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Why
should I prearrange my
funeral or burial?
When
you plan ahead, you will be
able to consider the many
options available. You will
have the opportunity to make
an informed decision about
your funeral and cemetery
arrangements, and the form
of memorial you prefer. You
will be able to make choices
that are meaningful to both
you and your family, and you
will gain peace of mind
knowing your family and
friends will be relieved of
the emotional and financial
burden often associated with
making arrangements when a
death occurs. In addition,
by prefunding your funeral
and cemetery services, a
guaranteed price contract
will allow you to purchase
at today's prices, free from
inflationary pressures in
the future. (Check to
determine whether prices are
guaranteed). Your local
funeral or cemetery provider
can help you pre-plan.
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If
I pre-plan and prepay my
funeral or burial, how do I know
that the money will be there
when I die?
It's
important to remember that
prearrangement is a two part
transaction. The first is
the funeral agreement
between you and the funeral
home and/or cemetery. That
agreement is comprised
mostly (sometimes completely
depending upon your state
laws) of elements that are
guaranteed to be performed
at no additional costs to
your family once the funding
is complete. The second is
the actual funding of the
agreement. Ironically, it's
the prearrangement provider
who is the most concerned
with the question of the
funds being available at
death. That's why they
carefully consider the
financial soundness of where
funds set aside for funeral
and cemetery prearrangement
agreements will be placed.
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If
I prepay my funeral, what
happens to the interest that my
money earns?
If
you have a prearranged
funeral or burial agreement
that is comprised of items
that are guaranteed to be
performed by the funeral
home or cemetery at no
additional cost to you, the
interest (or growth if a
life insurance policy) is
retained by the funeral
home/cemetery to offset the
rising costs of those
specified goods and services
over time. That's the value
of prearranging and
prefunding at today's costs!
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Can
I change any of these
prepaid funeral services later?
Changes
are generally possible, but
be careful. When changes are
made, they oftentimes affect
the terms of guarantees that
were created under the
original agreement. In the
event funds paid toward a
funeral plan are excludable
resources for purposes of
receiving social services (SSI
or Medicaid), changing the
terms of that agreement
could jeopardize one's
qualification for
assistance. It is not
recommended that irrevocably
assigned funeral plans be
changed in any way.
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What
if your funeral home or
cemetery changes ownership?
Prior
contractual agreements are
not voided simply because a
change of ownership occurs.
The funeral planning
agreement you have with the
prior ownership is carried
forward with successor
owners as part of the
purchase agreement.
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Is
there a pre-payment penalty
for paying off these
arrangements in advance?
It's
not uncommon to have a small
processing fee associated
with an early payment, but
it should not be construed
as a "penalty." In
the long run, there is
usually a good amount of
money to be saved by paying
off early. Of course,
funding agreements vary.
Please be sure to check the
terms of your (or your
proposed) funding agreement
for details.
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Can
social services take my
pre-arrangements away from me?
Take
away? No. Challenge the
amount being set aside to
pay for an expensive
funeral? Yes. Funds set
aside to pay for a
reasonable funeral
arrangement are not counted
as assets as one qualifies
for social services. Your
local funeral director can
provide counsel regarding
the amount local social
services agencies consider
reasonable and customary to
spend on a funeral.
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