Key Takeaways
- Digital and paper funeral planners capture the same information. The difference is how easily you can update, share, and protect the plan.
- Online planners are easy to keep current and share with family, but loved ones need a way to access them.
- Paper planners are simple and personal, but a single copy can be lost, damaged, outdated, or never found.
- Many people get the best of both by keeping a digital plan as their master copy and printing or emailing a copy to someone they trust.
- Whichever format you choose, your plan only helps if someone knows it exists and where to find it.
You’ve decided to write down your funeral wishes. That’s the hardest part, and it’s worth pausing to appreciate it. The truth is, making a record of your end-of-life wishes is probably the best gift you can give your loved one. Many people mean to do this for years, but somehow never do.
So you’re ready to get started, but you hit a roadblock: should you use an online funeral planner or a paper one, like a printed workbook or a fill-in form? Both can hold the same information. But the format you choose affects how easy it is to keep your plan up to date, how easily your family can find it, and how well it holds up over time. Should you use a digital or a paper funeral planner, and how do you decide which is best for you?
Here’s an honest look at the advantages and disadvantages of each, so you can choose the option that fits the way you live.
What a Funeral Planner Covers
Whether your plan lives on a screen or on paper, a funeral planner is a guided place to record your wishes and the practical details your family will need. Most cover:
- Burial or cremation preferences
- The kind of service you’d like (or don’t want)
- Music and readings
- Who to notify
- Where important documents are kept
- Personal messages for loved ones
A funeral planner isn’t a legal document. It’s a roadmap. It takes guesswork off your family’s shoulders when they already have a lot to carry. Whether you use a digital or paper funeral planner isn’t the most important issue–making sure you have documented your wishes is.
Advantages of an Online Funeral Planner
It’s easy to keep current. Life changes. You move, your preferences shift, a friend you’d want to speak at your service comes into your life. With a digital planner, you can update your plan in minutes instead of starting over.
Your family can reach it from anywhere. If your children or executor live in other states, you can share a digital plan with them without anyone needing to track down a folder in your desk drawer.
Guided prompts help you cover everything. Good online planners walk you through each section, making it less likely you’ll skip something important you didn’t think to include.
It won’t be lost in a fire, flood, or move. A paper plan is only as safe as where you store it. A digital plan doesn’t get misplaced during a downsizing or damaged in a basement leak.
It’s a natural home for your digital life. More of our lives are online now: email, photos, social media, subscriptions. A digital planner makes it easier to organize account instructions alongside everything else.
Disadvantages of an Online Funeral Planner
It requires some comfort with technology. For people who don’t use computers or smartphones often, an online planner can feel like one more hurdle when you’re already working through something emotional.
Your family needs a way in. This is the most important drawback to plan around. A beautifully completed digital plan doesn’t help if no one knows it exists or can’t access it. You’ll want to share access or keep a copy your family can reach.
Privacy is a fair question. It’s reasonable to want to know how a planning service protects your information. Look for clear security and privacy practices, and use a strong, unique password.
Typing can feel less personal. Some people find that writing by hand helps them slow down and reflect. Filling in a form on a screen can feel more like a task than a meaningful exercise.
Advantages of a Paper Funeral Planner
It’s simple and familiar. No accounts, no passwords, no updates to install. You open it, pick up a pen, and begin.
It’s easy to hand to someone. When the time comes, you can pass a paper planner directly to the person who needs it.
Your handwriting becomes part of the gift. Families often treasure a loved one’s handwriting. A personal note written in your own hand can mean a great deal.
It encourages reflection. Writing slowly on paper gives many people room to think about what truly matters.
Disadvantages of a Paper Funeral Planner
There’s usually just one copy. If it’s lost, damaged, or accidentally thrown away, your wishes go with it unless you’ve made copies and kept them up to date.
It goes out of date quietly. Updating a paper plan means crossing things out or starting over, so many people don’t update it. Years later, the plan may no longer reflect what they want.
It can be hard to find. Families sometimes discover a funeral plan weeks after the service. A plan kept only in a safe deposit box can be especially hard to reach quickly, since access may depend on the estate process.
Sensitive details are exposed. Writing down account numbers or passwords on paper creates a security risk if the planner falls into the wrong hands.
It’s tough to share across distance. If family members live far apart, only one person may have the plan, and everyone else must rely on them.
Digital vs. Paper Funeral Planners at a Glance
| FACTOR | ONLINE PLANNER | PAPER PLANNER |
| Ease of use | Guided prompts; requires basic tech comfort | Simple and familiar; no logins |
| Updating | Quick edits anytime | Cross-outs, rewrites, or starting over |
| Sharing | Can be shared with people anywhere | One physical copy unless you make more |
| Durability | Protected from fire, flood, and misplacement | Vulnerable to loss and damage |
| Security | Depends on the provider and your password habits | Depends on where you store it and who can reach it |
| Family access | Family needs a way in, or a printed/emailed copy | Family needs to know where it is |
| Personal touch | Clean and organized | Your handwriting can become a keepsake |
How to Choose the Right Format for You
There’s no single right answer when choosing a digital or paper funeral planner. A few questions can help point you in the right direction:
- How comfortable are you with computers or smartphones?
- Do the people who will carry out your wishes live nearby or far away?
- How often does your life tend to change (address, relationships, health, finances)?
- Who will need to read your plan, and how will they find it?
- Would writing by hand help you reflect, or would it slow you down?
If you value flexibility and have family in several places, digital may suit you better. If you’d rather keep things simple and tangible, paper may feel right. Many people end up wanting a little of both.
The Best of Both: A Hybrid Approach
You don’t have to choose just one type of plan. Keep a digital plan as your living master copy, then print a copy to keep with your important papers. You can also email it to the person handling your arrangements. This gives you a practical, convenient way to update and protect a digital version, plus the security of a hard copy your family can access.
Whether you decide to use a digital or paper funeral planner, tell at least one trusted person that your plan exists and where to find it. That single conversation may matter as much as the plan itself.
Ready to get started? The After Me Planner from Funeralwise guides you through each step of recording your wishes, and you can print your plan or email it to a loved one whenever you’re ready. You can even begin with the free After Me mobile app.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
No. A funeral planner is a guide for your family, not a legal document. If you want to legally name the person who will make decisions about your remains, ask an estate planning attorney what your state allows.
Keep your funeral planner somewhere safe and accessible to a trusted person, such as a home file or fireproof box, and tell them where it is. Avoid storing your only copy in a safe deposit box, which may not be accessible right away
It can be, if you use a reputable service with clear security practices and protect your account with a strong, unique password. Avoid storing full financial account numbers or digital passwords unless the service is designed for
Plan for this ahead of time. Share your plan with a trusted person, or print or email a copy, so your wishes don’t depend on anyone knowing your login. When you use the After Me Planner, you can designate a “Plan Guardian” who has access to your information when the time comes.
Review it every year or two, and after major life events such as a move, marriage, divorce, a death in the family, or a change in health.
Not usually. A will is often read after the funeral, so funeral wishes placed only in a will may arrive too late. Having a separate funeral plan that your family can find right away is the better approach
