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Getting Funeral Insurance: What You Need To Know
January 16, 2012 | 
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It is an unpleasant but inevitable fact that everyone dies eventually when the time comes. Though the thought of dying greatly petrifies most of us, this is an ugly but inescapable truth. However terrifying the idea of death may be, we must always be ready and accept this inevitable fact.
Departing from this life for an eternal repose is so poignant for both you and your family but it pains the more to those who will be left, your family. Indeed, the coping process alone is not easy plus the fact that your family needs to provide you a decent wake and a final resting place. However, if you want to ease your family’s burden and ensure that you will be provided with a decent wake and final resting place, getting funeral insurance is the best you can do.
What Is Funeral Insurance?
Funeral insurance plans, also known as burial, final expense or pre-need insurance, refers to a group of insurance products that are designed to cover or provide for your funeral expenses by paying in advance. For just a nominal amount every month, you can be certain that your funeral is arranged and the cost of organizing your funeral is taken care of and paid for in advance, so the burden isn’t left to your family or beneficiaries.
A funeral insurance cover can take care of all the fine details of your funeral like the casket, the flowers, and the service. Every aspect in between is covered by funeral insurance.
Funeral insurance is different from that of life insurance in the sense that the latter takes care of the people who will be left behind after your death while the former, that is a funeral cover, will take care of your funeral.
What are theThree Types of Coverage for Funeral Expenses?
You can purchase funeral insurance plans from an insurance broker or funeral director. They will write the burial policy which covers specific services and/or products you might feel are vital. This may include covering the casket, funeral service, visitations or viewing, hearse, digging and filling the grave, the actual cemetery plot, burial vault or grave liner, minister, headstone, and flowers. However, there is no standard type of funeral insurance policy. Moreover, the amount of funeral insurance coverage varies and depends on the amount you want the final expenses to cost. This ranges from traditional whole life insurance to policies or agreements that only cover funeral expenses, specifically:
Life insurance with family member as beneficiary. There arelife insurances that cover funeral expenses. However, you can also purchase life insurance with the main purpose of using the proceeds to cover your funeral expenses. You can name a family member as your beneficiary, and discuss your funeral plan with them.
Life insurance with funeral director named as beneficiary. Some funeral homes may provide a small whole life policy with a contract for funeral services, with the requirement that the funeral director is the beneficiary of the policy as part of their services. In this type of life insurance, you maypay for just a part, or the entire funeral expenses, using the life insurance policy that you have paid for. However, the death benefit goes exclusively to the funeral home, not to your family.
Pre-need contract with funeral home. This type of contract usually includes the burial plot, grave marker, casket or urn, embalming or cremation, flowers and funeral cars. There are some policies that do not specify what the death benefit can be used for. In that case, the beneficiary decides on how the money can be used.
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Funeral Planning Essentials – Funeral Directors
Funeral planning is not something that we want to consider or think about however it is a reality we all have to face at some time or another in the course of our lives. While the subject may not be one you are very familiar with or one that you even want to be familiar with it is nevertheless helpful to have a good understanding of the various factors that make up funeral services.
When it comes to funeral planning the funeral director has a major role to play. The majority of funeral homes in the United States are family affairs. Some funeral homes are small and intimate with the funeral director fulfilling a number of functions including collecting the body of the deceased and transporting it to the funeral home for preparation for the funeral service. Other larger funeral homes often employ morticians that specialize in the preparation of the bodies.
Funeral directors are also known as either morticians or undertakers. These are qualified professionals who work in the business of funeral rites and control the whole funeral planning and funeral service. Among their tasks are embalming of the body which entails the removal of the blood and the insertion of embalming fluid, burial or cremation preferences, and planning and arranging the funeral ceremony.
Funeral directors are also approached by the family or friends of the deceased with regards to special requests such as ensuring that the loved one is dressed in a specific outfit, the way the body is arranged in the casket, and with regards to the application of cosmetics or substances to the parts of the body that will be visible during the service to enhance the deceased person’s appearance.
Funeral planning involves a number of different issues and since there are so many practical considerations that must be addressed it is advisable to utilize the services of a professional funeral director. A funeral director is also experienced in dealing with grief and the grieving process and therefore proves beneficial in assisting the family through this process. There are also a number of legal requirements when it comes to funeral services and funeral planning that the undertaker or mortician can guide you on.
Generally speaking a funeral is conducted at the funeral home and then proceeds to the burial ground for the interment which the funeral director will oversee to ensure that it is carried out correctly. Funeral directors will usually make a view or visitation possible and this is often scheduled for the day preceding the funeral service so as to allow the family and friends an opportunity to gather together at the home to pay their respects to the deceased in private. While available to offer and provide assistance if need be the funeral director remains discreetly in the background.
Funeral directors are an essential part of funeral planning and funeral services and can oftentimes prove to be a great comfort for those who are grieving. They handle the details associated with the death which allows the family to cope better with their loss. They help to guide the loved ones through this time in their lives and enable them to honor the deceased in a respectful and proper manner.
How to Arrange a Funeral
It’s a challenge that most of us will have to address one day. Even if we never have to arrange a funeral for someone else there’s always our own send off to think about – particularly with the sensible trend for planning funerals while we are still alive.
Are funeral arrangements in place?
Assuming you’re faced with the challenge of arranging a funeral for someone else, one of the first tasks is discovering whether they’ve left any funeral plans. The deceased’s will is a good starting point. Other possible sources of information include the following:
- A letter of wishes (perhaps stored with the will)
- An online funeral planning resource such as The Well Planned Funeral
- Recalled conversations with the deceased
If the deceased has stored funeral wishes online, you may even be notified of their wishes by the website. The information might be as simple as a choice between burial or cremation. On the other hand, you could find yourself managing an unusual funeral arrangement request such as a burial at sea.
Understand the deceased’s wishes
As the person responsible for organising a funeral, you and other loved ones are responsible for fulfilling their wishes as closely as possible. Obviously, financial means and logistical practicalities must be considered when planning a funeral – not everyone will be able to have their ashes made into fireworks and blasted into the sky as writer Hunter S. Thompson’s were. At this stage, you might also discover that the deceased had already made their own arrangements by subscribing to a prepaid funeral plan.
How to arrange a funeral – contact an undertaker
Once you understand the deceased’s funeral wishes, you’ll usually contact an undertaker. A reputable undertaker is an experienced funeral planner who’ll guide you through the required procedures. Whether it’s a sophisticated funeral or a simple cremation, the undertaker and their team are powerful allies at an emotionally challenging time. They’ve been through the process many times so draw on their expertise to help with the administrative and practical burdens that you’re facing. And of course, friends and family are another valuable source of funeral help.
Practical funeral actions
A major part of the funeral will be the ceremony itself. How to arrange a funeral will depend on the deceased’s beliefs; these may dictate an elaborate religious ceremony or a simple alternative funeral. Whatever its form the funeral ceremony represents the culmination of mourning and the opportunity for everyone to say goodbye to the deceased. Start making a funeral checklist as soon as you can; it’s a sensible way to make sure everything is remembered. Important parts of the funeral service usually include the following:
- Decoration of the venue with flowers and/or other meaningful items
- Funeral music
- Poems or readings
- Religious rituals (if appropriate)
- Tributes and appreciations
- Committal of the deceased for burial or cremation
When the funeral’s over, the mourners will typically move to a cemetery or a crematorium for the committal of the body. After this, it’s usual for mourners to join the friends and family for refreshments – a wonderful opportunity to reminisce and celebrate the life of the deceased in more informally.
How to arrange a funeral – many people plan while they’re alive
Increasingly, enlightened people take responsibility for their final send-off while they’re still alive. From burial instructions to details of funeral flowers arrangements or a poem to be read at a funeral, it’s a great way to make sure your wishes are fulfilled. Whether you do this by leaving instructions in your will, investing in a prepaid funeral plan or learn how to arrange a funeral through an online funeral planning resource will depend on your personal preferences.
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