Editing Funeral (section)

==Self-planned funerals==
{{Globalize|section|USA|2name=the United States|date=April 2016}}
Some people choose to make their funeral arrangements in advance so that at the time of their death, their wishes are known to their family. However, the extent to which decisions regarding the disposition of a decedent's remains (including funeral arrangements) can be controlled by the decedent while still alive vary from one jurisdiction to another. In the United States, there are states which allow one to make these decisions for oneself if desired, for example by appointing an agent to carry out one's wishes; in other states, the law allows the decedent's next-of-kin to make the final decisions about the funeral without taking the wishes of the decedent into account.<ref>[http://www.qeepr.com/blog/who-has-the-right-to-make-decisions-about-your-funeral/ Who Has the Right to Make Decisions About Your Funeral?], ''qeepr.com'', February 5, 2014.</ref>

The decedent may, in most U.S. jurisdictions, provide instructions as to the funeral by means of a last will and testament. These instructions can be given some legal effect if bequests are made contingent on the heirs carrying them out, with alternative gifts if they are not followed. This requires the will to become available in time; aspects of the disposition of the remains of US President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] ran contrary to a number of his stated wishes, which were found in a safe that was not opened until after the funeral.