Prepaid Funeral Arrangements
Funerals are one of the most difficult things that people can go through in their lives.
Most times, people make really costly mistakes and spend much more than they should on funerals because at that point in time, there are susceptible to buying with their emotions rather than with their heads.
However, you can save your loved ones the stress and pain of having to undergo all the strain involved in arranging a burial by simply making some prepaid funeral arrangements.
Prepaid burial arrangements and contracts are easy to make and often have a lot of benefits.
For example, you get to choose just about anything that you feel would be needed during the funeral.
You also get to make arrangements for the payment way ahead of time.
In certain cases, you can even go ahead and make the payments even before you die or the funeral.
Unfortunately, you should be aware that there have been cases where prepaid funeral arrangements and burial contracts have been abused.
So, if the state laws are pretty specific and explicit about traditional arrangements and there are contracts, then you should consult what the law says before making any arrangements with the funeral director at the funeral home of your choice.
Here is how to go about your prepaid funeral arrangements.
1.
Find Out If The State Mandates Funeral Homes To Have Special Thrust Funds The very first thing you should find out is whether the state is serious about funeral service providers having a special trust fund and where payments for prepaid funeral arrangements are kept until they are needed or required.
Oftentimes, these trust funds are completely and entirely different from the general account of the funeral service provider.
If the funeral home is not aware of any such funds, then you should go look for the funeral home that does.
This way you get to prevent any abuse of such agreements in the future.
Also make sure, that you find out if there are any bottlenecks involving the trust funds.
For example, you want to be sure that the funeral service provider cannot have backdoor access to the funds.
You also want to be sure that in case the funeral home goes bankrupt and has to fold up before you die, you will have access to your funds.
2.
Find Out What The Interest On The Money Will Be Used For If after making your prepaid burial arrangements, you at least another 10-20 yrs, all the money that you pay into the trust fund would have generated and yielded some interest.
Find out from the funeral home what would be done with the interests.
Usually most funeral homes retain interests to help further cover funeral costs.
If the funeral service provider is honest, they will often return any extra funds to the family of the deceased.
3.
Make Sure That You Can Alter The Arrangements This is important if you would one day decide that instead of the burial you want to go for cremation and vice-versa, you move to a new state and so on.
However, you should be careful about doing this as it can make you ineligible for a few benefits.
For example, you may not qualify for Social Security or Medicaid if you have some funds available.
This is because you will be required to exhaust those funds first before asking for welfare from the states.
Whatever the case may be, be sure before altering the arrangements that they will not in any way compromise your benefits.
With this, it is possible to have a decent funeral or even a lavish one without having to put your family through the emotional strain of arranging the funeral.
Most times, people make really costly mistakes and spend much more than they should on funerals because at that point in time, there are susceptible to buying with their emotions rather than with their heads.
However, you can save your loved ones the stress and pain of having to undergo all the strain involved in arranging a burial by simply making some prepaid funeral arrangements.
Prepaid burial arrangements and contracts are easy to make and often have a lot of benefits.
For example, you get to choose just about anything that you feel would be needed during the funeral.
You also get to make arrangements for the payment way ahead of time.
In certain cases, you can even go ahead and make the payments even before you die or the funeral.
Unfortunately, you should be aware that there have been cases where prepaid funeral arrangements and burial contracts have been abused.
So, if the state laws are pretty specific and explicit about traditional arrangements and there are contracts, then you should consult what the law says before making any arrangements with the funeral director at the funeral home of your choice.
Here is how to go about your prepaid funeral arrangements.
1.
Find Out If The State Mandates Funeral Homes To Have Special Thrust Funds The very first thing you should find out is whether the state is serious about funeral service providers having a special trust fund and where payments for prepaid funeral arrangements are kept until they are needed or required.
Oftentimes, these trust funds are completely and entirely different from the general account of the funeral service provider.
If the funeral home is not aware of any such funds, then you should go look for the funeral home that does.
This way you get to prevent any abuse of such agreements in the future.
Also make sure, that you find out if there are any bottlenecks involving the trust funds.
For example, you want to be sure that the funeral service provider cannot have backdoor access to the funds.
You also want to be sure that in case the funeral home goes bankrupt and has to fold up before you die, you will have access to your funds.
2.
Find Out What The Interest On The Money Will Be Used For If after making your prepaid burial arrangements, you at least another 10-20 yrs, all the money that you pay into the trust fund would have generated and yielded some interest.
Find out from the funeral home what would be done with the interests.
Usually most funeral homes retain interests to help further cover funeral costs.
If the funeral service provider is honest, they will often return any extra funds to the family of the deceased.
3.
Make Sure That You Can Alter The Arrangements This is important if you would one day decide that instead of the burial you want to go for cremation and vice-versa, you move to a new state and so on.
However, you should be careful about doing this as it can make you ineligible for a few benefits.
For example, you may not qualify for Social Security or Medicaid if you have some funds available.
This is because you will be required to exhaust those funds first before asking for welfare from the states.
Whatever the case may be, be sure before altering the arrangements that they will not in any way compromise your benefits.
With this, it is possible to have a decent funeral or even a lavish one without having to put your family through the emotional strain of arranging the funeral.
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