When people are making funeral arrangements at funeral homes in the area of Everson, WA they often find themselves overwhelmed with the process and wondering how to navigate it successfully. This guide will help.
The first thing you will need to do when your loved one dies is to make the official announcement of their death to close friends and family members. As much as is possible, it’s best to communicate this with a phone call.
If you have other immediate family members with you when your loved one dies, divide up the responsibilities so you do not personally have to make all the phone calls yourself. This is a time when, even if you expected your loved one’s death, you are still processing yourself. You will not feel like talking a lot, nor will you want to have long conversations with a lot of people.
If time differences or other factors prohibit notifying someone by phone, send an email to them to let them know your loved one has died. There may be rare cases where you might send a text message, but, in general, phone calls and individual emails are the best way to notify the closest people to your loved one.
Do not make the official announcement on social media. It may take a while before everyone who needs to know about your loved one’s death gets the notification, and it can be quite a shock (as well as seemingly disrespectful) for them to first hear about it on social media.
The next step to making funeral arrangements is to get together all the documentation you will need to take to the funeral home. These include your loved one’s birth certificate, Social Security card, marriage certificate, divorce decree (if applicable), and Form DD-214 (military discharge orders, if your loved one was a military veteran, and you want a military funeral).
If your loved one specified whether they wanted to be cremated or buried, the next step will be easy. If they did not, then you will need to decide on cremation or burial.
If your loved one will be cremated, you will need to decide what you want to do with their cremation remains. If your loved one will be buried, you will need to decide where they will be buried.
The next step is to decide on the type of service you want for your loved one, if they did not leave instructions for the service they wanted. There are several different kinds and formats of services that you can have to honor your loved one’s memory.
The funeral director can help you with the various options and with planning the details of whatever type of service you choose. The funeral director will make sure that no aspect of the service is left out, so you can trust them to make sure the service goes perfectly.
You will also need to have an obituary for your loved one. If your loved one wrote their own obituary or you and your family compose an obituary for them, you can bring that to the funeral home with you.
If you do not have an obituary written, the funeral director will get the details to compose one for you. You can also include a picture of your loved one. You can choose either a current picture of them or a picture from when they were younger. Bring the picture to the funeral home, and the funeral director will make sure that it gets included in the obituary.
For additional information about making funeral arrangements at funeral homes in Everson, WA, our compassionate and experienced team at Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory – Greenacres Memorial Park is here to help.