If you have ever had to make final arrangements after the death of a loved one, you know how challenging the process can be—especially if you were uncertain about your loved one’s wishes or if relatives disagreed about what to do. If you want to spare your own family members similar difficulties, you can plan ahead for your funeral and burial, as well as appointing someone to make any necessary decisions in the event of your death.

While it can be difficult to think about these details, planning ahead not only lifts a burden off the shoulders of your family members but also ensures that your wishes are more likely to be honored. Here’s what you need to know about legal planning for your funeral and burial in Michigan.

Understanding Your Funeral and Burial Options

The first step is, of course, to decide what you want. Do you want to be buried or cremated, or to donate your body to science? Do you prefer a funeral service in your religious tradition, or a secular memorial or celebration of life?

It’s a mistake to believe that your family will understand and carry out your wishes, especially if you have not explicitly discussed them. This is especially true if you and family members have different spiritual beliefs or lifestyles. Once you have clarified your wishes, you must communicate them to the person you want to carry out those wishes.

Many people assume that the place to communicate funeral and burial wishes is in their will, but in reality, family members may not find or consult a will until after a funeral. A better option is to create a separate written document that clearly identifies the person you want to place in charge of your funeral and disposition, the authority they have, and your preferences.

The Michigan Funeral Representative Act allows you to legally designate someone to make decisions about your funeral arrangements and how your physical remains will be disposed of. Designating a funeral representative is a wise choice. It allows you to put your wishes in writing so that your wishes are known and followed. And it is also helpful if you believe that family members might otherwise be in conflict over your arrangements.

What Can a Funeral Representative Decide?

Your funeral representative has the right and power to make decisions about your funeral arrangements and the handling, disposition, and if necessary, disinterment of your body after your death. That includes the decision of whether to have you cremated, and the right to retrieve your cremated remains following your cremation.

How Does Designation of a Funeral Representative Work?

You must be over 18 and of sound mind at the time you designate a funeral representative, and you can appoint any adult over the age of 18 who is of sound mind to serve, with some limitations. For instance, people who work for, run, or own a funeral establishment or other businesses that will provide services for you cannot act as your funeral representative.

The designation must be in writing, dated, and signed voluntarily by you (the declarant). You must also either sign the designation in the presence of two witnesses (neither of whom can be your chosen representative), or acknowledge the designation before a notary public. This is a document that is best prepared by an estate planning attorney.

Pre-Planning Your Funeral

Michigan, like other states, allows pre-need planning for funerals and the disposition of remains. You can contract with a licensed funeral home for your choice of disposition (burial, cremation, or green/natural burial if available) and service type (traditional funeral, memorial service, or direct burial or cremation without a service).

Your pre-need planning can also include the purchase of a casket and vault or an urn, planning for transportation in a hearse, selection of flowers and music, and other details. You can pay for your pre-planning in full at the time you plan, through funds held in trust, or perhaps through a payment plan.

Michigan law requires funeral homes to honor prepaid contracts, so make sure your contract is itemized and signed. There is another advantage to prepaid contracts: pre-paying for your funeral can help you qualify for Medicaid if you need benefits to help pay for long-term care. You are only allowed to have a certain amount of assets to be eligible for Medicaid, but some assets, like an irrevocable pre-need contract, are considered exempt—they don’t count against you.

Should You Pre-Plan Your Funeral or Appoint a Funeral Representative?

There are benefits to pre-planning your funeral and also having a funeral representative. A prepaid contract obligates the funeral home to carry out the wishes you have expressed and paid for, ensuring that your wishes are honored. It also reduces the stress of making those arrangements on your grieving loved ones.

Designating a funeral representative makes it clear who is to interact with the funeral home, and allows someone you trust to make other important decisions about your funeral, such as who will give eulogies or serve as pallbearers—details your pre-need contract may not address.

Of course, it is critical that you communicate in advance with your designated funeral representative. Give them copies of any prepaid contracts as well as your funeral representative designation form. Your estate planning attorney can ensure that your designation clearly communicates your wishes and is properly executed so it will be valid when the time comes.

Work with an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney

Your estate planning attorney can help ensure not only that your funeral and burial or cremation are carried out according to your wishes, but that your estate is also distributed as you want it to be.