By Connie Aschenbrenner, Anchorage elder lawyer
Based on what I am seeing as an Anchorage elder lawyer, more and more people are considering pre-planning and pre-paying for their own funeral. For years, I have recommended that my clients include their wishes for their final arrangements in their estate plans, but more and more people are bringing it up proactively.
Some of the reasons that people want to take care of their own final arrangements include:
- Saving their loved ones the stress of dealing with this while they are grieving
- Making sure their wishes are carried out
- Setting aside funds and save their family the financial burden
The reasons mentioned above are very honorable, but it is important to do your homework before committing to any pre-paid program. Unfortunately, there have been a number of recent horror stories about pre-paid funerals lately.
In addition to worrying about whether the pre-paid funeral industry is using your funds as intended, there are several other pitfalls that need to be considered before investing your money in a pre-paid funeral plan.
For example, if you decide later that you need the money that you invested in the pre-paid funeral plan for reasons such as family emergencies, you can lose a substantial amount of that money in cancellation fees. Further, prepaying for your final arrangements with a life insurance plan can be even costlier. In fact, it is quite possible that you could end up paying a lot more money in monthly payments than your final arrangement will actually cost.
So, if you are trying to ease the burden for your family by planning and paying for your funeral, what are you to do?
That’s easy…talk to an experienced Anchorage elder lawyer!
An attorney can help you plan your final arrangements in a way that will ensure that your family won’t have to deal with the stress at a time when they should be dealing with their own grief.
Simply call (907) 334-9200 to set up a Meeting at with me, your neighborhood Anchorage elder lawyer. You’ll be glad you did!
