Pre-paid funeral services

[Mary Webber]

Hate to be grim on a gorgeous Saturday morning in Maine. but what experiences has anyone had with services such as Funeral Alternatives? I know that in past years there were problems with pre-paid plans that funeral homes offered, but what about these bare bones (no pun intended!) services?

[davoscat]

I'm very curious as well. These servies sound like a great idea. It is hard to make sound financial decisions when you're going through a terrible time. It is much better to have a plan beforehand.

[Glue]

I saw an article in an AARP magazine that should shed some light on the issue:
http://www.aarp.org/money/personal/a...r_i_p_off.html

[Mary Webber]

Thanks for the reference to the AARP article, Glue. Interesting article but it focused mostly on the plans offered by funeral homes, and that's where there have been abuses in the past. The plans I've been noticing are often mentioned in obituaries, and are more store-front places of business. I believe they cover body pick-up, cremation and delivery of the cremains to survivors. No caskets, urns, or services... at least that's the way I understand it. Sounds pretty appealing to me.

But I'd like to know if there end up being add-on costs, etc. or if what you pay up-front covers it.

[lucille]

My M.I.L. did one of these pre-paid funeral plans through the local funeral home. I don't know how much she paid vs. what was done. In a way we were all very glad this was already handled, none of us had the funds to pay for a funeral. But, it was a huge production (the funeral). They had a rather elaborate viewing at the home. They actual funeral at the church was a huge production with a multimedia "show" done by the funeral home and there were about as many flowers as Princess Di's funeral. I don't know if this was her final wish, if it was I have no problem with it. What I was concerned about was the funeral home possibly over-selling things to make more money.
They also contacted the family members about a month after the fact claiming a bunch of things were unpaid and wanted everyone's social security numbers. We told them to stick it in their ear and refused. There was also no statement of what or why something supposedly went unpaid. Once we refused nothing more was ever made out of it. So that makes me think it was not honest fees needing to be paid.

[Mary Webber]

WOW, what an experience! First, the rather over-the-top funeral, then the delayed "bill." I'm so glad that you didn't even consider paying what truly sounds like a rip-off.
I just figured that people with pre-paid plans would share what choices and plans they'd made - and paid for - ahead of time. Guess not, huh?

[Julie Rains]

I have heard of someone having a similar (but not precisely the same) experience as Lucille. My friend's dad had pre-paid for the funeral but then the funeral home asked for more money. I am not sure of all the details but I think there was documentation -- finding everything at the right time may be tricky, though now that I think of it, everything she needed was in one place, courtesy of her dad.

[Mary Webber]

What a gift that was, to have everything at hand. That's something else we really should talk about here, what needs to be available and where the relevant people might find it. A lot of funeral services (and others) put out FREE booklets in which to record where needed info (and there are good lists of what would be needed) can be found (safety deposit box, home safe, lower left-hand drawer of old Auntie's desk), preferences for services, etc. This could be invaluable, especially to share with those who might become responsible for these types of arrangements.

[lucille]

Personally I wish municipalities had the capacity to do cremation at the same facility they use for a city morgue. It would provide the core basic need at the time of a funeral without the inflated costs and confusing industry tactics of funeral homes. I would rather not stick my family with thousands of dollars in what I personally see as unnecessary costs. The body disposal aspect would be handled and they could then deal with whatever services they feel they want to do. They also then wouldn't be bound to a funeral home to coordinate those things. I have a friend who worked as a funeral director and the things he would tell me about how it all works kind of turned me off.

[Mary Webber]

This, Lucille, is just what these funeral-home-alternatives offer, and NOW, I've absolutely got to get to the local one and get the info to share with you all. As I understand it, these new services just take care of the cremation in a basic low-cost "box" and the family does whatever they wish for memorial services, flowers, etc., completely separate. I really like this idea and I've put a visit to the local Funeral Alternatives on my to-do list! Illl let you know what I learn.