Pre paying for funerals ?

IKE

IKE

Well-known Member
Location
Oklahoma....U.S.A.
Mama and I finally got around to having our wills and power of attorneys done a few months back so that's done and then yesterday there was an ad in the paper, from a local funeral home, advertising for prepaid funeral arrangements.

My body disposal wishes are known by mama......straight from the hospital, morgue, nursing home etc to the funeral home for cremation with no notification to family (none close anyway) or friends and no services or hoopla.

Pretty much cut and dry.....die, cremate, cheap urn, done.

I'm just thinking ahead and trying to tie up loose ends but then again I'm a little bit leery to prepay for something upfront that hopefully will not happen for several more years.

How do you feel about prepaying for funeral arrangements ?
 

I would not pre-pay for my funeral, which is to be as cheap as possible, a cardboard coffin, and my ashes scattered to the four winds. Definitely no wreaths, flowers or funeral service.
 
I think prepaying is a good idea Ike. Lock in the costs, you don't have to worry about someone you love and who will be devastated when you go, having to arrange things and you get to decided exactly what you want......Sounds excellent whether you plan on a 'green' end, cremation or a 'blow the wad' type funeral.
 

I just Googled........prepayment for funeral good or bad.

It looks like it's not really recommended because it's easy to get ripped off by the funeral home.
 
I agree with Debby, I think people would be more vulnerable for ripoffs when a love one has just died.

My mother has a prepaid funeral that she arranged 15 years ago, I plan on doing the same.
 
If my husband dies before me I would shop around for the best quote, he would come back and haunt me if I didn't!:D
 
Cremation expenses are not very large...under $2,000 in the majority of cases. If a person has their wills made out, and their wishes known to the relatives, etc., and has the funds set aside to pay for the funeral, I see no need to give some funeral home, or insurance company money they will invest and make a profit from. Besides, if it is several years before these services are needed, a person might move to a different location, and any "prepaid" plans might have to be transferred, etc., and lead to even more hassles.
 
I would not pre-pay for my funeral, which is to be as cheap as possible, a cardboard coffin, and my ashes scattered to the four winds. Definitely no wreaths, flowers or funeral service.

My choice exactly...I feel the body is a temporary vessel.
 
I paid $1,650 six years ago for a guarantee that my body would be picked up where ever I died (even abroad) and taken to a creamatory for cremation and the ashes sent to San Francisco for disposal in San Francisco Bay. My daughter would probably have a Memorial Service.
 
"My body disposal wishes are known by mama......straight from the hospital, morgue, nursing home etc to the funeral home for cremation with no notification to family (none close anyway) or friends and no services or hoopla."

Make sure your wishes are widely known.

My father's wishes were similar to yours and I complied with them to the letter, but it caused me to be shunned by all the family, and all family and personal friends because of a "lack of respect".

That rift still exists today, some thirty years later.

It also cost me a six figure inheritance.

On the thread subject, mu funeral is already paid for.
 
My grandmother pre-paid hers almost 20 years before she died. When my mom and aunt went to the funeral home to go over the arrangements, they got a bill for $8,000. The funeral home guy said costs had gone up. Poor guy didn't realize he had two old Scotch-Irish ladies sitting across from him. They gave him a piece of their mind(s), and wound up only paying for some extra flowers - by choice, I might add.

There's a section on pre-paid contracts now referring to inflation. Read it carefully. If it isn't there, someone's going to get charged.
 
Prepaying my funeral is low on the list of priorities at the moment. But if I live a long life, I might do so towards the end so my nephews and niece do not have to fool with arrangements and so forth. Going to play it by ear. If I drop dead before I get around to it........I'm confident I'll get planted somehow. ;)
 
Butterfly said:
What if the funeral home where you've prepaid goes out of business before the time comes? Are you just SOL? I don't think I'll prepay funeral expenses.
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They give you options: either a refund or selling your funeral to another funeral home. If it's a sale, you get a new contract and usually more charges. There might be other options. Those are the ones I personally know about. If the funeral home goes bankrupt or gets into legal trouble, that's when you're SOL.

You can buy a burial plot without having to pre-pay a funeral.

I'll be cremated. They're as cheap as $600 here.
 
Wrigley's said:
They give you options: either a refund or selling your funeral to another funeral home. If it's a sale, you get a new contract and usually more charges. There might be other options. Those are the ones I personally know about. If the funeral home goes bankrupt or gets into legal trouble, that's when you're SOL.

You can buy a burial plot without having to pre-pay a funeral.

I'll be cremated. They're as cheap as $600 here.
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Note on Burial plots: My MIL has two sets of burial plots, her husband is buried in one of them. She wants to be buried next to him. We tried to sell the other two plots and the cemetery said they do not bye back the plots!! They also said that the sale to another party MUST be done at their office!! (out of State). I tried several funeral homes in that area with no response from them!!
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We are considering prepay for my wife and me. We will be cremated and buried in my parents grave.

Our wishes are a one day memorial for the family/friends and then burial.
 

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