Where do I state my funeral wishes?

You may have already stepped through the Will service, and you are now wondering why it didn't ask you anything about being buried or cremated. There is a common misconception that this information belongs in your Will, but in fact, there are very good reasons why you should write your funeral wishes in a separate document, and simply store this with your Will. You can express your funeral wishes through our free MyFuneral service. These are just a few of the reasons why your funeral wishes should be documented separately:
 
1. Your Will is a legal document that must go through the formal probate process before it is accepted as your Will. There may be multiple versions of your Will, and the probate courts officially certify one Last Will and Testament. By the time this is done, your funeral would likely have already taken place.
 
2. Your funeral wishes are usually very personal, and may speak about the music that you want played, the general tone of the ceremony and other quirky wishes. They don't really belong in a legal Last Will and Testament. Furthermore, once your Will is probated, it is a public document, and can be read by anybody. Some of your personal funeral wishes may not be for the general public.
 
3. Your funeral wishes are not legally binding. They are an expression of your wishes, but they do not have the same legal rigour as a Last Will and Testament. Your funeral wishes do not have to be signed in the presence of two witnesses, and can be updated at any time, you can even make handwritten updates. You cannot do this to a Last Will and Testament.
 
In summary, they are very different documents, and it doesn't make sense to incorporate funeral wishes into a Last Will and Testament. We recommend that you use our (free) MyFuneral service to document your funeral wishes and store the final document with your Will.
funeral wishes