A prepaid funeral is just one step
Published 9:55 am Monday, February 8, 2016
By Eric Weerts
Funeral director, Mayer Funeral Home
Five years ago Irene set aside money for her prepaid funeral.
To start this process, she put money in her savings account at the bank here and there. Once she had a few thousand dollars saved, she decided to go to her local funeral home and set that money aside for her funeral arrangements. Irene died recently and her family mentioned to the funeral director that Irene told them that everything is taken care of.
Weerts
The funeral director mentioned there is some money there, but she never picked anything out and most likely they will have to come up with the unpaid balance.
This scenario is frightening to any family that is affected by a loss. However, it is a common situation that funeral homes face. The main issue here is that when Irene put money away, the funeral home never properly asked her what her wishes were. This is the old way of prepaying for funerals. Throwing money at final expenses without making choices about what you really want. Everyone has the right to make known their final wishes. The scenario above could have been avoided if Irene and the funeral director would have put together a plan for her final arrangements.
Another issue that I’ve seen is individuals who want to be buried but are cremated when they pass because they hadn’t made their wishes known. There have been examples of people who prepaid over $10,000 for their arrangements and never selected burial or cremation. When their death occurs, their family must decide what to do. If the decedent was on medical assistance (MA) any monies not spent goes to the county; not back to the family of the deceased.
Properly set up prepaid funerals, along with the guidance of the funeral home assisting in what your wishes are, make for a successful and complete prepaid funeral. At Mayers, we take it a step further and guarantee our services and merchandise. Your costs from us will never increase once the prepaid funeral is properly created.
If you have an existing prepaid funeral with your funeral home of choice, make sure that your wishes are known and you have adequate dollar amount coverage for those wishes. Remember, everyone has the right to make known their final wishes.
