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Funeral Planning blog
Burial or cremation: how the choice changes what you need to plan forA line-by-line comparison of burial, cremation with a service and direct cremation: what each bundles, what is optional, and how to build a local budget.The paperwork checklist for the person who will handle your deathWhat to leave for your executor or family: a policy list, contacts, wishes, accounts, legal papers and claim instructions, and how to keep it all current.The first 72 hours after a death: what matters before any insurance claimThe first three days after a death in order, from pronouncement to the funeral home, with the one or two insurance steps worth taking early and what can wait.Four households, four ways to pay for a funeralFour hypothetical families face the same $9,000 funeral bill with savings, a small policy, a prepaid contract or nothing, and we follow the money in each case.A funeral budget worksheet you can fill in with local quotesA line-item funeral budget with a labeled sample family, five cost blocks, a cushion, and a grid for comparing local price lists like for like.What to bring and ask on a funeral home visitA checklist for the arrangement appointment: documents, the written price list, itemized charges, outside purchases, payment and insurance, and what to put off.Funeral myths that cost families money in the arrangement roomSeven assumptions families make when planning a funeral, from embalming to packages, checked against the FTC Funeral Rule and how to verify each one.Funeral planning mistakes that leave families paying twiceSeven ways a prepaid or well-meant funeral plan ends up costing a family a second time, and the questions and paperwork that prevent each one.Planning your own funeral in one weekend, step by stepDecisions in order across two days: disposition, service, who decides, written wishes, price comparison, payment, and where to keep the papers.Preneed contract, burial trust or life insurance: three ways to prefundCompare a prepaid funeral contract, a burial trust and a small life policy on portability, refunds, inflation, Medicaid, provider failure and control.Who pays for a funeral when there is no money? Questions answeredWho is responsible for the bill, which assistance sources exist, how to ask for a lower-cost arrangement, and what happens when the estate cannot pay.