decision-making at a difficult time. They will certainly appreciate the thought and trouble you have gone to in planning and documenting your own final wishes. Do it your way! Your friends and family will be forever grateful.

 

Of course, these plans are only useful if your executor knows where to find them; be sure you leave clear instructions for him or her about accessing your information at Will and A Way, as well as the location of your paper documents.

Life is uncertain. Gain a little peace of mind with Will and a Way.

Information shared here is not to be taken as legal or financial advice. Suggestions and resources are presented for your consideration and may or may not apply to your personal situation. Please consult your advisers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Information shared here is not to be taken as legal or financial advice. Suggestions and resources are presented for your consideration and may or may not apply to your personal situation. Please consult your advisers.