Funeral costs are a real concern for most families facing the death and burial of a loved one. At a time when stress and anxiety are already higher than average, knowing that you will be expected to pay out thousands of dollars to provide a fitting farewell can prove difficult.
While more and more families are preparing for this eventuality with funeral pre-paid packages, there are options for those who have not planned ahead. In addition to financing a funeral, you can manage funeral costs by comparison shopping, selecting lower-cost burial alternatives, and coordinating services at the funeral home of your choice.
Online Funeral Planner Assistance
If you are preparing to plan a funeral, we suggest following this guide to estimate costs and come up with the best options for your family. Losing a loved one will always be difficult—and financing a funeral is rarely something anyone looks forward to—but with the right resources and support, you can come up with a beautiful funeral that won’t break the bank.
Advance funeral planning is becoming an increasingly popular choice for people who want to handle the burden of burial before death occurs. With so many different funeral pre-plan packages to choose from and the opportunity to relieve your loved ones of the costs and stress associated with burial, it’s no wonder why.
Because it is impossible to predict death, the only way to ensure that pre-planned funerals work is to bind everything in a legal contract or agreement. Every contract is a little bit different depending on where you go and what type of service you choose, but one thing that everyone should be aware of before signing on the dotted line is what the fine print says regarding cash advance items.
When it comes time to start funeral planning, you may find that you have lingering questions about cremation. Yes, we all know that it provides a lower-cost alternative to traditional burial, and that the outcome—an urn of ashes—can be scattered or kept on the mantelpiece as a kind of memorial to the deceased.
But what about the details? When is cremation not recommended? How personalized is the process of transforming the body into ashes? And where can you go to find more information?
The following list of common questions should help provide a baseline of understanding the cremation process. For additional information, you should always contact a local funeral home or the Cremation Association of North American (CANA).
In the funeral planning industry, most people associate autopsies with high-intensity drama and crime. Thanks in large part to television and the media, it is generally assumed that only deceased individuals who have died under suspicious circumstances are eligible to receive autopsies. While it is true that the majority of autopsies are performed for this reason, families may also request private autopsies for their own personal information.
Why Get a Private Autopsy?
If officials don’t suspect an unnatural cause of death, chances are they will release a body directly to the funeral home of your choosing. However, if you have any questions about your loved one’s health or cause of death, you may want to opt for an autopsy in order to seek answers.
Some of the more common reasons for requesting a private autopsy include:
Questions about the cause of death
Concerns about the treatment and care of the deceased prior to death
Insurance settlements and medical malpractice issues
Family health concerns (particularly if the deceased is believed to have died from a genetic disorder)
Although every state handles death certificates differently, there are some universal standards that should help you navigate the process of ordering death certificates, making corrections, and process other record-keeping needs.
For questions about your specific state, we encourage you to contact your state’s vital records office or the National Center for Health Statistics.
Death Certificates: Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need a death certificate for?
A death certificate is needed to settle most financial and legal affairs on behalf of the deceased. As the official legal record of death, the death certificate is needed for most insurance companies, the Social Security Administration, and other agencies that must process paperwork related to the deceased’s affairs.
Oftentimes, when we talk about rights and responsibilities in the funeral planning industry, it’s about what you, the consumer, can legally expect from a funeral home. Several federal laws exist to protect you from predatory burial practices and to ensure that any investment you make in a per-arranged funeral plan is safe for the future.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that funeral homes don’t have rights, too. As businesses like any other, they are just as susceptible to non-payments, customers who change their minds, and other consumer practices that pose a risk to their bottom line. That’s why they have a few legal rights, as well.
Although most laws do rest on the side of the consumer, here are a few things a funeral home is allowed (and not allowed) to do.
A funeral home has the right to refuse to accept the deceased’s remains if there is a dispute about the right of disposition. This means that when family members disagree about how to dispose of a loved one’s remains (and when there is no legal document or situation that assigns one person the right to make decisions), the funeral home can opt not to handle the case—even if one person promises to pay for the funeral out-of-pocket. (more…)
Funeral planning isn’t a positive experience in the best of circumstances—so when you add a complicated legal or personal situation, things have a way of becoming even more difficult and emotional.
One scenario that few people anticipate having to navigate is how to take care of the deceased when he or she passes away in a government institution like jail. However, this type of situation can and does happen, and there are options for families who wish to reclaim the deceased’s body for a personalized burial.
The Death Care Industry and Prison
In many cases, inmates who face a long time in prison—or who are otherwise in a situation in which death has a reasonable chance of occurring while they are incarcerated—make a will or other advance plans for death. Because they are already firmly in the legal system and have had contact with a lawyer, they may have been encouraged to draft a will that indicates where and how their body will be interred.
Planning a funeral in advance is often held up as the ideal way in which to approach your financial affairs. After all, when you pre-plan a funeral, you can make all the money decisions and funeral arrangements ahead of time, leaving your family free to deal with their loss without additional strain. From choosing your casket to buying a burial plot, you’ve got it all covered.
Preplanning a cremation is a bit different. Because a cremation doesn’t cost as much as a traditional funeral, and because the process tends to be simpler from start to finish, making advance arrangements for a cremation is not as common. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Here are a few reasons why we think prepaying for a cremation makes good sense.
You Want Cremation: Though widely accepted by most religions and families in the United States, cremation is by no means as mainstream as traditional burial. If you feel strongly about your desire to be cremated, it’s a good idea to do all the planning (and prepaying) yourself. This way, there will be no question about your wishes.
You Have Specific Plans: The thing about cremation is that it can be just as varied as traditional funerals. Do you want your ashes to be kept in an urn in a columbarium, or scattered out to sea? Do you prefer direct cremation with a minimal fuss? Would you like your ashes to be buried in a coral reef or shot into space? If there’s anything out of the ordinary that you want at your funeral, now is a good time to make sure it’s attended to.
You Have Questions: Although you can research cremation options online, there’s nothing quite like sitting down with a funeral director or funeral preplan professional to get all the answers. If you have any worries or concerns about the cremation process, about cremation costs, or about what it means for your family, talk with someone who can put you in touch with a reputable prepaid cremation provider.
Your Finances are Unstable: Because cremation typically costs less than regular burial, many people think it’s not as big of a deal to put it off until after death occurs. However, the lower cost of cremation also means that it’s more affordable to prepay. If your finances are in a questionable state, or if you can handle smaller, monthly payments more easily than a lump sum, it might be a good idea to prepay for services now.
Cremation is the right choice for a lot of people. Prepaying for a funeral is the right choice for a lot of people, as well. Combining the two can be a great way to save money, settle your affairs, and relieve your family of much of the pressures that accompany death.
One of the best ways to comparison shop for the best prices when planning a funeral is to call the home ahead of time to determine their rates. According to the Funeral Rule, funeral service providers are required to give consumers who contact them via phone all of the information contained in their General Price List, Casket Price List, and Outer Burial Container Price List. To the best of their ability, they are also required to answer questions that relate to payment options and additional costs.
The reason for all these legal regulations is to prevent funeral homes from taking advantage of customers at what is obviously a difficult time in their lives. While most funeral homes are more than happy to adhere to these laws and will do their best to help you make an informed decision, it is important that you know your rights as a consumer and what you can expect when you call a funeral home.
Funeral service providers are prohibited from requiring you to give your name, address, or phone number in exchange for information. This doesn’t mean they can’t ask—it simply means you aren’t obligated to reply. Information regarding prices should be made available to you either way. (more…)
These days, funerals have become such grand, ornate affairs that it’s almost impossible to know where all your products come from. Caskets may be shipped from a manufacturer in another state or even overseas. Flowers might come from Internet funeral florists or be sent up from as far away as South America. Even memorial videos are often outsourced to third party providers who are spread around the globe.
While there is nothing wrong with the globalization of the funeral industry (in fact, this kind of practice can substantially reduce funeral costs), some people prefer a smaller, more intimate service that draws from local vendors. If the deceased was a person who believed in supporting the community and taking things back to a more grassroots level, it might be a good idea to include many local and small businesses in the funeral plan.
Funeral costs are a real concern for most families facing the death and burial of a loved one. At a time when stress and anxiety are already higher than average, knowing that you will be expected to pay out thousands of dollars to provide a fitting farewell can prove difficult.
