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Pre-Need - What exactly is this? A Pre-Need is arranging part or all of the funeral arrangements prior to a death. The benefit of setting up a pre-need includes: peace of mind, addressing financial concerns, sharing your final wishes with loved ones, and easing your loved one’s burden at the time of a death.

There are several Pre-Need options available.
1. Information can be recorded. At the time of death, the funeral home completes the death certificate, notifies Social Security, notifies Veterans Affairs, as well as helps with life insurance filing. There is certain information that is required, such as: Social Security number, place of birth, parent’s names including the mother’s maiden name, lifetime occupation, military experience, etc. It is possible that your spouse, children, or other family members will have difficulty locating some of this information. If this information is recorded at the funeral home, the at-need time will be less stressful for the surviving family members. The type of service including music, pall bearers, Bible passages, etc. can be selected. Obituary information can also be recorded at this time. You will have the final say on how your obituary is worded and what information is included.
2. Money can be set aside into an irrevocable funeral trust. This money is put into a CD at the local bank – or a bank of your choice. The funeral home must report this money to the state each year. The interest is taxable to the individual, but this is not considered an asset in qualifying for Title XIX.
3. Money can be set aside into an insurance program. There are certain benefits to the insurance program rather than the bank CD. Your age and your health are taken into consideration. Interest or growth is non-taxable, and you can make payments. Paul will be able to explain in more detail which pre-planning option is best for you.

Non-guaranteed funeral – You simply come to the funeral home, you can make your selection of merchandise, or not, and put some of the money away into a CD “Burial Trust” or Insurance Funded Product. The interest will be compounded to the burial trust. At the time of the service, if the amount in the burial trust does not cover the cost, the family must pay the difference.

Guaranteed funeral – You simply come to the funeral home, plan the funeral and make your selection of merchandise. If you pay for all of the expenses the money can be placed into a CD “Burial Trust” or an Insurance Funded Product. If you want to make payments then the money will be placed in an Insurance Funded Product. You are guaranteed not to have to pay any more for the funeral services and merchandise you selected. The cash advance items such as: cemetery plot, cemetery charges, honorariums, flowers, groceries, newspapers charges for the obituary, certified death certificates, etc. are not guaranteed. An estimate can be made for the cash advances, the amount may or may not cover the at need cost of the cash advance items. If the cash advance amount does not cover the at-need cost, the family will have to make up the difference. We cannot guarantee the cash advance items since we have no control over what these prices may be.

Frequently Asked Questions
1. What happens to the money if there is some left over?
a. If the person is not on Title XIX, the excess money is returned to the family/estate
b. If the person is on Title XIX, the excess money is returned to the state.
**Paul can explain in more detail why there are differences on how the excess money is handled.
2. Can I select the music and musicians?
a. Yes, we can record your wishes. If at the time of need, the musician isn’t available, we have a number of other musicians that will sing and/or play and we also have a number of songs on CDs.
3. What if I want cremation and my family wants a traditional service?
a. This is becoming more and more common. Please, speak with your family so they understand your desires. A cremation authorization needs to be signed by you or your family. The most common option that allows both desires to be met, is to have a ceremonial casket with the traditional viewing and visitation. After the funeral, everyone in attendance goes to the lunch for further fellowship. Your loved one is then brought to the crematory and the final disposition (burial) is held at a later date – the next day, several days later, or the family can keep the cremains.
4. I don’t have a home church; where can my funeral be held?
a. Most churches open their doors to anyone. Another alternative is to have the service at the funeral home. We can seat about 140 people in our Woodbine chapel with seating for another 75 in the other rooms. Our current Dunlap chapel can seat about 80 people. Once the completion is done on the new Dunlap chapel, we will be able to seat about 140 people in the main area and an additional 100 in the over flow areas.
5. Do we accept caskets from a casket warehouse?
a. Yes, but this isn’t as easy as this sounds. We have had one experience with this type of service. We allowed an extra day for the casket to arrive. There was a scheduling problem with the airlines and the trucking company and the casket didn’t arrive in time. The family then had to purchase a casket from us and work out the details with the casket warehouse. Our one experience was very long, complicated, and stressful to the family.

If you still have questions or would like to talk about a Pre-Need, please call us to set up an appointment.