Financial Arrangements

• Organizing how to obtain or provide money for the funeral expenses is a basic activity that you should include in the checklist. Determine how you will meet the funeral expenses. In most cases, the family determines who should pay the expenses. However, if the deceased had a life insurance policy, Social Security benefits or veteran's benefits, contact the appropriate agency and arrange to collect death benefits. Also, determine whether the deceased had a will. In some cases, the deceased may have left instructions on how he would like the funeral to be handled.
  
  

Burial Arrangements

• Burial arrangements entail a sequence of activities to ensure the deceased's body is laid to the grave as planned. Determine the type of burial. Florida, for instance, requires that bodies that are not embalmed be buried sooner than those that are embalmed. If you consider traditional burial, you may need to determine the clothing and jewelry that the body will be dressed in. Locate the will to determine the deceased's wishes, such as if he directed that his body be cremated. Arrange for the purchase of a cemetery plot. Also, find out whether the deceased had picked out his own burial place and paid the funeral expenses in advance. You may also be required to select the casket.
  
  

Wake and Funeral Services

• Funeral services consist of the ceremonies, wakes or arranged gatherings aimed at mourning or celebrating the life of the deceased. You need to decide when and where the wake will be conducted. The wake and other services need to be determined with enough time so that they can be advertised in the media. To compose the obituary, you will need to collect biographical information of the deceased. Choose appropriate music to be played at the funeral home, the memorial and the burial site before the burial.
  
  

Transportation Arrangements

• In Florida, transportation of the deceased's body to the gravesite is usually provided by funeral homes. In that case, you will have to determine who will provide transportation for the family to the gravesite. You can hire a car for the family or consult the funeral director, since some funeral homes in Florida provide car service at an additional fee. Alternatively, a family member or a friend with a larger vehicle can drive the family to the gravesite. You will have to identify pallbearers responsible for carrying the casket.