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These Are My Wishes

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These Are My Wishes is a way to ease the burden on your loved ones by recording important and necessary decisions about what happens after you die. It’s designed to help you make your wishes known and to ensure that your life is celebrated in the way you want it to be.

You may find that you need some help answering the questions on this form. You can reach out to our celebrants for support.

Please note that there may be a cost involved depending on the level of support required.

You can save your answers at any point and return to them at a later date. Please note that your information will not be retained indefinitely.

Once you’ve completed the form you’ll be able to download a PDF to share. We only store your information to enable you to save and continue at a later date and don’t use it for any other purpose. Please note that all submitted information is deleted after 30 days.

Your personal details

Name

First Last

Address

Address line 1 Address line 2 City Post code Country

Your chosen people

We recommend that you send a copy of your completed form to two people close to you, and to your lawyer or solicitor if you have one. You can note their contact details below.

Name of first chosen person

First Last

Relationship to you

Name of second chosen person

First Last

Relationship to you

Your lawyer / solicitor

Company name

Contact name

Your funeral director

A funeral director will take care of the practical arrangements after your death. You don’t need to nominate one, but the services available to you will vary between funeral directors. There are certain situations in which you’re likely to need to specify a funeral director, such as where you’ve made arrangements to donate your body to medical science. If you’re not sure, you can always leave this blank for now.

Funeral director

Do you have a preferred funeral director?

Yes

Name of funeral director / organisation

Address

Address line 1 Address line 2 City Postcode

Phone

Paying for the funeral

Do you have specific funds allocated to pay for your funeral that your loved ones should know about, such as an insurance policy or funeral plan?

My Wishes

You will find that the options available vary between funeral directors.

If you wish to donate your body to medical science, you need to make additional arrangements (find out more at the Scottish Government website).

I would prefer to…(Required)

You’ll be given additional options based on your choice.

be cremated

be buried

have a green or woodland burial

donate my body to medical science

Other

I'd like…

Please enter more information about your choice, such as whether there’s a specific woodland site you’d like.

I'd like to be cremated at…

I'd like my ashes to be…

Your ashes could be kept in an urn, be buried at a crematorium, scattered at one or across more than one of your favourite places.

I would like to be buried in this location…

I would like to be buried with these items…

I have a burial plot and the details are……

I have made arrangements with…

I understand that the institution may not be able to accept my body, in which case I would like to…

Direct cremation

A direct cremation is a modern alternative to a traditional funeral. The cremation process is exactly the same as for more traditional services, but it takes place completely separately from the personal farewell. The ashes (cremated remains) are then carefully collected at the end. You will most likely have little choice over things like the type of coffin you have and what clothing to be cremated in. You can still have a memorial service at a later date at a venue of your choice.

I would like a direct cremation

Memorial and funeral services

Depending on what you want to happen to your body after you die, you can have both a traditional funeral and a memorial service – it’s entirely up to you.

A memorial service is a ceremony where no cremation or burial takes place, held separately from your funeral.

You can get in touch with a Humanist Society Scotland funeral celebrant at any point to discuss your humanist funeral ceremony or memorial service.

We’ve also developed a tool to help you think about the sort of content you’d like to include in your funeral or memorial service.

Memorial and funeral options

I would like a humanist memorial service

I would like a humanist funeral service

My chosen celebrant is…

If you’ve spoken to one of our celebrants about your ceremony, please give their name.

There’s no requirement to make arrangements with a specific Humanist Society Scotland celebrant ahead of time. We have an extensive network of humanist celebrants trained to deliver meaningful funeral and memorial ceremonies. Every ceremony they perform supports the work of the organisation.

Please contact my chosen celebrant, or arrange for another available Humanist Society Scotland celebrant to carry out my funeral or memorial service.

Headstones, plaques and other memorials

I would like a headstone

I would like a plaque

I would like another type of memorial

I would like it to read…

I would like…

Organ donation

In Scotland in 2021 new legislation came into effect introducing an ‘opt out’ model for organ donation, meaning that where no decision has been recorded it is assumed that you are willing to be a donor. Read more.

It’s recommended that you still make your wishes known by actively registering as a donor, or, if you prefer, by opting out.

Organ donation

I’ve registered

I haven’t registered

I’ve opted out

My Wishes (continued)

If you’ve chosen direct cremation, some or all of this section may not be relevant to you as these things will be determined your funeral director.

I would prefer my body to be placed in…

a solid wood coffin

the most environmentally friendly option

a shroud

I have no preference

Other

I would like to be dressed in…

A specific outfit

I have no preference

I'd like to be dressed in…

I'd like the ceremony to be held at…

A specific location

I have no preference

I'd like the ceremony to be held at…

I'd like my body to be transported by…

A standard hearse

A horse drawn hearse

A regular vehicle (i.e. not a hearse)

Other

I have a preferred route

Yes

My preferred route is…

I would like to invite someone to carry my coffin

Yes

I would like to invite

Anything else…?

If you’d like to add detail you haven’t been able to include elsewhere in this form, you can do that here.

Other notes

Planning your ceremony

Not everybody using this form will be at a stage in life where they feel it’s necessary to consider the content of their own funeral or memorial service.

That’s why we’ve developed a separate form for those who are ready to start thinking about what they would like to include.

You can find more information here, and once you’ve downloaded your PDF below.

When you’ve finished completing the form, download a PDF copy of your answers and share them with the appropriate parties (your solicitor, your next of kin).

We temporarily store your answers so that you can use the ‘save and continue’ function of this form and will automatically delete all entries after a short period. If you need a bit more time to think about your answers, you can come back and make any changes before submitting.

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