Q: How can I pre-pay my own funeral?
A: There are several ways to pre-pay funeral expenses. The first and most common option is to enter a prearranged trust agreement between the funeral home and the client, in which case you pay for selected services and merchandise through a signed, legally binding trust contract/agreement. The monies are never held by the funeral home; they are deposited to a trust account and invested, all of which is administered by the trust company and overseen by Service Nova Scotia. Upon the purchaser’s death, the funds are released from the trust company and forwarded to the funeral home at which time services are rendered. This process guarantees or “locks-in” the cost of services and merchandise on the day the contract is signed. A second option is to fund your pre-need funeral expenses through a prearranged insurance contract. In this instance you will get an estimate from our firm for the costs of the services and merchandise that you select. You would then meet with an Assurant Life (Purple Shield) insurance agent for funding. This avenue allows for a payment plan that can span anywhere from two to fifteen years through that insurance company. Most clients designate the funeral home as beneficiary of your Assurant Life policy, ensuring that payment goes directly to the funeral home when the contract holder passes away. This option offers a tax shelter to other beneficiaries such as a spouse or other family member named beneficiary as then they would have to pay tax on receiving the payout. Just a cautionary note: there are many insurance companies selling funeral related insurance policies. Keep in mind a policy that does not involve the funeral home holding a contract for specified services and merchandise cannot guarantee or “lock-in” a fixed funeral price. In this instance, the policy value can be applied towards an unspecified funeral cost in the future.
For more information, reach out to Huskilson’s Funeral Home
