Yahoo Life’s recent article entitled “Should You Pre-Pay for Your Own Funeral as Part of Estate Planning?” says there are major benefits to pre-planning and even pre-paying for a funeral now—no matter what your age or health status.

Many professionals would agree that pre-paying your funeral has valuable benefits for people.  A major benefit to pre-planning and pre-paying is the emotional support and relief they offer family members and friends.

Maggie McMillan, vice president of the Los Angeles-based Wiefels Group and All Caring Solutions Cremation and Funeral Services, explains that “if and when the unexpected happens, you want everyone to already know what your wishes are, because that will make it easier when hard emotions inevitably come up after you are gone.”

Knowing that your family is prepared and taken care of with prepayment can also help alleviate your own stress and better your mental health.

Anecdotally, I noticed over the years that some clients are very interested in this process.  It is the main reason they call us for an estate plan.  For clients like this, it is a way to give a final expression of their creativity or a positive farewell to their loved ones.

Another plus of pre-paying  your funeral is that, depending on what method of pre-payment you get, you can often lock in a price guarantee on services and merchandise based on current pricing on the day that you plan. This can protect your family from industry inflation and price fluctuation.  Funeral costs double every decade, on average. Therefore, if you’re looking at pre-paying for a service that costs $3,000 today but didn’t pre-pay and pass away 10 years later, your fees might be upwards of $6,000 for the exact same service.  Many clients tell me they are electing cremation solely to avoid the costs of funerals.

For some people, aspects of pre-planning and paying may not seem the right option.

For instance, a plan that isn’t transferable to different states doesn’t make sense for individuals who move around frequently. In that case, talking to loved ones about what your final wishes are (including where you’d like to end up, and the disposition method) would be a relief for them, in case the unthinkable happens.

For others, they may strategically put off pre-paying a funeral so that it is available as a Medicaid spend down technique.  In other words, don’t spend money on it until they have to.

In all cases, if you pre-plan and/or pre-pay your funeral, make sure you reflect that in your Appointment for the Disposition of Remains.  The Appointment is a legal document in which you name a person to execute your final wishes and can include those instructions.  It is an often overlooked, but sometimes very critical, estate planning document.

If you are interested in learning more on how to pre-plan your funeral or other final wishes, see this article.  https://galligan-law.com/funeral-planning-not-a-festive-thought-but-a-kind-one/

Reference: Yahoo Life (Feb. 17, 2022) “Should You Pre-Pay for Your Own Funeral as Part of Estate Planning?”