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Losing a loved one or someone close to you can be extremely painful. Planning well and leaving clear instructions in advance makes difficult decisions lighter on your family when the time comes. In fact, one of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones is planning and funding your final wishes in advance, but this option is new to most us and not everyone understands how pre-paid funerals work.
Planning ahead and Prepaid funeral plans combine two topics people typically try to avoid discussing: finances and death. If you don’t consider how these issues intersect, however, you could leave your family with difficult choices and considerable financial hardship that can be easily avoided.
Grieving while also facing costs they may not be prepared for can be an incredible strain on loved ones—but having a prepaid funeral plan helps to ease at least one of those burdens.
Our prepaid funeral plans and policy options are a good choice for people who want the peace of mind that comes with knowing their families will not be unnecessarily burdened financially or emotionally when they pass away. They also allow you to specify every detail of your wishes, right down to the atmosphere, flowers, music and the food which ensures that your funeral, memorial or celebration of life is exactly the way you want it.
In this post, you will learn:
- How prepaid funeral plans work
- Which arrangements you can make
- What expenses are covered by a prepaid funeral plan
- What's not covered by a prepaid funeral plan
- How to pay for a funeral in advance
How prepaid funeral plans work
Unlike a funeral policy, when you purchase a prepaid funeral plan, you specify your final wishes in advance and lock in today’s prices on a funeral package with specific goods and services. This approach offers both financial and emotional protection to loved ones, allowing them to focus on their grief at the time of your passing.
Adult children often tell us this is one of the best gifts they ever received from their parents.
Think about your wishes
Would you like a traditional funeral or celebration of life? A basic private cremation, cremation with ash present at memorial service, Traditional service with cremation post service, or traditional ground burial? There are many decisions to be made, and the choices you make will impact the service package selected and final cost. Our Personal Planning Guide can help you understand and document your wishes. Get the guide now.
Have the conversation with your spouse
Married couples most often want to make their plans together and experience the piece of mind as a family. Share your wishes and vision with your spouse and select the package suited for each of you.
Make an appointment with our prepaid funeral plan consultant
As a Bloemfontein based funeral home and cremation service provider, we offer preneed planning to our client families in the comfort of their own home.
Sign a contract and fund your plan
During your appointment, you should get a clear idea of what your funeral plan would cost when choosing one of our guideline services, and different ways to fund it, including in a lump sum or with monthly instalment payments. When you're ready, your consultant will draw up our Statement of Purchase for your signature and you will make your first payment.
Share your plan with your family
This may be the most important step of all. Your closest loved ones should know you have already made and funded your plan. We’ll keep a copy, but they should have copies as well so they know what to do when the inevitable happens. This also gives your loved one’s peace of mind, knowing that you've taken care of these important decisions so they don't have to.
Arrangements and expenses covered by a prepaid funeral plan
A prepaid funeral plan differs from a funeral policy in that it funds specific arrangements and services you have decided on yourself; a prepaid funeral plan provides the money and the detailed planning of how you want that funds allocated. Whereas a funeral policy provides a cover amount your family needs to pay for a funeral or cremation. This is claimed at the time of the policy holders passing.
When you meet with our planning consultant, he or she will get to know you. Start by sharing your story, your personality, your passions. You may talk about your religious customs, your family heritage, your culture and your personal preferences. You may already know whether you want a traditional burial or cremation. If it’s the latter, you’ll decide what type of cremation.
Then you'll choose the products and service option that support that decision:
- Service type— Basic private cremation, contemporary celebration of life, traditional funeral Service.
- Church or Other Venue
- Cremation pre-or Post-Service
- Service stationery and Service atmosphere
- Music and readings
- Reception after Service—food and drink, decor, music
- Flowers
- Internment in Wall of Remembrance
- Other personal preferences to be noted in your Personal Planning File
You can designate people you’d like to speak, what you’d like written in your service stationary, if you’d like people to wear certain clothing (like sports jerseys or your favourite colour)
Pre-planning your funeral gives you the opportunity to get as detailed as you’d like—or you can keep your choices very high level.
Keep in mind that the more specific your funeral plan, the fewer decisions your family will have to make, which can be a huge relief for loved ones who are grieving. Read more about what’s included in our service packages and customise according to your personal wishes.
What's not covered by a prepaid funeral plan
Prepaid funeral plans typically don't include items and services not planned for and included in the initial Purchase Statement. For example, private cemetery property purchases are handled by the cemetery, which charges grave opening and closing costs. Additional services outside of your personal planning that is required at the time of service by your family will then be for their own costs.
How to pay for a funeral in advance
The cost of your prepaid funeral plan will depend, of course, on the Service option you choose. When someone dies without a prepaid funeral or cremation plan, that person's family has to pay the funeral home in full when they make final arrangements. Planning ahead of time allows you to pay for funeral or cremation costs, the whole amount at once or in manageable monthly payments. These options will be discussed by our consultant. *Some qualifying terms and conditions apply. We recognize that funeral arrangements and associated expenses can be overwhelming. By preparing in advance, you provide a sense of relief, peace of mind and comfort for your loved ones while ensuring your wishes are met and your budget is maintained.
When you pre-plan a funeral you honour both yourself and your family.
Contact us to speak to a planning professional today.
