Have you prepaid your funeral plans?

[mountainsoft]

My mom is in assisted living and has about 7-8 years before her personal assets run out. After that she will need to apply for Medicaid to cover the assisted living costs.

We are thinking about prepaying her funeral expenses while she still has money, and so she can select the casket, grave stone, etc. that she would like. As long as the plan is setup as irrevocable Medicaid isn't supposed to count it as an asset.

I've been talking with a funeral home and they have an insurance plan that can be set up as irrevocable. It's supposed to be guaranteed coverage even if prices increase in the future except for the death certificates and taxes. It's also suppose to offer protection if the funeral home were to go out of business before she dies.

It sounds like a smart thing to do, but I'm curious if anyone here has prepaid their funeral plans like this?

 

[big-papa]

My mom is in assisted living and has about 7-8 years before her personal assets run out. After that she will need to apply for Medicaid to cover the assisted living costs.

We are thinking about prepaying her funeral expenses while she still has money, and so she can select the casket, grave stone, etc. that she would like. As long as the plan is setup as irrevocable Medicaid isn't supposed to count it as an asset.

I've been talking with a funeral home and they have an insurance plan that can be set up as irrevocable. It's supposed to be guaranteed coverage even if prices increase in the future except for the death certificates and taxes. It's also suppose to offer protection if the funeral home were to go out of business before she dies.

It sounds like a smart thing to do, but I'm curious if anyone here has prepaid their funeral plans like this?

My parents did this. Worked out well for all involved when they passed. Your mileage may certainly vary of course....

 

[Nemo2]

I've told DW, that, should I expire in another country while we're traveling, to either remove my wallet/passport from the corpse and keep walking, or if she's somewhat reticent to do that, have me incinerated locally.

If I'm at home....just have the body disposed of as cheaply & efficiently as possible.

I'll be dead...what do I care?

 

[Monterey298sc]

As a owner of a funeral home, I can help with any questions. You explained it perfectly. Only thing I would check on is the funeral home local and family owned or a big chain like SCI. If a family owned goes out of business you can transfer to 23,000 FH in US. If you chose chain you must chose another SCI firm “ written in policy” and only a have a couple hundred in the US.

 

[Dtail]

We set up an irrevocable trust for my parents, so not directly for funeral expenses or cost protected, but should do the trick in the end.

 

[Monterey298sc]

We set up an irrevocable trust for my parents, so not directly for funeral expenses or cost protected, but should do the trick in the end.

The advantage with setting up with FH is it freezes prices .

 

[6miths]

I've told DW, that, should I expire in another country while we're traveling, to either remove my wallet/passport from the corpse and keep walking, or if she's somewhat reticent to do that, have me incinerated locally.

If I'm at home....just have the body disposed of as cheaply & efficiently as possible.

I'll be dead...what do I care?

Why didn't I think of that?! Otherwise, I have left the same instructions. My DM and DF prepaid things and we did use the chapel for a service when DF passed but DM now has similar sentiments to you and asked for a refund. She is the only surviving parent. The other 3 all cremated and had low cost memorials. No markers. DW and I are of similar mind but not needing the formal memorial service. Times change.

 

[pacergal]

My parents prepaid for cremation. One call and the whole process was very simple during those difficult times.
I have considered the same thing, but not acted yet.

 

[TDub]

My DF did not prepay and I had to figure it out on my own, out of my home state, in my early 20s. Do your kids a favor (if you have any) and arrange as much of that beforehand as you can. It’s painful enough without trying to navigate those details.

 

[mountainsoft]

As a owner of a funeral home, I can help with any questions. You explained it perfectly. Only thing I would check on is the funeral home local and family owned or a big chain like SCI. If a family owned goes out of business you can transfer to 23,000 FH in US.

The place I've been talking with said the prepaid order will usually be sold to another funeral home if they should go out of business. All price guarantees are supposed to stay the same, other than taxes and death certificates.

The only thing that threw me off was the "insurance" plan instead of an irrevocable trust. They said it can be made irrevocable to satisfy Medicaid, but I hadn't heard of the insurance plan like that before.

Everything sounded like a smart plan and mom thought it was a good idea too. So we'll probably schedule an appointment to get everything arranged.

 

[Sunset]

I've told DW, that, should I expire in another country while we're traveling, to either remove my wallet/passport from the corpse and keep walking, or if she's somewhat reticent to do that, have me incinerated locally.

...

Just be sure to tell her the password to the laptop BEFORE.

 

[Sunset]

As a owner of a funeral home, I can help with any questions. You explained it perfectly. Only thing I would check on is the funeral home local and family owned or a big chain like SCI. If a family owned goes out of business you can transfer to 23,000 FH in US. If you chose chain you must chose another SCI firm “ written in policy” and only a have a couple hundred in the US.

Nice to have an expert chime in.

 

[Monterey298sc]

The place I've been talking with said the prepaid order will usually be sold to another funeral home if they should go out of business. All price guarantees are supposed to stay the same, other than taxes and death certificates.

The only thing that threw me off was the "insurance" plan instead of an irrevocable trust. They said it can be made irrevocable to satisfy Medicaid, but I hadn't heard of the insurance plan like that before.

Everything sounded like a smart plan and mom thought it was a good idea too. So we'll probably schedule an appointment to get everything arranged.

I am also a licensed insurance agent as well and funeral director and embalmer. We put the money by law in insurance to avoid a 1099 each year to you. Insurance is not taxed.
The sad thing today with people doing cremation with NO permanent memorial. A place for generations to memorialize. Without a headstone it like people did not exist. Sadly when our company cremated someone 50 yrs ago and now the great grandkids want to know where there family is buried, we tell them took them home. Family is upset they can’t go see where they are buried.

 

[Nemo2]

Just be sure to tell her the password to the laptop BEFORE.

Being an ex software developer, she's the one who sets everything up.

 

[Nemo2]

Why didn't I think of that?! Otherwise, I have left the same instructions. My DM and DF prepaid things and we did use the chapel for a service when DF passed but DM now has similar sentiments to you and asked for a refund. She is the only surviving parent. The other 3 all cremated and had low cost memorials. No markers. DW and I are of similar mind but not needing the formal memorial service. Times change.

I commented in a PM to another poster this a.m. that, somewhat ironically, we tend to visit old cemeteries when we travel, (our favorite being: Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno | Visitgenoa.it ), but neither of us has any interest in being interred in one.

As you say, "Times change".

 

[Scuba]

I am also a licensed insurance agent as well and funeral director and embalmer. We put the money by law in insurance to avoid a 1099 each year to you. Insurance is not taxed.

The sad thing today with people doing cremation with NO permanent memorial. A place for generations to memorialize. Without a headstone it like people did not exist. Sadly when our company cremated someone 50 yrs ago and now the great grandkids want to know where there family is buried, we tell them took them home. Family is upset they can’t go see where they are buried.

Depends on the family. I have never visited any relative’s grave. We have no children and even if we did, I’d prefer that they cherish memories and photos of us alive rather than keep an urn with our ashes in it.

 

[bizlady]

My MIL passed last year and was on Medicaid. She did a prepaid funeral. We are glad she did as we would have only been allowed the minimum required to get her into the ground otherwise. An itemized statement was required from the funeral home. We also had to register the prepaid funeral when she applied for Medicaid. Turned out we did not use all of the prepaid and the balance went to the state. We were fine with that as we were grateful for the safely net Medicaid provided.

 

[Brat]

My family joined a memorial association years ago. They bid out mortuary services and you can record your preferences in their records. I used that when my parents passed and the cost was very reasonable.

My parents were interred in grandparents cemetery lot but that is now full so one of us will need to figure out where our ashes go. We have Pioneer Cemeteries in the state that are now administered by counties. That would be one inexpensive option. A cousin asked that his ashes be distributed at his favorite camping area. Another relative had their ashes distributed around their favorite home rose garden (successor purchasers are clueless).

I ran the ash distribution option by the kids, they are adamantly opposed claiming they want a place to go. Little do they know that about 3 years after our passing their lives will be too full for visitation.

 

[Amethyst]

We addressed it differently. Neither of us wants or expects a funeral with casket, viewing, body burial, gravestone, etc., although funds for a modest memorial service are accounted for in our Wills.

We are registered organ donors, and also registered with the State Board that oversees cadaver donations to medical schools, etc.

So, any parts that can be used, will go to those who can use them. Anything unusable will be cremated, not at our estate's expense.

My mom is in assisted living and has about 7-8 years before her personal assets run out. After that she will need to apply for Medicaid to cover the assisted living costs.

We are thinking about prepaying her funeral expenses while she still has money, and so she can select the casket, grave stone, etc. that she would like. As long as the plan is setup as irrevocable Medicaid isn't supposed to count it as an asset.

I've been talking with a funeral home and they have an insurance plan that can be set up as irrevocable. It's supposed to be guaranteed coverage even if prices increase in the future except for the death certificates and taxes. It's also suppose to offer protection if the funeral home were to go out of business before she dies.

It sounds like a smart thing to do, but I'm curious if anyone here has prepaid their funeral plans like this?

 

[braumeister]

Both my parents were very "down to earth" people (pun intended), so they made it super easy for me.

When I asked my dad what his wishes were, he just said "Why would I care?"
But after pressing the point, he finally asked me to scatter his ashes in his favorite fishing area, so that's what I did. Paddled out in my kayak and had a little private ceremony just for myself.

When my mom was close, she had no special desires either, but in the end she finally said "Oh, just put them with your father's." Another trip back east and all was done.

Both of them had direct cremations, as they wished, so it was all very simple.

 

[KB]

My family has used pre-paid cremation for 4 different family members in multiple states. All went according to plan. My sister and I both purchased plans too.

 

[mountainsoft]

Neither of us wants or expects a funeral with casket, viewing, body burial, gravestone, etc., although funds for a modest memorial service are accounted for in our Wills.

I guess I'm more traditional, I still prefer burial over cremation. However, I don't want any viewing or memorial type services. We bought our cemetery plots a few years ago and are planning for natural burials. As I understand it they just wrap your body in a cloth of some type and stick you in the ground. No casket, no liners, etc.

Looking at some of the options the funeral home was offering for mom, I didn't see the point of waterproof vaults and caskets with seals? Are people afraid their corpse is going to get wet?

My mom doesn't have any friends or family left other than me and her sister, so there's no point in having a memorial service. They do offer a scheduled burial that we could go watch her being buried. I thought that sounded like a nice option to give a little closure to see that mom is gone. Otherwise, it would just be like mom disappeared one day without explanation.

 

[Sue J]

When my 89 year old dad entered hospice my sister suggested that we prepay for his funeral. I was POA so I needed to handle this. We assumed a casket and funeral similar to mom's a few years prior. The funeral home wrote up the proposed expenses and set up a life insurance policy to cover the cost which was under $10,000. As POA I paid for it out of his funds.

When he died a few months later this turned out exactly as planned. We could make any changes we wanted and the funeral home adjusted some costs that were extra (night pickup) and refunded things we ended up not using. Overall the cost was within about $100 of what we had expected and that was billed soon after.

What was so nice about this is that neither my sister or I had to come up with $10,000 right after his death. POA ends upon death so I could not have used his funds after he died. I'm sure the funeral home could have billed later but it was nice to have this all arranged in advance.

When Mom died, Dad wanted my sister and I to go to the funeral home and arrange it all. They asked for payment and since my Dad was not there my sister asked if I minded if she put it on her credit card and Dad would reimburse her. She wanted the credit card points!

 

[Sunset]

I commented in a PM to another poster this a.m. that, somewhat ironically, we tend to visit old cemeteries when we travel, (our favorite being: Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno | Visitgenoa.it ), but neither of us has any interest in being interred in one.

As you say, "Times change".

I also like old cemeteries, used to play in them as a child, now I appreciate some of the wonderful sculptures and basically monuments.

Mine would be a plain headstone due to cost, so nothing to look at, this is the family tradition so no real interest in looking at the family plot.

 

[mountainsoft]

The sad thing today with people doing cremation with NO permanent memorial. A place for generations to memorialize.

Our local cemeteries have free standing memorial blocks with cremation urns inside and a small plaque on the outside. Maybe that's normal now but I thought it was a neat idea for folks who choose to be cremated.

Like scuba said, I rarely visit a cemetery. However, my wife does genealogy so we've gone to cemeteries to see the grave stones of family members we've never heard of or have any photos of. Of course, you can find this information online now but there's still something about "going there" to see it in person. I suppose it's similar to why we travel for vacations when we could see the same thing in pictures and video.