Often people leave instructions about what they want, either in their will or a letter. When possible, arrangements should respect the deceased’s wishes.

==Who is responsible for arranging the funeral?==

| text = In her will, Mavis asked that her cremated remains be scattered over a local pond. Her children wanted to bury Mavis’ ashes beside her husband, who died two years before. But by law, because Mavis had set out a preference in her will, and it wasn’t unreasonable or impracticable, those wishes had to be honoured. After the funeral service, the children gathered to scatter Mavis’ ashes over the pond, as she had wished.

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Where a will or “preneed cemetery or funeral services contract” sets out the deceased’s wishes for burial or cremation, those wishes are binding on the person arranging the funeral. The exception is if the wishes are unreasonable or impracticable or cause hardship. If the deceased expressed a preference in another way, such as through a letter or by telling a loved one, then those wishes are not legally binding on the person arranging the funeral.