FUNERAL PREPLANNING FOR LASTING PEACE
OF MIND

What is Funeral Preplanning?
Funeral preplanning is arranging and, in some cases, paying in advance for funeral services.  Funeral preplanning can be as simple as creating some notes regarding your personal preferences and vital information to be kept on file at the funeral home.  It can also involve making service and merchandise selections in advance and prefunding those selections through a bank trust or insurance policy.  Our licensed staff can explain all of the preplanning options to you and personally guide you through each decision.  Prearrangement consultations are free and without obligation.  We welcome your questions.

Why Preplan?
Making funeral arrangements after a death has occurs is often stressful. Families are simultaneously experiencing a variety of heightened emotions, stress and sometimes shock. Jewish law dictates that burial take place as soon as possible after death occurs. Coupled with the urgency of notifying friends and family, the burden of arranging a funeral can seem overwhelming.

1. Funeral preplanning offers peace of mind.  Your final wishes will be fulfilled. The burden of making funeral decisions and financial arrangements at an emotionally difficult time will be lifted.  Loved ones will also have peace of mind knowing that funeral arrangements will be carried out in accordance with your wishes.
2. Prearrangement allows families to make difficult decisions with a clear mind and offers an opportunity for deliberation. Unlike funeral arrangements which must be made shortly after death occurs, prearrangements can be made at your home, at your office or synagogue and with sufficient time for consulting family, friends or clergy to make sure that you are satisfied with your choices.
3. Preplanning for funeral expenses can be a useful shelter for “spending down” funds prior to applying for Medicaid or Title 19 benefits. Once the death benefit has been irrevocably assigned to the funeral home, the policy or bank trust is generally not considered to be an accountable asset for purposes of eligibility.
4. By prefunding your arrangement in full, you are protected against inflation. Funeral home services and merchandise (casket and burial vault) costs are locked in at the time of prepayment. Interest earned in a prefunding trust or insurance policy is used to offset inflation. If the interest earned exceeds inflation, the remainder is returned to the estate. If the interest earned falls short of inflation, your family will not be charged the difference. Cash advances such as flowers, newspaper notices, cemetery charges, clergy honorarium or any other services obtained on your behalf by the funeral home are charged at the actual cost at the time of death. Although we cannot guarantee those prices in advance, we can estimate those expenses with you so that funds are set aside to adequately cover them.

How are prearrangements funded?
You are not required to prefund your prearrangement. If you wish to document your final wishes and keep those on file at the funeral home for your family, we can assist you. Sometimes just knowing that the family need only make a single phone call at the time of need provides enormous relief and peace of mind.

If, however, you would like to prefund, we have licensed preneed specialists on our staff who can explain and assist you with the prefunding option of your choice.

 

1. Burial Trust
   When families prefund through a burial trust, any amount can be deposited into a trust held by a federally insured bank. The named recipient is the funeral home. Trust funds are still considered your asset which means that interest earned is taxable. You will receive a 1099 form at the end of each year. There is no age or health prerequisite to creating a burial trust.
2. Insurance Funded Burial Agreement
   Insurance funding can be used to cover all funeral related costs including professional services, casket, vault and cash advance items such as newspaper notice and clergy honorarium. There are no health requirements if a single premium payment plan is selected. You will not receive a 1099 form because there is no taxable interest. We have two experienced licensed preneed agents on staff that can assist you with preneed and prefunding decisions.

Can I transfer my prearrangements?
At any time after you have made prearrangements and even after death occurs, you or your family can transfer your prearrangements to our funeral home. If you have prearrangements in another city or with another local funeral home, we can assist you with transferring those arrangements to us. In some cases, transferring from another funeral home may result in savings for your family as a result of our lower prices. You need not contact the other funeral home. Our staff will prepare a letter authorizing the transfer for your signature, and we will handle the rest.

What happens when death occurs?
Upon receipt of the death certificate, the funeral home will complete the paperwork necessary to obtain funds from the trust or insurance policy. If you used a trust to fund your prearrangements, the funeral home will submit a certified death certificate to the bank requesting that funds be released. If you purchased an insurance policy, the funeral home will prepare a claim form for signature by the next of kin. Funds will be mailed to the funeral home to be applied to the funeral expenses. In both cases, excess funds will be returned to the estate or in some cases, to the next of kin.