Pre-Arranging a Funeral or Cremation

We encourage everyone to consider planning their funeral arrangements in advance. Pre-arranging allows your wishes to be clearly documented and can greatly ease the emotional and financial burden on loved ones when the time comes. Making these important decisions ahead of time provides families with guidance, peace of mind, and the ability to focus on supporting one another rather than handling difficult arrangements during a time of grief.

Planning your final arrangements in advance is one of the most thoughtful gifts you can leave for your family. Pre-arranging allows your wishes to be clearly documented and ensures important decisions are made ahead of time, reducing emotional stress and uncertainty for loved ones during a difficult period. It also gives you the opportunity to carefully consider the type of services, burial or cremation options, personalization, and financial arrangements that best reflect your values and preferences. By planning ahead, families are often able to avoid rushed decisions, unexpected costs, and potential disagreements about final wishes. Pre-arrangements can also help ensure important legal and personal information is organized and accessible when it is needed most.

Benefits of pre-arranging include:

Clearly documenting your personal wishes and preferences
Reducing emotional and financial burden on family members
Allowing time to explore burial, cremation, memorial, and personalization options
Helping avoid difficult decisions during a time of grief
Providing peace of mind for both you and your loved ones
Organizing important legal, financial, and personal information in advance
Giving families the ability to focus on remembrance and healing rather than logistics

We will help you personalize the service or celebration of life. We will also tell you the total cost for the services you select and we don't have any surprise hidden costs.

There are many reasons people choose cremation as an alternative to a traditional burial.

A cremation casket is made of combustible materials and is cremated with the individual. A rental casket houses a removable cremation container that is simply transferred from the rental casket into the crematory with the individual.

Whether it is a traditional open-casket funeral before a cremation, or a direct cremation with burial or scattering, a planned funeral service helps family and friends process grief, celebrate the deceased’s life, and say final goodbyes.

Selecting a final resting place after cremation varies. This may include placing the urn of ashes in a mausoleum or columbarium, burying it in a cemetery plot, keeping it as a cherished possession, or scattering it in a designated place.

Since funeral services must always be paid in full, many people wonder how they should pay for a funeral in advance.

Pre-paid funeral insurance is a whole-life insurance policy, sometimes called a “permanent” or “traditional” life insurance. The insurance covers the exact amount of the services you select. Unless items are added or the services are upgraded later, your family will not have to spend additional funds at the time of service.

The insurance is transferable to any funeral home. If you pre-plan with one funeral home, you can transfer your plans to another funeral home later if needed.

The staff at Bradbury Memorial Center encourages individuals to consult with their funeral home of choice before prepaying cremation organizations. Your local funeral home might be able to save you money and offer you additional choices than the state or national organizations.

Bradbury Memorial Center uses National Guardian Life to secure and guarantee your prepaid funeral funds.