Few tasks are more onerous that choosing a funeral home. The circumstances almost automatically dictate that it won’t be an easy thing to do, especially if the death involved is unexpected and you have to deal with extra stress.

Thankfully, there is a process to follow, and its simpler than you might think. A lot of it has to do with managing the circumstances and the situation as a whole, so if you follow the right steps to do that the choice will become much simpler and you’ll wind up with an excellent choice.

The first step is to get your family members and come up with a basic budget. If you’ve done some planning this may be a matter of confirming a consensus, but if you haven’t some tough discussions may be involved.

The next step is to to go over your funeral rights. Most of these are fairly basic—get price information via the phone and a written estimate, make a choice about embalming and a casket if you’ve selected a traditional funeral home, and make sure you’re not being sold add-ons you don’t want.

Priorities are important as well. Do you want a funeral home that’s conveniently located? Have recommendations from friends or other family members? Do you need any kind of special arrangements?

You need to envision the event and proceed accordingly, sticking to both your budget and your needs.

There also details that need to be managed. You may want to donate the body to a medical school to allow research purposes, and you may be able to save your budget by choosing options for direct cremation or direct burial. It may also be possible to hold the funeral service at home, and a so-called “green” burial in a shroud or simple casket may suit your needs as well.

Be sure to write down these decisions in as much detail as you need. That way you can go back to them if changes become necessary, and this will help keep track of final pricing, too.

One other thing you may want to do is confirm whatever pricing you select. There are several ways to do this. Your local Funeral Consumers Alliance is a good start—they’ll usually have a complete survey of prices where you live, and they may list a funeral home that lines up well with your needs.

Another way to price check into look online through funeral home listings to find good choices like Aaron cremation. This will often give you a minimal idea of what different services cost, and this in turn will help get the ideal funeral and service to give you peace of mind and meet your needs.… Read the rest