When it comes to estate planning, people often focus on the money. Who gets what. How to avoid tax. But the part that catches many families off guard – and causes more tension than you might think – is what to do with the body after death.
When it comes to funeral planning, people generally sit in one of two camps:
Those who flippantly say, "Do whatever you want, I'll be dead." (which is usually code for "I don't want to think about it.") And those who leave onerous, detailed instructions that involve complicated burial plans or itineraries for travel to exotic locations where they wish to have their ashes scattered.
Without clear (achievable) instructions, funeral planning and decisions around what to do with the dead person's body often become the very first thing families scramble for answers on, or end up fighting over after death.
Ensuring you've included clear, achievable instructions around your funeral wishes in your will ensures your executor and other family members don't end up in a legal, emotional, or logistical nightmare.
Make a SMART Plan
Most of us are familiar with SMART goals. I like to use the same framework (with some creative license on the acronym) to help will makers communicate how their family can make sure their funeral wishes are carried out.
Specific – “I want to be buried” is not specific enough. Where? What cemetery? What section? Are you reserving a religious area or a general lawn? Do you want a certain type of service? If you wish to be cremated, where do you want your ashes to be scattered or interred? Do you want to sit in the linen press until your life partner also dies so you can be scattered together? Do you feel strongly about being divided up (or not divided up)? Details stop people making stuff up in your absence (or fighting over whether they heard you once mention you'd like your ashes scattered over Loch Lomond).
Make it known – Ensure your executors know your wishes and where to find them. Tucking them away in a sealed envelope somewhere obscure or flippantly mentioning it over Christmas lunch won’t help in a moment of stress. Include the instructions in your will or, better yet, a separate funeral directive.
If you need help communicating what kind of funeral is right for you and how you want your body disposed of, our Dream Dead Person Funeral Planning checklist might be helpful.
Affordable – Can your estate afford what you’re asking for? In urban centres, burial plots can cost upwards of $20,000 (which doesn’t include the cost of the funeral, headstone, or upkeep) or having your extended family travel to Bali to throw your ashes in the (warm) ocean may sound fitting - can your estate cover the costs? If your assets are tied up, the costs may fall on your grieving family to deliver on your wishes.
If you have specific requests for your funeral or disposal of your body, consider allocating money in your estate plan to ensure that your family can afford to give you the send off you desire.
Realistic – Is there space in the location you’ve chosen? Have you made arrangements or just assumed it will “work out”? In many cities, you’ll need to pre-purchase a plot years in advance. Many people assume that when they die, new forms of body disposal will be readily available (cryogenics, aquamation, human composting etc), leaving their family to discover the option may not even exist or is so financially prohibitive they have to figure out a "next best" option.
Timely – Funeral and body disposal decisions need to be acted on quickly, often within days of death. If your executors have to chase down vague directions or wrestle with differences of opinion or cemetery bureaucracy, it causes stress, delay, and potential disputes.
Burial is something you need to plan for.
Of the approximately 170,000 Australians who die each year, only a third will choose to be buried. Despite declining numbers, many cemeteries are nearing capacity, offer "limited tenure", or are now closed to new burials (including West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide).
The reality is, in modern Australia, traditional burial is no longer a given. It’s something you have to plan for.
If your Will or funeral plan requests a traditional burial in a full cemetery, if you haven't adequately planned for this, your executors may be forced to scramble—or settle for an alternative that doesn’t match your wishes.
Estate Planning is more than money.
Thinking about your own death is uncomfortable—I get it. But leaving vague, impossible, or non-existent instructions about what should happen to your body only shifts the discomfort onto your loved ones.
Estate planning isn't just about your financial legacy; it's about helping you navigate all the decisions your family will need to make in your absence, to make the process as stress-free as possible when the time comes.