Why preplan?
Helping your loved ones
A meaningful farewell helps your family grieve
Your farewell
A funeral director can assist
My Life, My Farewell preplan booklet
Prepay towards your funeral
Why preplan?
The death of someone close can bring great sadness and often emotional turmoil and stress. Your loved ones have a lot to deal with and organise, and many decisions to make.
Helping your loved ones
Increasingly, people are planning their own farewells, mainly to lessen the responsibilities for the family.
Thinking about your own farewell is difficult for some people but, as funeral directors will tell you, it is not unusual for the grieving family to be unaware of the deceased’s final wishes. Families want to do the best they can to honour your life, and it can be overwhelming to make all the necessary decisions at such a difficult time.
A meaningful farewell helps your family grieve
Being able to gather, remember and celebrate a person’s life allows your loved ones to say goodbye in a meaningful way. Creating a funeral event allows them to begin the journey of saying goodbye.
The funeral service gives them a chance to share their feelings while being supported by family, friends, and others in the community who have known you. It is also an opportunity to celebrate your life, and to share memories: the good times, the funny moments, favourite music, unique contributions made, and to hear tributes and stories from people of all ages.
These elements combine to help your loved ones accept the new reality and be reassured of the support around them going forward.
Your farewell
While there is no right or wrong way to have a funeral, most of us have a view on what we like, but many of us have yet to express this to our family.
Planning elements of your own farewell provides the opportunity to make clear your personal preferences. Perhaps there are things you don’t want at your farewell, or you may have strong feelings about burial and cremation or where you would like your final resting place to be.
Expressing these views will help your family know they are making the right decisions on your behalf.
A funeral director can assist
Your funeral director will be pleased to help you plan your final farewell without any obligation. This can also ensure your wishes are on record.
My Life, My Farewell
The ‘My Life, My Farewell’ booklet has been developed through the wide collective experience of members of the Funeral Directors’ Association of New Zealand.
This booklet guides you through arrangements for your final farewell. By planning ahead, you are thoughtfully relieving your family of some of the tasks they will need to do.
The booklet enables you to:
- Record your personal information as required by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Having these details pre-filled will be a great help to those finalising your funeral arrangements.
- Record the details of those who should be notified of your death - friends, clubs, associations, service providers, professionals etc.
- Record your preferences for your funeral arrangements, including things you might not want. There are prompts to assist you and there is space at the end for any other special instructions you may have.
You can download this booklet here or contact your local funeral director for a hard copy.
