Pre-Paid Funerals

What Are Pre-Paid Funerals?

A pre-paid funeral is an arrangement between you and the funeral home where you pay for the costs of your service before the funeral is held. When you pre-pay for a funeral service, the payments are held in a trust where they can accrue interest over time. Contrary to popular belief, the funeral home does not receive the funds immediately. Until death occurs and the funeral is scheduled, the funeral home is not able to access these funds and use them for expenses or to pay staff salaries.

The Benefits of Pre-Paid Funerals

When you make the decision to pre-pay for your funeral, there are many benefits afforded to both you and your family. For instance, once the arrangements have been completed and pre-paid for, there is nothing left to do. Pre-paid funeral plans offer you and your family the peace of mind that everything is taken care. When the time comes, all your family needs to do is contact us and we will have our staff mobilized to come and assist you.

Below we’ve outlined a few more of the benefits of pre-paid funeral plans.

Save Money

In 1980, the average cost of a traditional funeral service was only $1809. Over time, the cost of a product or service is likely to rise with inflation. One way to save money is by making the conscious choice to plan ahead and prepay for your funeral service. Pre-paid funerals help you avoid the rising costs of inflation and lock in the price at the current rate. If you choose to wait until a death has occurred to pay for a funeral service, your family could end up paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more. Talk to your funeral director and see if there are any promotions for pre-payment discounts.

Remove the Financial Burden

When a death occurs unexpectedly, the surviving family is left to cover some or all of the funeral expenses out of pocket. This can create financial stresses and hardships if the family doesn’t have that money readily available. A pre-paid funeral trust removes any financial burden from your family. This means, instead of stressing over the cost of the service, your family can instead focus their energy on comforting one another and honoring your memory.

More Payment Options

Families in immediate need are often required to pay the entire cost of a funeral service in a large lump sum payment. When you choose to pre-pay for your funeral service, you have more payment options available to you. We’ve outline three possible payment options below, talk to your funeral director to learn more about funeral pre-payment options.

1. Using a Trust

If you choose to pre-pay for your funeral service at once, the money is placed into a trust. Over time, the trust can actually earn interest and be worth more. This means that when the time comes for your service, your family can use the extra money to add to the service, cover any price increase, or be entitled to a partial refund.

2. Using an Insurance Policy

If you qualify, you may be able to take out an insurance policy to help cover your funeral expenses. If you qualify for a policy, your family can use this to help cover any of the funeral expenses or estate taxes.

3. Pay in Installments

Rather than making one large payment, you can also pre-pay in installments. Each installment will be added to the funeral trust and saved for when funeral services are needed. Paying in installments is a popular option because you can make smaller incremental payments that you can work into your monthly expenses budget. Talk to your funeral director about this option to learn more.