Have you preplanned your funeral?
How about your family members?
Preplanning a funeral is a smart move for many reasons. It allows an individual to make specific choices for his or her funeral – which can be changed later if so desired. It relieves survivors of making decisions about a funeral at a stressful time.
What kind of a service did he or she want?
Where will the burial take place?
With preplanning, there is no guesswork and no indecision. Preplanning can also set aside the funds for a prefunded funeral so the family will not have to deal with monetary considerations.
You can preplan and prepay your funeral in New York State with complete safety and assurance that your funds will be there when they must be used. If you move out of state, your funds can be transferred to any other funeral home in the country.
These consumer protections have been put in place for you and your family thanks to the diligent efforts of the more than 750 member funeral firms of the New York State Funeral Directors Association (NYSFDA) in cooperation with the legislators and governor of New York State.
A consumer – as part of the pre-planning process – may choose to designate any person over the age of 18 (whether related or not) – to make sure that their funeral arrangements are carried out as intended. Although not in any way financially responsible, the named individual would have the sole legal authority to act on behalf of a decedent strictly on funeral/burial matters. NYSFDA funeral homes are able to provide more information on this option, and have copies of all the documents needed to designate an “agent.”
Today, funeral directors offer many options based on budget and personal preference for a consumer to consider when preplanning a funeral. Preplanning may or may not involve prepaying.
The first step would be to decide the funeral details. Then arrange a meeting to discuss these details with the family funeral director. If you do not have a family funeral director, you can locate one in your neighborhood by visiting the New York State Funeral Directors Association’s website at www.nysfda.org, which lists member funeral homes by area.
Once the details of the funeral have been finalized, the funeral director will prepare a preneed agreement and fully itemized statement of costs. The consumer has several ways to pay for the funeral. One option is to prepay in full. The funeral director must, according to New York State law, forward the payment within ten days to an interest-bearing government backed account, or a funeral trust program such as NYSFDA’s PrePlan trust.
The PrePlan trust account allows the consumer to make payments on an installment schedule, and to make additional deposits at any time. Once you make your prearrangements, keep a copy of your plan and any pertinent paperwork in a safe place other than a bank safe deposit box, and inform a close friend or relative what arrangements you have made and where details may be found. The executor of your estate and your attorney should also have this information.
Much more about funeral preplanning can be found at NYSFDA’s web site www.nysfda.org and clicking on “Preplanning a Funeral.” “The Consumer’s Checklist for Prefunding a Funeral” can be downloaded from this page. The Checklist contains many important tips such as being sure to get a confirmation statement of money left as a deposit within 30 days, which includes the name of the financial institution holding the deposit.
If you have a question about funeral services or would like a list of NYSFDA member funeral directors in your area, contact NYSFDA, 426 New Karner Road, Albany, NY 12205 or visit the website: www.nysfda.org.
Bonnie McCullough is executive director of the New York State Funeral Directors Association, an organization of more than 750 funeral homes.
