Pre-Planned Ash Scattering: Your Questions Answered
What is a Pre-Planned Ash Scattering Service?
Locked-in pricing, Make a plan in just minutes: For those considering estate planning, pre-arranging an ash scattering is an elegant, cost-effective way to handle end-of-life wishes. It ensures your loved ones are not burdened with complex decisions and that your final wishes are carried out exactly as intended.
Pre-planning an ash scattering gives you peace of mind and ensures your final wishes are respected, without the complications or high costs of traditional burial.
Ash scattering is also the most unique and beautiful final resting place. We are so honored to to craft and curate a spectacular send-off for every life we honor. We are privileged to take souls to their final resting place and want every scattering event to be both sacred, deeply significant, and lovely.
Why Should I Consider Pre-Planning Ash Scattering?
Pre-planning offers several advantages over traditional funeral arrangements:
Cost-Effective: Ash scattering is significantly less expensive than a conventional funeral or cemetery plot.
Traditional Funeral $10,000. “According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), a traditional funeral with a burial typically costs around $8,300, and that’s before you even think about the cemetery plot, headstone costs, or flowers. If you include all those, the final bill can quietly creep past $10,000.” (Signature Headstones)
Custom & Personalized: Each scattering is in a spectacular setting. Each location reflects the unique personality and wishes of the individual, creating a meaningful final resting place.
We are honored to offer spectacular options in the most breathtaking places on earth. Traditional cemeteries are often brutally sterile and impersonal. Markers fade quickly into the grass and families are mourning shoulder to shoulder with strangers.
Simple Process: Unlike prepaid funerals, pre-planning an ash scattering is straightforward and can often be completed in just a few minutes.
“I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found your company, as this has been weighing on me for some time. The service you provide is invaluable. Thank you for your wonderful assistance!”
Who Is Pre-Planned Ash Scattering For?
Ash scattering pre-planning is ideal for anyone looking to simplify end-of-life arrangements while creating a personal, meaningful tribute. Common groups include:
Couples: Many couples pre-plan their scattering together, ensuring wishes are aligned and thoughtfully documented. Pre-planning allows selection of a shared, beautiful resting place that reflects their life together.
Cost-conscious families: Ash scattering can be many thousands of dollars cheaper than traditional burial options
Eco-Conscious Individuals: Our service follows environmentally responsible practices, coordinated with current and former park rangers.
Estate Planning: Pre-arranging an ash scattering can be an elegant and cost-effective way to handle end-of-life wishes without burdening loved ones.
Those Seeking a Unique, Simple Option: Ash scattering offers a meaningful and distinctive way to honor life, with guidance through every step for a peaceful, intentional farewell.
“Thank you for this beautiful service. We are so very happy we found you!”
—Liv, Ash Scattering Pre-Planning Client
How Does the BONAVENTURE Pre-Planning Process Work?
BONAVENTURE’s pre-planning service is simple, transparent, and designed to protect your wishes:
Choose a Destination: Select a meaningful natural location.
Document Your Preferences: Your wishes are clearly recorded and securely maintained.
Secure Pricing at Today’s Rate: Lock in pricing now to protect against future increases.
Confirmation & Guidance: Receive documentation and clear instructions for loved ones.
Service Activation: When the time comes, your family or estate executor contacts BONAVENTURE to initiate the service.
What Happens If My Partner Passes First?
For couples, this is one of the most meaningful decisions in pre-planning. BONAVENTURE offers flexible options to honor both partners’ wishes:
Immediate Scattering: Scatter the first set of ashes promptly, with the second set reserved to be scattered at the same spot later.
Secure Holding: BONAVENTURE can hold the first set safely until both partners’ remains are ready to be scattered together.
Securely holding ashes is a FREE Service we offer for added peace of mind.
Whichever option you choose, each plan is carried out with care and respect, ensuring dignity and harmony for both partners.
What happens if I don’t have anyone to handle my ashes after I die?
If you don’t have family or a designated executor to manage final arrangements, pre-planning your ash scattering ensures your wishes are still carried out with care. Once cremation is completed by a licensed provider, your ashes can be shipped directly to BONAVENTURE.
From there, we assume responsibility, holding them respectfully until the scattering is performed according to your plan.
Pre-planning removes uncertainty and ensures your final wishes are honored thoughtfully, even when no one is available to act on your behalf.
How is the timing of an ash scattering determined?
We carefully consider environmental impact, access, and safety—but timing is not only about logistics. It is also about beauty. We know the parks intimately, and we are passionate about curating scatterings that reflect the importance and beauty of the lives we’re honoring. From the changing of the Aspen in fall to the wildflower blooms on Mt. Rainier, we want to honor others in the most spectacular ways we know how.
We intentionally seek moments when the landscape is at its most meaningful: wildflowers in bloom, light at its most gentle, tides, seasons, migrations, and more. Our goal is always to honor this person’s special moment as much as the place, ensuring each scattering feels reverent, intentional, and visually breathtaking.
Is Ash Scattering Legal?
Yes, ash scattering is legal when conducted according to local, state, and federal regulations. BONAVENTURE ensures:
Compliance with all applicable guidelines
Environmentally responsible practices
Respect for protected lands and ecosystems
Guidance for families navigating permissions and policies
This relieves grieving families from legal research and ensures scattering is done safely and respectfully.
How Do Loved Ones Use a Pre-Planned Ash Scattering Service?
When the time comes, the process is simple:
Family members or your estate’s executor simply contacts BONAVENTURE
Your wishes are documented and the cost of scattering is already paid for
Everything is done up front, ashes are simply shipped to us using a USPS kit
We handle all logistics, fees, planning, and transportation
If requested, families receive photos and confirmation of scattering
No complex coordination. No uncertainty. Peace of mind for yourself and those you love.
How Do I Ship the Ashes?
Bonaventure does not cover shipping costs. To send ashes, have a funeral home, family member, or executor ship them directly to our care using a secure, USPS kit.
Once the ashes arrive, BONAVENTURE assumes responsibility. We handle each set with care and follow a secure, diligent process to ensure your loved one’s remains are treated respectfully and your wishes are faithfully executed.
This shipping instruction will be included in your estate documentation, so your executor or family has clear guidance.
Will my preplanned scattering wishes be honored if BONAVENTURE changes ownership?
Yes. All preplanned arrangements are fully honored, even if BONAVENTURE changes ownership or leadership. Successor entities are contractually required to carry out your wishes exactly as planned, giving you peace of mind that your service will be performed with care and continuity.
What happens if environmental or legal guidance changes for my scattering location?
BONAVENTURE is committed to honoring all applicable laws, regulations, and land-use guidance. If conditions change, we will carry out your scattering as close as possible to your chosen location, preserving the spirit and intent of your original wishes while ensuring safety and compliance.
What Does Pre-Planning NOT Include?
BONAVENTURE focuses exclusively on respectful, compliant ash scattering and funeral maintenance service. Pre-planning does not include:
Cremation or funeral services
Handling cremation arrangements
Shipping of cremated remains (see below for instructions)
Issuing death certificates or legal documents
Can I have a personalize my ash scattering?
We welcome thoughtful customization requests and approach every scattering with deep intention. While services are unaccompanied, we strive passionately to make each scattering poignantly beautiful—reflecting the individuality, story, and spirit of the person being honored.
Our hope is always to mirror the beauty of a life lived through place, unique timing, and care, creating a farewell that feels as meaningful as it is sacred.
Bonaventure is pleased to honor family wishes as a funeral maintenance service. We do not perform the act of cremation, offer funeral preneed, or funeral services of any kind. Our service is guided by compliance with Funeral Code: Iowa Code section 523A.102(12) defines "Funeral services" as: "services provided for the final disposition of a dead human body, including but not limited to services necessarily or customarily provided for a funeral, or for the interment, entombment, or cremation of a dead human body, or any combination thereof. 'Funeral services' does not include perpetual care or maintenance."
