Paying for your funeral in advance is a prudent way to ease the financial burden on your loved ones when your time comes. Although the cost of funerals has kept increasing, more people are exploring better ways to keep costs low without sacrificing their wishes. Opting for prepaid funeral plans is one of the most effective ways of keeping the costs low while protecting your wishes.
Prepaying for a funeral entails setting aside funds to cater for services and expenses. This implies that when you cease to exist, your family will be relieved from making a huge decision regarding the disposal of your remains. Better still, your loved ones won’t be troubled on how to finance your burial. More often than not, when it comes to bearing the funeral expenses, all the burden goes to the family.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of pros and cons of prepaying for a funeral or cremation services.
Although it can be a prudent, proactive option, it’s not best fitted for everyone’s case. In this, we’ll look at the pros and cons of preplanning a funeral or cremation service, and you can see for yourself if it is a good option for you.
Benefits of Prepaying for a Funeral
1. EASES FINANCIAL BURDEN ON YOUR LOVED ONES
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The main advantage of paying for your funeral beforehand is easing the burden on your loved ones. By handling all the details of your funeral prior to your demise, these decisions will be taken off of your family’s plate.
After the demise of a loved one, it’s common to endure grief. That coupled with planning extensive services and send-off arrangements can make it even more stressful. Rather, your loved ones should concentrate on mourning and healing. Better still, your family can relax knowing that all the expenses emanating from your funeral are catered for. In this way, preplanning and prepaying for your own funeral or cremation service helps take a weight off the mind of your loved ones, in what is sure to be a very stressful time. Not only does this provide your family with peace of mind, but it can also provide you with peace of mind as well, as you can be safe and secure in knowing that they will not have to stress or worry about this.
2. OBSERVE YOUR PERSONAL DECISIONS
Many people have intense feelings concerning their end-of-life arrangements and funerals. While you won’t be there to oversee these things, it is necessary to make your wishes known regarding how you would like to be laid to rest.
By opting for prepaid funeral plans and making final arrangements yourself, you’re in absolute control over your burial decisions. You can decide on several things, such as where to be laid to rest, the type of burial you prefer, headstone from www.maggardlaserart.com, casket, etc. All of these decisions do away with doubts surrounding your death and end-of-life plans. It simplifies the entire post-death process for everyone involved, and ensures you are taken care of in the manner of your own choosing.
3. SECURE AFFORDABLE RATES
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You can save on the cost by making arrangements and paying for your funeral beforehand since the funeral expenses are continually rising. Whether the prices increase in the future, the agreement will remain in place, meaning you won’t incur any additional monetary expenses. This can be an effective
way to reduce the expenses of funeral planning, bearing in mind that funeral prices are on the rise. Plus, most funeral homes offer discounted packages if you opt for prepaid plans. Eventually, with the extreme costs of funerals, this is usually cheaper. There is also the benefit of incurring the costs over an extended period of time, rather than having to unexpectedly pay out thousands of dollars at once.
4. PICK YOUR PREFERRED FUNERAL HOME
If you have got a funeral home in your area that you highly regard, chances are you prefer your loved ones to settle for this provider. When you pay in advance for your funeral arrangements, you’re restricted to using the specified funeral home.
And because packages are non-transferable, this can ease mental distress knowing that your loved ones are settling on your cherished service provider. Most people are loyal to specific funeral home; hence this offers the free will to choose.
Cons of Preplanning a Funeral or Cremation
1. BEWARE OF FUNERAL SCAMS
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Even though rare, funeral scams are a common occurrence when shopping for prepaid funeral plans. Most funeral scams revolve around funeral packages paid in advance. To avoid being a victim of this fraud, familiarize yourself with your state’s laws concerning funeral scams and prepayment. It is recommended that you discuss any arrangement or agreements you make with an estate lawyer ahead of time. On top of that, usually read the fine print and internalize what your funds will be utilized for before committing to a plan.
2. THERE CAN BE SUDDEN FEES
Even though you pay beforehand, that doesn’t signify that there won’t be more expenses after you’re gone. Your prepaid package might only be catering for a couple of services. Your family may still be required to pay more money for other services not covered in your prepayment plan if they decide they want to add on services.
To safeguard your family from unexpected fees, ensure to read the fine print before committing to any prepaid package. Examine the details of the package to understand what is covered and what is not so that there won’t be any more surprises. Also, be sure to discuss with your loved ones what your payments will be covering, so they are not caught off guard.
3. NOT POSSIBLE TO TRANSFER YOUR PLAN
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Although sticking to a particular funeral home is recommended, these plans are only limited to one
service provider. So, you can’t seek the transfer of these plans from one funeral home to another.
If you relocate, let’s say, from rural areas to urban areas, you won’t be able to transfer your plan to your new location. This is only possible if you entered into an agreement with a countrywide funeral home chain, providing you with more flexibility. Plus, if your preferred funeral home ceases its operations, your chances of getting a full refund may be minimal. For this reason, it is not recommended to prepay for a funeral unless there is some reason, whether due to terminal illness, or old age and bad health, to believe you will be using the service within a year, or two at the most. After all, it is impossible to predict which funeral homes will still be around and operating 5-10 years from now. If you are interested in learning more about prepaid funeral or cremation services, you can check out https://eternalcremations.org/detroit-cremation-services/
