Posts Tagged ‘family’

The death of a loved one can be one of the most trying times in a person’s life.  Between planning for the funeral, gathering friends and family together to grieve and dealing with your own emotions, it can undoubtedly be an exhausting and trying time.  However, it’s important to remember that the time after your loved one’s death is crucial to your own financial and legal well-being, and there may be several issues and affairs of the estate that need to be addressed once the funeral is over.

Of course, one of the most common legal issues that arise after the death of a loved one is that of finances, especially when it comes to any debts or unpaid bills that are left behind.  If your loved one leaves behind a will and an estate with clear instructions as to how assets should be allocated, then there shouldn’t be many legal ramifications for you and your relatives.  If there’s no will, however, then it might be a good idea to hire a lawyer and an accountant, as you’ll encounter several legal and financial issues when dividing assets amongst relatives, creditors and lenders.

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Planning your travel to a funeral can be a stressful and burdensome task; between grieving for the loss of a family member or loved one and alerting others to the service, comparing the best airfare hardly seems like an activity that you want to give your time and energy to.  However, there are certain tricks that you can use to not only get the best airfare, but to make traveling to a funeral a smooth and stress-free experience for everyone involved.  Use these techniques when it’s time to plan your travel, and you’ll spend less of your precious time playing part-time travel agent and have more time to grieve and remember the life of the deceased.

Unless your loved one was gravely ill for some time, purchasing airfare to attend a funeral can often be quite costly, as funerals are usually held less than a week from the date of death.  You can end up paying a lot of money for last-minute airfare tickets – unless, of course, you ask for bereavement airfare discounts.  Bereavement airfare is typically available for family members of the deceased who are traveling to a funeral, and can be booked right up until departure time.  You won’t be able to secure bereavement airfare through travel websites, so call airlines and ask about their special discounts.  You can grab airfare for a discount of up to 50 percent off, with some airlines even offering 75 percent off a full fare.  However, if your travels require more than one airline, your bereavement airfare will only be available on the requested flight.  Call the other airlines to ensure that you’re being offered discounted airfare.

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Many funeral homes offer plenty of services to help grieving family members and friends of a deceased loved with funeral planning – but what about when it comes to finding long-lost friends and relatives for the funeral service?  In many cultures, it is a tradition to hold a gathering after a wake or funeral in order to continue the mourning and celebration of a loved one’s life; in fact, several funeral homes even have a large space that’s used specifically for after-service dinners.  However, it can be difficult and time-consuming to gather everyone together for the funeral and after-service, so you’ll need as much help as you can muster from both relatives and the staff members of  funeral homes.

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