Planning Guide

Navigating Funeral Arrangements: Essential Planning

Penwell Funeral Home Pre-Planning Guide

Planning in advance provides peace of mind, eases your family’s burden, and ensures your funeral reflects your personal values. While pre-planning can be done in stages, every step is often one in the right direction. In its simplest form, simply speaking your wishes out loud to someone you trust in carrying them forward, is pre-planning. Purchasing graves, making financial plans, writing down your wishes, and, ultimately, Planning with Penwell ensures not only your desires are met, but removes the worry from those who want to honor your wishes. The below planning guide may serve as a starting point for helping you make decisions.

Pre-Planning Guide

  • Tell your family that you would like to Choose Penwell to care for you and for your family at the time of your passing. In its simplest form, telling your family this removes a lot of guessing and burden.
  • Gather and organize important documents for your trusted person who will be responsible for decision making at the time of passing:
  • Contact information for those people and institutions that will need notified at the time of your passing
  • Life insurance policies (including the company, policy number, listed beneficiaries, and death benefit amount)
  • Power of Attorney (healthcare & financial)
  • Living Will & Last Will and Testament
  • Military discharge papers (DD-214)
  • Bank, safe deposit, credit card info
  • Retirement & property documents
  • Social Security Number
  • Passwords to Accounts
  • Cemetery Information (including cemetery deed if graves are already purchased)
  • Name and contact information of attorney for estate purposes
  • Pre-arrangement paperwork (if pre-planning is already complete with Penwell Funeral Home)
  • Funeral Related Planning *Much of the below information can be done online by filling out our pre-planning form.
  • Biographical information for obituary, such as parents’ names, place of birth, surviving and deceased family members, places of employment throughout life, clubs, organizations, hobbies/interests, things you’re proud of.
  • What type of service do you want? There is no right or wrong to what one chooses.
  • What do you envision happening at the time of your passing?
  • Do you want calling hours? Do you want a funeral service? Do you want both? Or one or the other?
  • Would you like to have a full body traditional burial?
  • If so, do you know what cemetery you would like buried in? Have you already purchased your grave?
  • Would you like to be cremated?
  • If so, have you considered whether you would have your body present for your services prior to cremation? Or would you like to be cremated before your services?
  • Following cremation, what would you like done with your cremated remains?
  • Will they be buried in a cemetery? If so, do you know what cemetery you would like buried in? Have you already purchased your grave?
  • Will they be scattered? If so, where?
  • Will they be kept by family or a chosen individual? Or will they be divided so multiple people can keep some of you with them?
  • Perhaps it’s a mix of some of the above options together?
  • Personalize your service to reflect your wishes and life story.
  • Do you have anything specific you want for your services?
  • Special music, a chosen clergy person or leader of the services, readings, etc.?
  • Location of your service?
  • If you are a veteran, would you like military honors?
  • Following your services, would you like to have a social gathering of family and friends? Visit The Hatchery On Main
  • Select and purchase your monument (Ashland Monument Co.).
  • Meet with the Penwell Team to submit documents and discuss plans.
  • Pay ahead for your funeral to lock in today’s prices for peace of mind and financial protection.
  • Keep your plans up-to-date and inform Penwell of any changes.
  • Take responsibility for your arrangements, easing your family’s burden.
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