Preplan Your Funeral | Matthew Grieco/Naugle Funeral Services
About this episode
Matthew J. Grieco is a funeral director with 25 years in the profession and a certified celebrant at Naugle Funeral Services, where his team uses webcasting, slideshows and life-story tributes to make services personal. His goal, he says, is to demystify funerals so families can plan without fear.
In this episode, Matt walks Niki and her husband through a real pre-planning meeting at the funeral home. He explains the general price list every family takes home, the choice between cremation, traditional burial and green burial, and how prefunding a funeral through an insurance policy works, including which costs it does and does not cover. He also describes the statement of contrary intent he now uses with almost every cremation pre-arrangement, and why writing down where your ashes should go spares your family a hard decision later.
The visit ends with a tour of newer memorial options, from solidified remains and ashes blown into glass to biodegradable urns and a room where families can witness a cremation. Throughout, Matt returns to one idea: funerals are for the living as much as the dead, so the people you leave behind should help shape the event.
Key takeaways
- Tell your spouse, adult children and siblings now whether you want cremation, burial or green burial, so nobody has to guess.
- Invite your family to help plan the service itself, because planning it together is part of how they will grieve.
- If you choose cremation, ask your funeral director what your state requires for next-of-kin consent and whether a statement of contrary intent applies to you.
- Write down where you want your ashes to go, even if you leave room for your family to shape the moment.
- If you pre-arrange or prefund, tell your family which funeral home holds your file so they do not have to call around.