You can provide Instructions for Final Arrangements in Idaho even if you don’t have a pre-arranged funeral plan.

Final Arrangements in a Pre-Arranged Funeral Plan

For a little light reading, head over to Title 54, Chapter 11 of the Idaho statutes for the chapter concerning morticians, funeral directors, and embalmers. The law says that you can create a pre-arranged funeral plan which has been funded before your death. That plan leaves written instructions of the disposition of your remains. Interestingly, the mere ownership of a burial plot, with or without a headstone or marker, does not constitute a prearranged funeral plan.

Instructions for Final Arrangements

However, you can leave instructions for final arrangements in other ways. If you don’t have a pre-arranged funeral plan, the disposition of your remains falls to whoever you designate in a written, signed, and notarized document. Although I call that document Instructions for Final Arrangements, it goes by various names. Click here to see what I offer in a trust-based or will-based estate plan.

If You Make No Plans

Don’t assume your spouse or children automatically have authority to decide your final arrangements. The law gives this order of priority:

• Pre-arranged funeral plan
• The person designated in your Instructions for Final Arrangements
• The person designated as your agent under a durable power of attorney for health care
• The person designated in a durable power of attorney for finances
• The person acting as your guardian at the time of your death
• Your surviving spouse
• Your surviving adult children

Plan Ahead

Don’t wait until it is too late, contact me to plan for the disposition of your remains. My plans allow you to designate a first, second, and third nominee to handle your remains. Next, you can choose burial, cremation, or let your nominee decide. You can request the location and manner that your remains are handled. Finally, you can expressly give any special requests regarding your funeral plans.