Planning Ahead

How to Make Plans in Advance

When making advance plans, there are a number of decisions you’ll have to make. Sinai’s funeral directors will discuss your options with you and help you come to an arrangement that’s best for you and your family. But it’s a good idea to have a sense of the issues that you’ll be discussing.

• Burial vs. cremation
• Do you know whether you’d like to be buried or cremated?
• The type of funeral or memorial service
• Do you have an idea of the type of service you’d like to have?
• Do you know where you’d like the service to take place?
• Would you like the service to be small, with only family and close friends, or large, and invite the whole community?
• Are there certain readings or pieces of music that you’d like read or played at the service?
• Would you like flowers or other decorations at the service?
• Would you like friends and family to donate to a specific charity in your name?
• Cemetery
• Do you know where you’d like to be buried—either the specific cemetery or the city in which you’d like to be buried? Remember that cremated remains can also be buried in a cemetery.
• Would you prefer to be buried in a plot (below ground) or in a mausoleum (above ground)?
• Cemetery marker
• Do you have any wishes for the grave marker—designs, inscriptions, style, etc.?

We request that you fill out the top portion of our Advance Planning Checklist prior to having a discussion with one of Sinai’s funeral directors. This form also provides more information about the options you will be discussing during this meeting.