Not all Funeral Directors are crooks!!

My maternal Grand Mother spent the last 12 years in a nursing home with Alzheimer's. She did not have many assest but when her money started to get down there she was allowed to setup a burial fund or prepay for the services. She still had a fair number of "Good" days when we setup her prepaid funeral. I took her and she picked out what she wanted. She and the Director set down an wrote out how she wanted everything done. The funeral director than drove us both down to a local lawyer here in town. The lawyer read it over and wittnessed it all. He made four copies. One for his records, one for My Grand Mother, One for me (I was her Gaurdian) and one for the director.

Fast forward eleven years. My Grand Mother finally lost her battle with Alzheimer's. The funeral director came and took care of everything. We had the whole thing exactly like she wanted it to be. I never even had to tell him a single thing. A few days after the services I recieved a statement from him marked paid in full.

I know darn good and well that the cost had risen quite a bit during the prior eleven years. I went and asked him about it. He said he is required by state law to have a bonded account that all these type of funds go into. It does draw interest.

HE says he does not even worry about the differences. He says he made the original deal and his word was going to be binding as long as he ran his funeral home.

It must be working he and his sons own four funeral homes now. They all seem to be real busy. Plus I naver have heard a bad word about them.

I guess it all depends on the people involved. I know of another home that carried a funeral cost for almost ten years. The family was real poor and the widow sent a payment each month. When she died many years later that funeral home director had the service and billed the family ZERO. He said she had proven her worth to him so she earned a good service. Good man!!

That type of thing would be rare in todays business climate. The local business men have been replaced with corperations. So there is no "heart" in the business climate anymore. That will eventually be the down fall of this country. The lack of careing for your fellow man will sink this country.

I agree JD. Some are great. One that I know is low as dirt though. I won't even go in to it. He's just lower than the dirt in the road and I'll leave it at that. I feel sorry for his son though. The boy is trying to get in and take things over,but I'm afraid he'll have to move where nobody knows his dad before he'll ever be successful.

my mom is 87 and in a nursing home, great mind but confined to a bed and or wheelchair. two years ago we arranged for a prepaid funeral with a local funeral home. in alabama, these arrangements are regulated and governed by the state.

My wife and I have a prepaid funeral service all expenses paid. My wife took it out I'm not ready to go yet.
She also bought a $6000 monument which is waiting for he weather to be installed. It will be he biggest one in the old cemetery where my pioneer ancestors are buried.
Walt

I figure that when I go it will be like the weekend at Bernies movie where they keep moving the body around. Doubt there will be any money left to even buy a shovel.

A man is only as good as his word. If he made the deal eleven years ago and said there would be no additional charges than thats the way it should be. He has had the money to use the last eleven years. If he didn't keep his word he would end up like rrlunds director and eventually be out of business. My father had a prepaid funeral and there was no problem and my 90 year old mother has one too when the time comes.
I know my word being good means more to me than it does to alot of folks these days

I guess it's like everything else, a few rotten apples can spoil a whole basket full. We had already discussed which funeral home we would use, and when the wife died three years ago, those folks were as understanding and helpful as could be.
In my case, it was the relatives who were a PITA, my wife's sister wanted to take over and run the show, even though she knew that we had already decided how we wanted the funeral. By running her mouth, she got a bunch of the wife's relatives mad at me. Haven't spoken to her but once since, that was on the phone, and haven't seen her at all. Can't say that I miss the association though.

My Niece was going to Dental Assistant school,and
told us, at a family gathering, about a course on "ETHICS". One thing mentioned was to ALWAYS
return removed Dental Gold!
A relitive exclaimed that her husband had "lots of
gold crowns". When he passed, they asked the
funeral home about the gold. He said,"Oh, they
arent worth anything"!
Funeral Directors are usually the richest people
in the cumminity!

Bingo.

That's why it is called a "prepaid" plan.

It sounds like it worked just as it was intended to.

Dean

For the longest time my ma wanted to pre-pay on her funeral. My dad was dead set against it. Dad died Jan, 2000 and one of the 1st things ma did was pre-pay her funeral. Everything was taken care of cuz as she put it...I've got 3 boys and what do they know about buring an old woman(true statement).

Aug, 2012 ma died. Funeral home took care of eveything as she wanted, no extra cost. The family paid for open/close of the grave. About a week later, my bro (executor) received a check from the funeral home. What we did not know...ma had a seperate policy for the open/close of the grave. I know, when it's my time to make the same decisions, Im going to the same funeral home as ma and dad.

FWIW...don t. ...

My wife's Great Aunt passed away in 2011,she was in her mid 80's and never learned to read or write and had always been taken care of by my wife's grandmother until she passed then wife took over.when aunt died we found out that the funeral was prepaid in early 80's,we didn't have to pay a single penny for anything.

An undertaker is the last person to let you down!!!!!

Did you hear the one about the guy who was not too happy with his wife anymore. so he bought her a pre-paid funral for her birthday, and told her as far as he was concerened , she could just go ahead and use it any time

Sounds like your funeral director has people dying to use his services!

Or the guy who bought his wife a cemetery plot for her birthday, but he was disapointed because she hadn't used the one he bought her last year.

Local well known funeral director told me that by law they can keep a certian amount of the prepaid for them selves to cover their admistative costs.

Guy I know has a funeral home in a small town with his father. Long time family business. When young hanging out at the local bars hitting on the locals he would tell them sooner or later he"d see them naked so might as well be now.never did hear how well that worked for him but we used to get a kick out of it

My Mother and Father both prearranged their funerals and the only expense the family had was to open and close the graves. It was in the form of a life insurance policy.

JD, Being a Ins Agent that specializes in Final expense Coverage, I have seen the other side of that coin Waaaay tooooo many times. Someone bought a Pre-paid Funeral, time went by, The local Funeral home changed hands Once, Twice, and finally was bought out by that large Conglomerate. Then that someone passes! and the bill is Not covered at all or or only in part. Leaving the family in a H3LL of a bind, trying to figure out how to pay for it!
Even though there are still some Funeral Directors that are honest...They are far and few in between.... So I am Still Not a Fan of Pre-pays at all. The Funeral Home is playing with your money! Ins. is still the Best way to go.
Funeral Cost are not confined from Opening to closing of the Grave! there is waaaay to much more than that!!!
Later,
John A.

JD,

My parents did the funeral prepay thing too. When my mom died last year - after it was all said and done the cost for the funeral had risen substantially, BUT my dad still got a check for well over $8,000 dollars - from the interst that their invested funeral money earned.

So your grandmother's funeral director may be pocketing a big old hunk of cash - from all of his prepaid funeral accounts if he is saying, "well, the cost went up - but I'll consider it fair and square". I would almost think it would be a matter that could be looked into to see the total interest earned...just out of curiosity.

Yeah Sweetfeet - I hated to bring it up, but since it's out - we got a substantial check back from my wife's grandmother's prepay too, and that was after trying hard to spend every penny on her funeral. The local funeral director went to school with my wife and I. I think he's honest, but the whole process of "selling" something to a grieving widow turns my stomach. They can stand there without saying a word and allow someone overcome with grief to make a bad decision.

Everyone in my family, and all of my friends have heard my orders. Cremation. No urn. No funeral. No preacher. Pour my ashes out by the waterfall on the farm. A simple "in memory of" stone on the family plot in the local cemetery. I think they'll follow my orders, but. . .

Paul

I just thought it was good info to put out there in case people are not aware it. I'd never have thought a person could get money back on a pre-paid funeral plan until my Dad told me he did.

It happens. My wife is an only child, and her mother was too. Her mom died before her grandmother, so Grandma became our responsibility, and that's why I'm privy to that info.

The local funeral director had a break-in to his office many years ago. He had a small safe, and the thieves stole the safe but apparently couldn't open it. Shortly afterward a local farmer noticed a cistern cover on one of his farmsteads had been messed with, and when he investigated it, he discovered the stolen safe in his cistern. Fast forward a few years to Grandma's death. When the funeral director dug out Grandma's prepay contract, it was barely readable, and I mentioned to Bill that he didn't have a very good filing system. That's when I learned that Grandma's contract had spent some weeks inside that safe in the bottom of that cistern.