How To Decide What You Want Done With Your Ashes

Remains can be:

• Buried in a cemetery, either in a plot or in a cemetery urn garden
• Interred in a columbarium niche at a cemetery
• Kept by family or friends
• Scattered on land or at sea

In addition, there are a growing number of unusual and interesting things that can be done with cremated remains, such as creating jewelry with the ashes, incorporating the ashes into an artificial underwater reef, making the ashes into fireworks or shooting them into space, and turning them into a playable LP record, among other options.

Questions To Consider

Depending on the options you’re considering, it may be helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• If you’re planning on interring your ashes in a cemetery, where would you like the cemetery to be? Would you like your ashes to be buried in a plot, in an urn garden, or interred in a columbarium niche?
• If you’re planning on distributing your ashes among family or friends, who would you like to receive your remains?
• If you’re planning on having your ashes scattered, where would you like the scattering to take place? Who would you like to have in attendance?

Communicating Your Decision

The decision of what to do with your cremated remains is entirely up to you. That said, it might be useful to sit down with family members and discuss the decision you’ve made, so that everyone knows and understands your wishes.

Create your own Everplan now to document all your funeral wishes (and so much more).