funerals and expenses.????

[SC Minnie]

Although my Dad has a plot I doubt very seriously he has any life insurance. I hope he does but he is not the best money manager and I wouldn't be surprised if he cashed out what he had years ago. Have a feeling the financial burden will fall on me and my brother because Dad barely has a pot to P in. But that's another story for another day.

 

[pearlieq]

DH and I have discussed our wishes. I want a direct cremation and he can have whatever type of memorial would make him feel better. My actual "final expenses" shouldn't be more than 1-2k, which we can cover. DH would be about the same.

My mom wants the same as I do, and I imagine I'll be the one paying for it. I'm not counting on help from my brother, but again, it should be pretty inexpensive. DMIL's actually has plans this week to go with her mother and set up and pre-pay both of their funerals.

I don't believe in spending a lot on funerals/burials. You can honor someone's life without a spendy memorial. I'd rather my money go to the living!

 

[debden]

Although my Dad has a plot I doubt very seriously he has any life insurance. I hope he does but he is not the best money manager and I wouldn't be surprised if he cashed out what he had years ago. Have a feeling the financial burden will fall on me and my brother because Dad barely has a pot to P in. But that's another story for another day.

Well I'm not proud of this but I'll tell you anyway.My mom went for a long time without life insurance.My sister's and I do not have the money to bury anyone if they die without Insurance to cover funeral/burial costs.So I told my mother that if something should happen to her we are turning her body over to the state and they will bury her.We just will not be able to afford the costs.
She got herself life Insurance within a few months of that conversation and has had it ever since.
I don't regret saying what I did.She needed to hear it.
Debbie

 

[SC Minnie]

Well I'm not proud of this but I'll tell you anyway.My mom went for a long time without life insurance.My sister's and I do not have the money to bury anyone if they die without Insurance to cover funeral/burial costs.So I told my mother that if something should happen to her we are turning her body over to the state and they will bury her.We just will not be able to afford the costs.
She got herself life Insurance within a few months of that conversation and has had it ever since.
I don't regret saying what I did.She needed to hear it.
Debbie

I doubt my Dad could get life insurance. He is heavy smoker and has been for 40 years. Even smokes unfiltered cigarettes. My brother and I don't have money either. Not sure what we will do. When my parents divorced my mother got everything. Literally. Even the house my Dad and his wife live in now is in my mothers name.

 

[camreesmom]

My MIL passed away 2 years ago and barely had any insurance. Not even close to enough to pay for her funeral and burial costs. I remember being all stressed out trying to figure out how we were going to pay for everything. DH only has one sister. DMIL's mother ended up paying for the funeral. I think MIL had about $1200 total in insurance. It was sad. Not long before that, a co-worker's husband had passed away and he was only 42. He didn't have a penny of insurance. We ended up having a benefit for the co-worker to pay for his final expenses. All this made me realize that I don't want my family having to go thru any of this.

My dad sold prepaid funeral plans for a while so I bought one for me and my mother. (They've been divorced for over 30 years.) I tried talking DH into buying one for him but he wouldn't even discuss it. My mom has some life insurance but not much and I know it would fall on me, even though I have two sisters, so I thought it would be easier to deal with buying the prepaid plan instead of having to deal with it when she passes away. She wants to be cremated so the policy didn't cost much.

 

[hlbtimes2]

I plan on being cremated. No sense in taking up a peice of earth. I have more then enough life insurance to take care of that and a nice wake (as well as paying of the house and money for the kids).

 

[hlbtimes2]

Funerals are more expensive than most people realize -- around $6000 to $7000, and that's not counting the burial plot, opening and closing the grave, or the headstone.

But it doesn't have to cost that much. My father died 3 1/2 years ago. We had him cremated. It was $1500. That included them picking up the body at my brothers house and taking it to the funeral home. We had a lovely wake in my brothers home, which cost us next to nothing. Many friend and family members brought food and drinks.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I don't want a funeral and I don't want to be buried.

Viking Funeral.

Has anyone seen the movie Eulogy? Go out with a bang, I say

Seriously, though, I want to be cremated and have my ashes scattered. I just don't know where yet.

 

[poohluvrs]

My grandfather (94!) just pre-paid his funeral expenses in the fall. It was creepy to go with him to pick out a casket (good thing the funeral director is a friend of the family, so he understood us making really bad jokes to ease the tension!) He insisted, so that we wouldn't have to worry about it. He's such a wonderful man.
.

Thats touching. When my grandfather passed (at 95!), I went w/ my Dad to pick out my grandfathers urn (he wanted to be cremated).

It was eerie having to make those choices, and there sure were a lot of them, from the urn to the chairs at the service, to the catering menu for the memorial party we had. It's hard to make those final choices for someone who's not around anymore. He did plan financially to have every base covered, but the personal "final remembrance" touches were tough!

Good for your grandfather, go give him a hug today!

 

[Barb D]

I want my body donated for medical research. I do need to make that official, but my family knows. The family can do a memorial service, but the medical center would deal with the body.

My grandparents are 94 and 92. My grandfather says when he dies he wants us to put his ashes in a shoebox under the bed until my grandmother dies. Then he wants us to mix the ashes and scatter them.

 

[missypie]

When I went to church last week, one of my friends (she's probably 52 years old) had a great story about what her husband got her for Christmas: Their niche at the church columbarium!!! The price was about to go up, so her accountant husband thought that this would be a good time to buy! So wives, if you got a toaster or a vacuum cleaner from your sweetie for Christmas, maybe you should be glad he didn't give you your burial spot!

 

[debden]

But it doesn't have to cost that much. My father died 3 1/2 years ago. We had him cremated. It was $1500. That included them picking up the body at my brothers house and taking it to the funeral home. We had a lovely wake in my brothers home, which cost us next to nothing. Many friend and family members brought food and drinks.

Well god bless you.Sorry about your dad.That sounds like what I want too.I didn't know it was so much less for a cremation than a burial.Geesh I'll have to let my family know this is what I want and also the Wake at my sis's home with a drink fountain (preferably Margaritas) for all.
Debbie

 

[Straitlover]

My uncle (mother's brother) died w/ no insurance. Mama had already paid for her sister's burial when she died (who she hadn't seen or heard from in probably 30 years) and my brother's funeral in 1981 (he was 21 and had no insurance; Mama only had a $500 policy she had take out when he was little, whiy it waan't more is a long story for another time), so she couldn't afford a whole funeral/bural/etc, esp sinc ehe died in another state so there were extra expenses in moving the body, etc. She hates the idea of cremation, but we came up w/a compromise. The rule in NC at the time was you could bury up to 15 sets of ashes in one gravesite. So, we cremated my uncle, bought a simple urn, had just a graveside service (most of the people there didn't even know him anyway, they just came for my mother or his twin sons (he abandoned the family when they were toddlers in the late 60's) and buried the urn in my brother's grave. I never heard the final amount, but I know it wasn't too bad. Fortunately, when we (me, his sons and their wives) went up to VA to clean out his belongings, turned out he had quite a bit of cash in his checking account (close to $10,000! really long story!!!), so Mama just told the boys to pay the expenses out of it and the two of them keep the rest.

Anyway, it is something anyone can check out w/ their state, buying one plot and burying the ashes of multiple family members in it. I would have never even thought of it had the funeral director not suggested it!

 

[C.Ann]

All planned.. My DD will just have to pay for the cremation costs and container and then "most" of my remains will be buried on top of my DH at the Military Cemetery where he is buried for free of charge..

I have a very good life insurance policy.. DD will have plenty of money leftover to do with what she pleases..

 

[Snowysmom]

DH and I have not planned anything but we do have life insurance that will more than pay for the expenses. I have done funeral pre planning and payment for my father who went into a nursing home last year. He had to spend down some money before applying for medicaid so this was one way to do it. I feel relieved knowing that when the day comes, I just have to make a phone call and everything will be done. It will be stressful enough without worrying about how to pay for the funeral. He has a resting place, next to my mother so that is taken care of too. When DH and I get older, we will probably at least look into buying plots. In our town, we cannot buy plots ahead of time at the local cemetary because they are running out of room. It is strictly on an as needed basis at this point.

 

[wheeler1]

I hope this isnt regarded as a "strange" question but after reading through this thread it made me wonder, how long does it take for a life insurance policy to be paid after someones death?

 

[golfgal]

I hope this isnt regarded as a "strange" question but after reading through this thread it made me wonder, how long does it take for a life insurance policy to be paid after someones death?

In MN the law is "immediately". Once the company receives notice of death (death certificate or other proof) the claim has to be paid immediately, unless of course there is something that would negate the claim like not meeting the suicide clause suspected murder by the policyholder, etc.

 

[NAB]

Life insurance pays pretty fast. Unless there is a problem or someone stops it for a dispute in the family on who should get it.

I even learned that if you are killed in an auto accident , insurance from the car will pay the furneral expenses. The money goes to who ever paid the furneral. You show you paid and they will give you the check.

Pumba-- You scared me I thought something happened to your Mom when I read the title.

 

[Judy from Boise]

My parents are both pre-registered at the Veteran's cemetary If your loved one served, they and their spouse might qualify for free burial. The rest of us want to be cremated and scattered.

 

[christineann]

Life insurance proceeds are paid quickly unless the circumstances of death are questionable (like suicide within a grace period).

I have plenty of life insurance, and I don't want my kids to spend much of it on a funeral. I am an organ donor, and the remains will be cremated and placed in a niche in our church columbarium. My parents bought me a niche next to theirs because my mother said my remains had to be "somewhere". I had told her I didn't care what happened to the ashes.

Our church sent funeral planning booklets to every adult member of the congregation last year The minister strongly suggested that everyone fill the booklet out so we would have the funeral we want some day, including readings and hymns. What a great idea!