When you decide to plan and pay for a funeral or cremation ahead of time, you will find many benefits to this decision. Setting aside funds in advance makes sense because it relieves the financial burden from your loved ones during their time of grief and loss. There are several funding options available.

First, life insurance policies can be assigned to a funeral home to pay for funeral costs. This can be a good option to explore if you have a life insurance policy and there is not another readily available source of funds. We will call the insurance company to make sure the policy is still in force, and then work with them on receiving payment for the cost of the funeral.

Our staff will help you select the services and merchandise that are right for you, with no sales pressure or encouragement to overspend. If the benefit from your life insurance policy is greater than the funeral expenses, your family will receive a check for the difference.

Please note that excess insurance policy funds cannot be returned to the family if the deceased is on a public assistance program. Federal law requires that these funds be returned to the public assistance program.

A second funding option is a dedicated funeral insurance policy. We can help you take out a funeral insurance policy through our trusted provider, National Guardian Life.

The largest benefit to this option is our price guarantee. This means you will pay today’s prices at the time of need for our services and merchandise. Here’s how it works. The funds used to purchase the funeral insurance policy are invested, and the proceeds will be added to the account. These policies include a death benefit designed to keep pace with the rising cost of funeral expenses. While our services and merchandise prices are guaranteed, other costs such as flowers and newspaper notices will increase over time with inflation.

There is no income tax liability associated with these policies, since they are insurance-funded, and no one is turned down regardless of health. We also want to make sure you are completely satisfied with your coverage, so you have 30 days to review your policy.

Several payment plans are available. Our preplanning professionals can explain all of your options, so you can make the decisions that are right for you.

Finally, you may also set aside an amount of money in a trust fund to pay for expenses. No money is held by our funeral home; you would work with a trust provider who would hold the funds.

While you can certainly create a prearranged funeral plan with our funeral home without prepaying, many families find it reassuring to know that the plan and the funds are already in place for when the time comes.

Our helpful staff can explain the process and help you get started. Please give us a call today.