Resting easier...coffin is done. ( Archived) (9)

The weather is changing. So get to those things I thought of doing in spring. One of them is finishing my coffin that I built. I had it covered, standing on end in my pergola. The lid was sitting on side in loggia. Still wanted to add a wolf head to the lid. I already did a tiger head, a white buffalo and an eagle head. All animals that have had meaning throughout my life.
3 days of 70s and then the bottom falls out of temp. So got the coffin laid down and stained. Put the lid on, did the wolf and stained the lid. Now today do the gloss urethane and then just need to put the hinges on. And even if I dont line it, it will technically be DONE! Cover it and store in the shed til it is needed.
One more thing tidied up as old age takes me closer to the Elysian Fields. Still need to put everything that goes in coffin with me into a bag so it will be easy for my boarder to find. A list doesnt make it easy when stuff is here and there.
Sent the letter to the lawyer to figure out how to do my trust and LLC. Asked him about why LLC. He said it covers any lackings in the trust and is a stronger paper than just a trust. OK..that explains why when I look at the Plat book, I see several farms now that are trusts and some that are both.
His gal called the other week..sending paperwork? I said finally got assets listed and a cover letter. She said once they get it, will call with questions. I said..and I wont have any answers!
As bad as dying with no will is, trying to sort the whole mess out is insane! How do I plan for when I am not here to tend to business! ARGH!!!
Maybe I just need to live to around 500!

MR. that is a hoot! That makes no sense except they dont want the plots used up so they have room for newly dead. In the US you can buy plots any time and way.
When dad died, mom bought 4 plots in a row so the expense was over and our places together. I know of people who have had plots for generations. It does present a problem sometimes when people chose cremation or leave the area and are never heard from again. You see ads sometimes, plot at XXX Cemetery for sale.
I read on why they changed from my pinch toe style to rectangle. A few ideas. One, the pinch toe saved on lumber. The new style came about because people disliked the shape that reminded them a body was within. And the fact that richer people wanted fancier. The name changed from coffin to casket..like a jewelry box or something other than a box for dead.
People also got away from burying their own. Funeral parlor saw money and convinced folks that a dead body brought disease and must be removed at once. They took over selling funerals and coffins, holding the service, digging the grave and more. In other words..no fuzz, no muss, no bother. Just pay. If you dont pick the best casket, you didnt love them enough. All show.
When dad died, mom and I chose the steel casket. We saw magnificent mahogany ones. Not coffins, but wood workers master piece cabinets of beautiful lumber. I told mom if we payed 5K for that and buried it, dad would climb back out and strangle us...AFTER he got done chewing us out for burying a work of art.
I ended up burying mom in the steel one too.
But, found out more laws after. First..you do NOT have to use a funeral parlor. Second, we COULD have buried on the farm.
So when husband died suddenly, I gave the plans to a friend and he built the coffin. I did a drawing on him on his Harley on plywood that got screwed to the lid. A boarder and I did a lining with a velvet bed spread. And she and I went to the morgue to wash and dress him.
I called the funeral director and he said I had to buy a concrete vault (IE septic tank ) for $400. And needed to call the cemetery guy to arrange the grave digging. And pay him his fee.
We took the coffin to the county morgue, loaded him in the back of a truck and home. By noon his family came to the house and by 2 we loaded him in his best friends truck to go to the cemetery. I had let people know if anyone wanted to attend, meet there. I said a few words. His sister read a poem. And we left and all went home or wherever.
Total cost was under $2,000.
My boarder will do for me and even less cause by then no one hardly will care. Headstone I designed is already there.
Graves are for the living..the dead dont care.

I guess that would be called...a green funeral?

When I was a child (70 years ago) my parents bought two plots 12 feet deep so that my father could be buried on top of my grandfather and my mother could be buried on top of my grandmother. They don't allow that anymore in New Jersey.

They even bought the headstone with all four people's names on it with the year they were born. When the person died the date was written in after the burial.

It was weird seeing their names with their born date and a blank space waiting for them to die.

Its called reality. In todays world if extensive planning is not done prior to death, the government takes over and does what IT thinks is best.
I was raised to care for parents and farm. And it is my duty to make sure of it after death. Or at least the best I can. I am 71 years old. Historically, people were lucky to make it to their 40s. So I can drop dead any day. It is denial to think of tomorrows that may never come. I can go on living in peace knowing everything is already planned and set to function when I die.
My dad planned, mom planned and I plan. I have seen the problems when people died with no wills nor plans. If single with no family, the government takes it all and tosses the body in a hole. Or if there is family, they are stuck with trying to figure out someones wishes. And then fight over possessions, pay for lawyers, go into probate that can last for years and get preyed on by the funeral industry.
Face the facts. Everyone will die and no one really knows the date. Why burden others with the unknowns.
AT least write a will. In this state no lawyer is needed. Write it out, get 2 people to witness it and go to the bank and get the notary to sign and stamp and you are good to go. And try to prevent a family feud.