What to Look For in a Pre-Paid Funeral Plan
Entrusted Legacy Law
Mar 17, 2023
Pennsylvania - Greater Pittsburgh Area
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Prepaying for your funeral is one way to ease the burden on
your family following your death and make sure your wishes are carried out. But
pre-paid funeral plans come with risks, so you need to exercise care when
purchasing a plan.
Funerals are expensive and can take a lot of effort to plan.
To help relieve your family of some of this expense and effort, you can pay for
your funeral in advance with a pre-paid funeral plan purchased through a
funeral home. In addition to making things easier for your family during a
difficult time, pre-paid funeral plans can also be a good way to spend down
money in order to qualify for Medicaid.
However, consumers lose money every year when funeral homes
go out of business before the need for the funeral arises. If the funeral home
mismanages your funds, there may be no way to recover them. In addition,
customers aren’t always entitled to refunds if they change their minds, and
some funeral homes sell policies that require additional payments or that can’t
be transferred if the customer moves.
If you decide to go ahead with a pre-paid funeral plan, the
following are things to consider:
- Shop
around. Prices among funeral homes can vary greatly, so it’s a good
idea to check with a few different ones before settling on the one you
want. The Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule requires all
funeral homes to supply customers with a general price list that details
prices for all possible goods or services. The rule also stipulates what
kinds of misrepresentations are prohibited and explains what items consumers
cannot be required to purchase, among other things.
- Make
sure you have a reputable funeral home. There have been cases of
unscrupulous funeral providers taking advantage of customers, so make sure
you choose a funeral home with a solid reputation.
- Read
the contract carefully. Before signing, it’s important to know what you’re
agreeing to. Can you cancel the plan and get a refund? Is the plan
transferrable if you move to another area? Are you paying just for
merchandise or for funeral services as well? If prices for funeral
merchandise and services rise, will your estate be responsible for paying
additional costs?
- Find
out where your money goes. The pre-paid plan should provide
information on what the funeral home will do with the money you pay them.
Some states have protections in place to make sure the money is
safeguarded, but other states offer no protections. Is the money put into
a trust account? What happens to the interest income? Is there a plan if
the funeral home goes out of business? What happens to any money left
over?
- Make
sure the plan won’t affect Medicaid benefits. If you’re buying the
policy as part of Medicaid Planning, you must purchase an irrevocable
plan, which means you can’t cancel or change it once it’s bought.
Once you’ve purchased a plan, be sure to tell your family
about the plan you’ve made and let them know where the documents are filed. If
your family isn’t aware that you’ve obtained a plan, then the plan is useless.
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