"Elaborate rituals and strange requests that provide no benefit to them and only seem to inconvenience the people who are in fact still alive."

Exactly the other way round. The rituals are solely for the benefit of those still living to better deal with their grief and loss.

I suppose strange requests could become an inconvenience. But Hunter Thompson's request that he be sent up as fireworks for his friends to observe and enjoy, for example, seems less an inconvenience and more a thoughtful gesture to those he left behind.

So it all depends on the request, I guess.