FAQS
-
Why Pre-Finance
Why Pre-Finance
In many instances those who chose to pre-arrange a funeral will also wish to take care of pre-financing. Individuals can choose to settle either the entire cost or a portion thereof.
Various state regulatory agencies govern the control and mandate the requirements for pre-financing a funeral with a funeral home.
There is a variety of investment products available in which one may place pre-financed monies. Passbook accounts, Certificates of Deposit, and trust accounts are among a banking institutions deposit possibilities. Today insurance and annuities have also played a significant part in the pre-need investment market. Here at Dolan Funeral Home we generally use a life insurance product to fund funerals. This product helps the funeral home to lock in or guarantee our prices. Once you have paid for the funeral, it is paid no matter the length of time that has past. Although it doesn’t lock in our prices, changing ownership and beneficiary of your existing life insurance policy is an option as well. Prefunding a funeral is an acceptable option to a Medicaid spend down. Selecting ones funeral in advance, and actually making the financial commitment for payment, gives a person the peace of mind that all details at the time of death will be carried out to their exact wishes.
-
Legal Aspects of Death
Legal Aspects of Death
The earthly possessions, known as the estate of the deceased, must be distributed after his death. Any assets that are left must be used to pay any debts, and any balance left must be lawfully distributed after payment of estate or death taxes. If the deceased owned or operated a business, the business must be administered and maintained in an orderly manner or must be liquidated.
In order to accomplish this process of distribution, legal, proceedings are necessary to decide how any property should be distributed and who is to be in charge of this distribution. Because of the technical nature of these proceedings and all the complications involved in settling the estate and distributing the assets, it is advisable that a lawyer be consulted.
-
Purchasing a Monument or Memorial
Purchasing a Monument or Memorial
To give all cemetery plot owners general protection, most cemeteries retain the right to approve the type of memorial to be placed on a grave site. Some cemeteries have restrictions on size and design of memorials, while others require that only a flush with-the-ground bronze plaque be placed.
After determining if any cemetery restrictions prevail and deciding just what your individual needs and desires are, a reputable retail monument dealer should be contacted.
The quality, material, design, and craftsmanship of a memorial you are going to have erected permanently upon your cemetery plot deserves very careful consideration.
-
Selecting a Cemetery Plot
Selecting a Cemetery Plot
In the brief period between death and burial, cemetery plots and graves are sometimes purchased by a family without careful thought and often without a personal visit to the cemetery and later found to be inadequate or undesirable. It is highly recommended that cemetery plots be purchased far ahead of need.
Quite often persons buying cemetery plots in haste will not buy enough graves, or they will purchase many more than the family will ever utilize in future years. To avoid mistakes and to meet the present and future needs of your family, the utmost consideration should be given this decision.
When purchasing a cemetery plot, one should ascertain whether the cemetery meets the requirements of the family’s religion.
One should also determine just what restrictions, if any, the cemetery might enforce in regard to the kind of outside burial vault to be used and the type of monument or memorial to be erected.
Buying a cemetery plot for investment purposes is considered an unwise practice. The majority of all cemeteries retain the right to repurchase a plot at the original purchase price. For this reason, even though the lot may have increased in value, there is rarely a profit realized by the purchaser.
Perpetual care on a cemetery plot is more often than not included in the purchase price.
-
Wills
Wills
Most everyone should have a will. It is the only way a person is relatively sure all of his assets and earthly possessions are distributed in accordance with his wishes.
One of the more important aspects of drawing up a will is the appointment of an executor. If this person is not the surviving spouse, he or she should be someone who you have the utmost confidence in and a person who will use good sound judgement in his decision making.
As times change and happenings take place in one’s life, a will should periodically be reviewed to determine if your original desires still exist.
In many states if a husband or wife does not leave a will, the survivor receives one third of the estate and the children are entitled to two thirds.
If there is a will, the deceased is said to have died testate. The executor named in the will must file the will with the Probate or Surrogate court within the time prescribed by statute, and proceed with the distribution of the assets of the estate according to the provisions the deceased has prescribed.
If there is no will but there are assets, the deceased is said to have died intestate. This involves the appointment of an administrator by the Surrogate judge and the assets of the estate are distributed according to the State Statute of Descent.
In both situations it is recommended that the services of a competent attorney be used, as well as when an original will is drafted.