Funeral Planning - Prepaid Funeral Plans

Do you think funeral planning is a morbid topic? Most people do, so they don’t really like to think about it or discuss it. Humans don’t like to consider their own demise, but let’s face it – we’re all going to die one day, so it’s better to have your funeral plans in order. That way, your family won’t have to be making funeral decisions for you, and you’ll get what you want instead of what someone else wants for you. Doing your own funeral planning and having all of your instructions in writing can be surprisingly comforting. At least, that’s what I’ve experienced. I already have my funeral plans made and on the hard drive of my computer, so when the day comes, my husband and/or daughters can pull it up and see exactly what I want at my funeral. There’ll be no squabbling and no indecision.

When you die, your family will be grieving. If you die suddenly and unexpectedly, family members will also be in shock. When the human mind is under intense stress, making decisions can be difficult. And if you’ve ever helped with funeral planning for a loved one, you know how many decisions have to be made. If you plan the funeral yourself, it will make things much easier on your family. They’ll still have plenty to deal with without having to worry about working out the details of a funeral.

When there are several family members involved, decisions can be even harder to reach. If you haven’t left a clear funeral plan, different loved ones might want different things for you. For example, your daughter might be convinced that you’d prefer cremation, while your spouse is just as sure that you’d like to be buried. These disagreements can lead to some intense arguments. You don’t want that, do you?

Are you familiar with prepaid funeral plans? I had never considered them until my mother told me about them. Mom had absolutely no fear of death. As a devout Christian, she fully believed in an afterlife and that she would go to a much better place. When she was in her eighties, she asked me to go with her one morning to a local funeral home to discuss prepaid funeral plans with the funeral director. I didn’t want to go, as it wasn’t exactly my idea of a fun mother-daughter outing, so I told her to get my brother to go with her, instead. He flatly refused, so I ended up going.

There are several different types of prepaid funeral plans, but mom chose the one I’m about to share with you here. She went to a funeral home and met with one of the funeral directors. She selected a casket and explained exactly what she wanted to the director. She already had a cemetery plot next to my father’s grave. Once she expressed all her wishes, the funeral director tallied up the funeral costs and quoted a price. She wrote him a check for the full amount. The money was deposited into a bank account that was in her name and the funeral home’s name. When she died, the money went directly to the funeral home. Everything was taken care of, so the family didn’t have to pay any additional fees.

I asked the director about inflation. If mom paid for the funeral costs in 1995, but she didn’t die until 2010, that would be a period of fifteen years. Don’t funeral costs go up with inflation? He explained that the funeral home would receive the interest earned on the money for prepaid funeral plans, so there would be no additional funeral costs.

Our town has only three or four funeral homes, so choosing one wasn’t difficult for my mom. She chose one where she knew the director and owner. Choosing funeral homes for some people isn’t so easy, however. Your city might have scores of funeral homes, and you might not know anything about any of them. And you might think a funeral home is a funeral home, but there are differences. Some funeral homes are much easier to work with than others. Some are more attractive than others, too. Something else to look for in funeral homes is size and comfort. If you’re expecting a large crowd, you want a funeral home with plenty of room and adequate seating. Oftentimes at funerals, family members who perhaps haven’t seen each other in years get together, and a funeral provides a place for these relatives to visit with each other. Remember the old saying: A funeral is a family reunion with one member missing.

Look for little details in funeral homes, too. Are there enough restrooms? Is there Kleenex available in numerous locations? Is the funeral home designed so that older people and handicapped individuals can easily access it? If you don’t attend a church but want a service at your funeral, you’ll probably want to narrow down your choices to funeral homes that have their own chapels.

If you haven’t priced funerals lately, you might be shocked by funeral costs. My dad died in 2001, and my mom died in 2008. I couldn’t believe how much funeral costs had risen in seven years. Many funeral homes offer “package deals” that cover all the funeral costs, including picking up and preparing the body, the price of the casket, the grave liner, transporting the body to the cemetery, and the actual burial itself. Even if you choose a package, there might be additional funeral costs that aren’t included, like whether or not you want family members to be picked up in limos. Most funeral directors are good at sitting down with family members and going over the funeral costs, item by item.

Don’t wait until you’re 85 to make your funeral plans. None of us is promised tomorrow, so it’s best to do your funeral planning as soon as possible. When you’ve made your decisions, talk your choices over with your family members to make sure there are no surprises. If your loved ones have any objections to your plans, explain why they’re important to you. Put your funeral plans in writing, make several copies, and give a copy to each family member. Also, have a copy or two in a safe place, like in a safety deposit box. With prepaid funeral plans made with a funeral home, give a copy of your wishes to the funeral home staff.