What Documents Should You Bring to a Funeral Home?

When you’ve made an appointment to meet with a funeral home, it’s important you come prepared so you can get through all the decision-making processes as efficiently as possible. Part of this involves bringing particular documents that the funeral home representatives will need for their reference while working with you.

There are certain documents you’ll need to bring to your funeral preparation appointment in Chicago, IL, as well as documents you’ll need after the funeral is over.

Documents to bring to your first appointment

It’s more than understandable to have other things on your mind while you’re preparing for a funeral home appointment, but you will make the process much easier on yourself by getting organized before you go and meet with the funeral home for the first time. If your loved one was organized in planning their affairs, this will hopefully be a much easier process for you as you go about making funeral and burial/cremation arrangements. Some of the paperwork you’ll need to bring to your first appointment includes:

• Birth certificate
• A recent photograph of the deceased
• Marriage certificate (if applicable)
• Funeral pre-need plan papers (if applicable)
• Life or funeral insurance policies (if applicable)
• Military discharge paperwork (if applicable)
• Deeds to cemetery property (if applicable)
• List of all surviving relatives and their locations of residence

It might be difficult for you to find some of these documents before you go to the funeral home for your first meeting, especially if your loved one was not organized with their affairs. A good funeral home will be able to support you at least to a certain extent in obtaining these documents. They will also let you know if there are any other documents you’ll need if you’re planning to have a visitation and funeral before the cremation or burial.

Documents you’ll need after the funeral is over

Once the funeral is complete, you’ll need to turn your attention to some other important estate planning documents, which are hopefully among your deceased loved one’s files at home, or with an attorney. Here are a few examples of some of those documents you’ll need:

• An original signed will or revocable trust containing detailed information about who inherits which assets
• Information about and keys to any owned safety deposit boxes
• Deeds to real estate and other significant/valuable assets
• A list of brokerage and mortgage accounts
• Forms for durable financial power of attorney and durable healthcare power of attorney
• Detailed tax documents for at least the last three years
• Information about retirement plans like 401(k)s, IRAs and pensions
• Information about debts still owed by the estate for loans, credit cards, mortgages, taxes and utilities
• Copies of insurance policies, such as homeowners, life, automobile, renters, long-term care, disability and flood

If you’re interested in learning more about the steps you can take to get organized before meeting with a funeral service, we encourage you to contact the team at Marik-Baken Funeral Services Ltd. today. We’ll be happy to help you put together a funeral document checklist in Chicago, IL.

Categorised in: Funeral Planning

This post was written by Writer