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PDF guide · 2026 edition

The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook, a PDF to fill in

Cover of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"

$2930-page PDF guide · taxes included

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You receive
A 30-page PDF guide: 5 filled-in examples (obituary drafts and family letters), 6 scripts, letters and templates to adapt, 22 tables and worksheets, 37 checkboxes.
Format
US Letter PDF to read on screen or print at home, clickable table of contents, sources listed at the end.
Price
$29, one-time payment, taxes included · refund on request within 14 days.
Delivery
Download right after payment, and the link by email to come back to it.
For
The person who wants to plan their own funeral calmly, years or months ahead, and the adult child or spouse helping a parent or a partner put their wishes on paper.

You can decide about a funeral in advance without paying for it in advance, as the Federal Trade Commission puts it. This workbook is for the person planning their own funeral, or helping a parent with theirs. It gives you a wishes sheet to fill in, a table to compare three funeral homes line by line from their General Price Lists, the FTC's questions to ask before any prepayment with room for the answers, and the papers your family will actually hold: where the plan is kept, a draft of your obituary and a letter to them.

Cover of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
The real cover of the guide (30 pages)
  • 30pages
  • 5filled-in examples (obituary drafts and family letters)
  • 6scripts, letters and templates to adapt
  • 22tables and worksheets
  • 37checkboxes

How we check

Verified, page by page

  • 108automatic checks run on the site before every update
  • 9official .gov pages read and cited, on October 22, 2026, October 28, 2026, October 29, 2026 and November 2, 2026

Reviewed by industry professionals.

  1. Primary sourcesThis guide is built from the guidance of the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Internal Revenue Service.
  2. Every fact has its sourceEach guide lists the pages it relies on, with links, so you can check any point yourself.
  3. DatedSources read on October 22, 2026, October 28, 2026, October 29, 2026 and November 2, 2026; each page shows when it was last updated.

What you will be able to do

  • Put your wishes on paper in an evening or two: burial, cremation or body donation, the kind of gathering, the music, the readings, who speaks, the photos, and flowers or a donation instead. "Family may decide" counts as an answer.
  • Compare three funeral homes on the same lines, from their General Price Lists, with a call script, an email to request the lists and a separate sheet for cemetery costs.
  • Ask the right questions before any prepayment, the six the FTC lists and six more, and keep each answer in writing, or record a prepaid contract you find in a parent's papers so the family does not pay twice.
  • Prepare the veteran's file: a pre-need eligibility determination with VA, where the DD214 is, and whether you would like military honors.
  • Leave your family the papers they will hold: who has a copy and where the original is, a draft of your obituary with three examples, a letter to your family with a template and two examples, and a one-page summary.

Who it is for, and who it is not for

For you if you want to spare your family the guessing, whether you are planning your own funeral or helping a parent, and you would like to compare prices calmly before anyone needs to.

Not for you if a death has just happened and you are meeting a funeral home this week: our Arranging a Funeral workbook is written for that meeting. For a free overview of pre-planning, start with our page on funeral pre-planning.

What makes it different

Most pre-planning forms stop at a list of boxes, and most price advice stops at "compare at least two funeral homes." This workbook does both in the same place, line by line, then adds what a form cannot hold: the conversation with a parent, the obituary in your own words, and a letter that gives your family permission to change anything that turns out to be too hard.

The complete table of contents

The real table of contents of the guide, with its page numbers.

  1. Before you startp. 5What you will have when you finish · How to use it · Planning with a parent
  2. Your wishes: the essentialsp. 7About you · Burial, cremation or another choice · Before the ceremony · The kind of gathering
  3. Your wishes: the ceremonyp. 10Music · Readings · Who speaks · Photos and things to display · Flowers or a donation instead · The printed program and the small things
  4. Comparing three funeral homesp. 13Your rights when you ask for prices · What the General Price List must show · Comparison sheet: three funeral homes · Cemetery costs: a separate list · Notes from calls and visits
  5. Before you prepayp. 17Deciding without paying · The six questions, with your answers · Questions to add, for your family’s sake · If you already have a prepaid contract
  6. If you servedp. 19Ask about eligibility in advance · Veteran’s checklist
  7. Where to keep it, and who gets a copyp. 20Who has a copy · Where the original is · Reviewing the plan
  8. A draft of your obituaryp. 22The facts first · What to leave out
  9. A letter to your familyp. 25What to put in it, and what to leave out
  10. My wishes at a glancep. 27Notes for the family · When you have finished
  11. Sourcesp. 29

A look inside: real pages of the guide

Page 7 of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
Page 7 of the guide, exactly as you will receive it.
Page 15 of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
Page 15 of the guide, exactly as you will receive it.
Page 17 of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
Page 17 of the guide, exactly as you will receive it.
Page 22 of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
Page 22 of the guide, exactly as you will receive it.
Page 27 of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
Page 27 of the guide, exactly as you will receive it.

In pictures

Printed papers and folders spread on a desk
Printed papers and folders spread on a desk. Photo: nerdcoregirl, CC BY-SA 2.0
A hand holding a white cup of black coffee
A hand holding a white cup of black coffee. Photo: Kyle Meck, CC0 1.0 (public domain)
A park path lined with tall trees in early autumn light
A park path lined with tall trees in early autumn light. Photo: Johannes Plenio, CC0 1.0 (public domain)

Illustrative photos, published by their authors under free licences.

Cover of the PDF guide "The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook"
The Funeral Pre-Planning Workbook
$29

The workbook to decide ahead without paying ahead, for your own funeral or a parent's: a wishes sheet (burial or cremation, the kind of gathering, music, readings, speakers, photos, donations), a side-by-side comparison of three funeral homes from their General Price Lists, the FTC questions to ask before prepaying with room for the answers, a veterans' checklist, where to keep the plan and who gets a copy, an obituary draft and a letter to your family.

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Common questions

Do I need to prepay a funeral to use this workbook?

No. The workbook follows the FTC's advice that you can make decisions in advance without paying in advance. You can fill in every page, compare funeral homes and write your letter without signing a contract. If you do consider prepaying, chapter 5 lists the questions to ask first, with room for each provider's answers.

How does the comparison of three funeral homes work?

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home must give you prices from its General Price List by phone, without asking your name, and a written list to keep if you ask in person. The comparison sheet follows the items that list must include, with one column per funeral home, plus a separate sheet for cemetery costs, which the Rule does not cover. A call script and an email to request the lists are included.

I am helping my mother or father. Does it work for that?

Yes. Chapter 1 has two short scripts to open the conversation and to answer "I don't want to talk about it," and every sheet can be filled in with a parent, in their words, over several weeks. One of the obituary examples was written by a daughter with her father.

Is it a legal document?

No. It is not a will, a contract or a health care directive, and it is not legal or financial advice. It recommends no funeral home, cemetery or insurer and gives no local prices. It tells your family what you want and where your papers are; for anything legal, it tells you whom to ask in your state.

What should I do with it once it is filled in?

Chapter 7 follows the FTC's advice: give copies to family members and to your attorney, keep one somewhere easy to reach, and do not rely only on your will or a safe deposit box, which may be read or opened too late. A table records who has a copy, and another records each review every few years.

Sources cited in the guide

Related guides

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