Advanced Planning

It’s an intriguing question… and one that can best be answered by someone who truly understands the benefits of funeral pre-planning. It’s your life. It’s your story to tell. And when you’ve fully stated your wishes to family and friends, a huge burden will have been lifted from the ones you love.

The emotional benefits are many with a pre-planned funeral. A funeral is one of the most personal as well as emotional occasions your family will ever share. A family discussion of funeral planning, although sensitive, can be a very worthwhile experience for you and the ones you love. Working with you, they will realize how you want to be remembered and how to tell your story.

Today, many people are making their own funeral plan. And it is not as difficult as you might think. It’s really nothing more, than taking an inventory of your life. Family, friends, employment, accomplishments, hobbies and milestones will play a part. With that completed, your personal memorial instructions can be completed using our My Planning Guide. Your selection of music, flowers, speakers, and every aspects of the memorial service will be orchestrated by you. Through your plan, we will combine your historical information and personal preferences for your funeral arrangements with a payment plan to fit your budget.

Important events in life require responsible decisions and preplanning. Births, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, and retirement all require our best planning efforts to ensure success. We may neglect planning for the most significant event of all, a funeral. We would never dream of waiting until two days before a wedding to begin our plans. Why do we wait to plan a funeral? Planning for a funeral deserves the same consideration we give to any other important occasion. As uncomfortable as glimpsing one’s mortality may be, it is a fact that the task must be accomplished by someone.

When planning ahead for a funeral, consider the following objectives:

♦ Ease the Burden – Preplanning means your family will not be forced to make difficult decisions when you die. They may find themselves emotional, distressed, or even financially unable to deal with the situation.

♦ Control the Costs – Planning ahead with your own funeral arrangements usually results in you spending less money than if those decisions were left to be made at the time of your death. Often loved ones cannot resist the temptation to send more on funeral services and merchandise, thinking that spending more equates to how much you were loved. This situation can be eliminated by planning ahead, calmly and sensibly, without emotion.

♦ Get a Clear Picture – A visit with a funeral planning professional can provide valuable information so you can understand the process and make clear choices that are right for you. You can decide if you want an in-ground burial, mausoleum, entombment or cremation. Select a casket, vault or urn. Once you’ve decided upon a plan, you can complete a prearrangement agreement, stating your wishes, listing each item, the services selected, and even arrange for items incidental to the ceremony. Best of all, it’s your plan, and your family will know thy have done the right things and are fulfilling your wishes.

♦ Inflation Proof your Plan – It has been said that the only certain things in life are death and taxes; however, inflation should probably be added to the mix. Funeral costs, like everything else continue to rise, making it difficult to prepare financially for the future. Preplanning at today’s dollars, with a guaranteed funeral plan funded be preened insurance, provides a solution for this dilemma. The funeral home guarantees your family will never pay more for the goods and services selected today, regardless of the future price increases. Those who fund a prearrangement now, can tell their families that the choices made today will be honored in the future, and they will not be required to pay for price increases that have occurred between the time of the prearrangement and the time of death. This is not only a kind and considerate thing to do for one’s family and friends, but it just makes good sense as well.

♦ Protect Against Government Intrusion – Prearranged funeral plans can be irrevocably assigned to pay only for funeral expenses. This benefit may assist the policy holder to qualify for Medicaid or any other form of public assistance. Should you ever need to apply, the funds in your funeral plans will be exempt in most cases and not considered as part of your assets. Contact your funeral planning professional for more information.