Sunday, January 22, 2012

I THOUGHT I WOULD GET SOMETHING BACK FROM THAT $10,000 INSURANCE POLICY

I had the unfortunate opportunity to speak with a family this past week who was provided services from a locally owned and operated funeral home in the area. They were inquiring about service prices for pre-arrangements. Most people tend to do this after a family members passing. Maybe out of desperation, maybe guilt but most time out of felt necessity.

The individual I spoke with said that their is no way that the services we provide could be equal to those that they had just obtained at this other facility, I asked why they thought this? they said because the difference in price was $5,000 more at the other location than mine.

I asked how they paid and about how much did they pay for these services, they said that they used a $10,000 LIFE INSURANCE insurance policy. I also asked, prior to making arrangements, did you tell this other facility that you would be using a policy of $10,000 value, they said "YES"!

This was a very, very big mistake!

UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE THREE THINGS ARE!

LIFE INSURANCE = It is used to pay out to the family or beneficiary when one dies, if it is kept up to date. The "beneficiary" is who was chosen by the deceased for the policy to pay out to. This insurance will pay out a cash   amount when a person dies, you can use part of it if you like to cover funeral expenses, but YOU DO NOT have to use all of it. REMEMBER THAT! Life insurance takes sometimes about 30 plus days to pay out to the family or beneficiary. Life insurance is assignable should you choose to use it for funeral arrangements and the death is not contestable (questioned as to the manner of death by the insurance company).

PRE-NEED FUNERAL INSURANCE = It is used to pay for a funeral at any Funeral Home in the deceased name, usually written for a specific amount and can cover the expenses of a pre-selected funeral arrangement , nothing more. Pre-need insurance is not assignable, or it should not be, if the funeral home is telling you there is a fee, they are ripping you off. Pre-need funeral insurance pays out to the funeral home at their leisure. IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE A POLICY AT A MORE AFFORDABLE LOCATION OTHER THAN THE LOCATION IT WAS WRITTEN AT, YOU WILL GET MORE FOR THE POLICY THAN YOU WILL AT THE LOCATION IT WAS WRITTEN AT, MAYBE EVEN SOME REFUNDED.

Life Insurance POLICY ASSIGNMENT = The insurance "Assignment" is nothing more than the process and  "fee" charged by the funeral home to get another company to pay out the charges up front from the policy to the funeral home. This company will verify the policy is good, you will sign a few papers, notarized to ensure this is you and the assignment company will pay the funeral service. When the policy pays out in 30 or so days, the insurance company will pay out the funds to the assignment company that paid the funeral home. You will get what is left, if there is anything left. That is an assignment. A funeral homes assignment fee is nothing more than their fees to do the paperwork. The rate has snuck up to 20% at some funeral homes. That is $1,700 on a $8,500 funeral. That's crazy just to notarize a document and FAX it. That's just greed.

For more information on how you can pay for a funeral, click on the following link and read: "How are we going to pay for this funeral"

RULE NUMBER ONE -

Do you know what to say behind these doors?
NEVER, EVER tell a funeral home that you will be paying for a funeral with an insurance policy of any amount until AFTER you have made all the arrangements. MOST funeral homes are looking out for your best interests, some are not. A life insurance policy that is taken out as a life insurance policy, not a pre-need funeral insurance policy, is suppose to be used to handle more than just the burial expenses. That policy is designed to help the family carry over through the difficult time, not used as the funeral home needs to rack up a bill telling you all along "well, this is what Mom or Dad got the policy for you know".  That's just not true, and it's not right. Yes some funeral home do this, but it is morally and ethically wrong for a funeral home to do this. You will find that upon the death of a loved one monetary expenses will come up and most will find themselves in a position without the funds to handle these expenses after the funeral is over.

REMEMBER! The more affordable the funeral service you pick, the more your family will get back in dollar amount from the insurance company. This is YOUR CASH in your pocket.

I take great pride when I sit with a family and feel very good to be able to tell them that they will be getting over $6,600 back to assist them during this time. Families just cant believe that. It puts a little smile on their face during a difficult time.

Remember, a life insurance policy is not meant to be spent completely on a funeral, I bet that if you gave a unscrupulous funeral home a $25,000 policy, they would find a way to spend $24,500 of it on themselves.

Turning over a life insurance policy to a funeral home is like writing a blank check or giving them the amount of the policy in cash wrapped up in a big red bow. You are vulnerable and all they HOPE you know and care about is that the policy will be worth enough and even more to pay for their services, they WILL find a way to use up that whole policy, Every last bit!

Question these items if they show up on your contract:

  • A very large assignment fee (more than 10%)
  • Cemetery fees that YOU can pay for (Never pay through a funeral home unless you must)
  • More flowers than usual
  • The funeral homes referred minister
  • A nicer , much more expensive casket (Be weary of up selling)
  • Funeral clothing, suits, dresses
  • Deceased haircuts, shaves, hairstyles, nails, mustache trim, beard trim
  • Cremation Jewelry
  • Cremation casket (consider the rental casket always)
  • Limousines, more than one
  • A Reception (the funeral home will get a cut if recommended or included)
  • More staff for a visitation (will their be a large crowd? we will need to bring in more staff then)
  • More than one visitation
  • Overtime fees
  • Luxury register books
  • Luxury Memorial Folders
  • Trinkets, picture mugs, Such as encouraged Family Heirlooms
  • Memorial ribbons
  • Any type of paid grief counseling
  • any type of additional administration fees
  • FAXing fees
  • Phone call fees
  • Notary fees
  • Utility vehicle for doctors office work
  • Mileage fees
  • Home visit fees
  • Itemized charges for letters/correspondence
  • Specialized storage fees
  • Refrigeration if the body is embalmed
  • Questionable junk that has nothing to do with the services provided at all
As you can see, the list goes on and on.  Rest assure, on an $8,500 funeral, you can bet the funeral home is probably gonna profit about 3/4 of that amount.

Once again, REMEMBER! The more affordable the funeral service you pick, the more your family will get back in dollar amount from the insurance company. This is YOUR CASH in your pocket left to you, not the funeral home.

RULE NUMBER TWO -

Know what you want! Would you not rather take some of that life insurance policy home with you? Could you not use that extra $6,500 left over from that policy if you play your cards right, stand your ground and don't get talked into all those bells and whistles.

REMEMBER!

A life insurance policy and a Pre-Need insurance policy ARE NOT the same thing. The average funeral home that gets rich off of you wants you to think that you MUST spend ALL of a life insurance policy at their facility. They are hoping you don't know any better. They are counting on your grief and you not knowing the industry. Funeral homes fear you being educated in this industry.

RULE NUMBER THREE -

BE IN CONTROL! Insurance assignment fees are negotiable, the standard fee's are 5%. If the counselor refuses to budge, tell him or her you will move on. Let me ask you this, if there was no insurance policy, would they refuse your business for the profited amount on the same service? No, they would not.

The assignment percentage charged is for the whole price you pay for services, so if you include cemetery charges on the same contract, that could amount in the hundreds of dollars more, BE WEARY OF THE COUNSELOR TELLING YOU THAT THEY CAN GET YOU A LITTLE "SPENDING CASH" OUT OF THE POLICY SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT THE 30 OR SO DAYS FOR THE POLICY TO CASH OUT! you will be paying 10% to 20% or more on the dollar.

Again, NEVER, EVER tell the funeral home the worth of the policy until it is time to pay. If you do, you minus well be burning your money.

Use the policy for what the deceased wanted it for, to take care of you for a little bit after they have gone, not to line the coffers of a funeral home.

AND REMEMBER! The more affordable the funeral service you pick, the more your family will get back in dollar amount from the insurance company. This is YOUR CASH in your pocket. It comes back to you! It is yours to spend on other things you may need, not some funeral homes high overhead or sports car payment.

Good Luck!

Miguel

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

RESTRAINT OF TRADE LAW.....

The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890)

Section 1. Trusts, etc., in restraint of trade illegal; penalty

Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

Section 2. Monopolizing trade a felony; penalty

Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

Section 3. Trusts in Territories or District of Columbia illegal; combination a felony

Every contract, combination in form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce in any Territory of the United States or of the District of Columbia, or in restraint of trade or commerce between any such Territory and another, or between any such Territory or Territories and any State or States or the District of Columbia, or with foreign nations, or between the District of Columbia and any State or States or foreign nations, is declared illegal. Every person who shall make any such contract or engage in any such combination or conspiracy, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $10,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $350,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

Section 4. Jurisdiction of courts; duty of United States attorneys; procedure

The several district courts of the United States are invested with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of sections 1 to 7 of this title; and it shall be the duty of the several United States attorneys, in their respective districts, under the direction of the Attorney General, to institute proceedings in equity to prevent and restrain such violations. Such proceedings may be by way of petition setting forth the case and praying that such violation shall be enjoined or otherwise prohibited. When the parties complained of shall have been duly notified of such petition the court shall proceed, as soon as may be, to the hearing and determination of the case; and pending such petition and before final decree, the court may at any time make such temporary restraining order or prohibition as shall be deemed just in the premises.

Section 5. Bringing in additional parties

Whenever it shall appear to the court before which any proceeding under section 4 of this title may be pending, that the ends of justice require that other parties should be brought before the court, the court may cause them to be summoned, whether they reside in the district in which the court is held or not; and subpoenas to that end may be served in any district by the marshal thereof.

Section 6. Forfeiture of property in transit

Any property owned under any contract or by any combination, or pursuant to any conspiracy (and being the subject thereof) mentioned in section 1 of this title, and being in the course of transportation from one State to another, or to a foreign country, shall be forfeited to the United States, and may be seized and condemned by like proceedings as those provided by law for the forfeiture, seizure, and condemnation of property imported into the United States contrary to law.

Section 6a. Conduct involving trade or commerce with foreign nations

Sections 1 to 7 of this title shall not apply to conduct involving trade or commerce (other than import trade or import commerce) with foreign nations unless -
  1. such conduct has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect -(A) on trade or commerce which is not trade or commerce with foreign nations, or on import trade or import commerce with foreign nations; or (B) on export trade or export commerce with foreign nations, of a person engaged in such trade or commerce in the United States; and
  2. such effect gives rise to a claim under the provisions of sections 1 to 7 of this title, other than this section.
If sections 1 to 7 of this title apply to such conduct only because of the operation of paragraph (1)(B), then sections 1 to 7 of this title shall apply to such conduct only for injury to export business in the United States.

Section 7. ''Person'' or ''persons'' defined

The word ''person'', or ''persons'', wherever used in sections 1 to 7 of this title shall be deemed to include corporations and associations existing under or authorized by the laws of either the United States, the laws of any of the Territories, the laws of any State, or the laws of any foreign country.

CONCLUSION:

WE HAVE FOUND THAT WITH ONE (1) OR MORE WRITTEN STATEMENTS PRESENTED TO THE ARIZONA STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE (PHONE CALL), FROM, A STATEMENT FROM LETS SAY, A CASKET DISTRIBUTION COMPANY OR A FUNERAL ESCORT COMPANY (CIVIL DEPOSITION), OR A STATEMENT FROM A FORMER EMPLOYEE WITNESSING SAID COMMENTS OR ACTS BEING SAID OR DEMANDED UPON BY ANY BUSINESS, ITS OWNERS OR REPRESENTATIVES, REGARDLESS OF  REASONING FOR SEPARATION OF THIS WITNESS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT BEING SCRUTINIZED, THIS IS PRESENTABLE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A VIOLATION OF THE RESTRAINT OF TRADE LAW.

IF ANY STATEMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION SUGGESTING OR INSINUATING THAT ANY BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT IS BEING FORCED BY A CONSUMER, ANY CONSUMER THAT THEY ARE BEING SUPPLIED BY AND HAS SINCE CEASED USING THEM "TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIC PRODUCT OR SERVICE, NOT NECESSARILY ALL PRODUCTS",  DUE TO THIS UNSCRUPULOUS BUSINESS PRACTICES,  TO SELECT ONE BUSINESS OVER ANOTHER THUS FORCING A SUPPLIER TO LIMIT THE TRADE OF ITS PRODUCT IS DEFINED AS A CONSPIRACY AND IS PUNISHABLE UNDER THE SHERMAN ANTI TRUST ACT OF 1890. AKA VIOLATION OF THE RESTRAINT OF TRADE LAW.

THE "DEMAND" IS THE VIOLATION OF THE LAW, NOT THE ACTION.

THIS IS ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO PURSUE LEGAL ACTION ON BEHALF OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA'S ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE, NOT ANY INDIVIDUAL, BUT THE STATE HAS LEGAL GROUNDS AND OBLIGATION TO PURSUE THIS TYPE OF CASE AGAINST THE VIOLATING ENTITY. THIS IS ONLY IF CONTACTED "BY ANYONE" AND PRESENTED WITH A CASE TO PURSUE. IN ARIZONA, THE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE VIGOROUSLY PURSUES THESE CLAIMS THAT ARE PRESENTED WITH EVIDENCE.

ANY STATEMENT CAN BE FORCED OUT OF A UNCOOPERATIVE PERSON THROUGH A CIVIL DEPOSITION IF NEED BE.

VIOLATION OF THIS LAW IS CONSIDERED A CLASS 4 FELONY.

FELONS CAN NOT OWN OR OPERATE A BUSINESS. FELONS CAN ALSO BE IDENTIFIED BY ANY MEANS BY ANYONE TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME BE IT VERBALLY OR IN PRINT.

CIRCA 1980, U.S. ATORNEY GENERALS OFFICE VS. ******** FUNERAL CHAPEL, TUCSON, AZ.

IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, IF YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS FUNERAL?

Our aim is not to disparage the death care industry but rather to educate the public as to their rights, options, and resources. Hopefully you will gain some valuable insights and learn to protect your family's assets when the time comes, and it will come...................................................

Payment Options

Funerals are, by and large, expensive. We have allowed the industry to goad us into frills and flourishes which contribute little, yet cost much. Having to finance one suddenly can be a burden that many, perhaps most, families are unprepared to face. Not coincidentally, there is often a windfall of money at this time, in the form of life insurance proceeds, so families tend to consider that money 'going away' funds. The industry preys on this feeling that, since it was money the deceased arranged for to help 'put him away', every last dime should be spent on that event!

The fact is, life insurance was never intended to be sucked up on a fancy funeral, but rather as a hedge against disaster for the survivors. Now that funerals routinely run up to, and over, $10,000 ... the funeral itself can BE the disaster! Hence this BLOG, so let's look at the options for paying funeral expenses.

For more information on how much funerals the average funeral usually costs, click on the blue title following: Just how much does a funeral really cost?

Credit?
 
NOT! There are absolutely no funeral homes that operate or finances with legitimate credit. The word credit is only used when it is followed with the word, "CARD".

CAUTION! There are a lot of new options being offered to funeral homes by unscrupulous companies that are run by the same guys that ran the "PAYDAY ADVANCE" stores. The interest rates are unreal, in the hundreds of percentages over the service cost. Stay away from them, do not even consider using this type of funeral funding. Once they real you in then you are REALLY encouraged to really rack & stack it up and spend on something that is outside of your budget.  If you use a funeral home that offers this type of assistance, MOVE ON! This is probably a very questionable facility that is making very bad business choices by using a company such as this to entice the consumer.

THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR GRIEF!

THE "SIGN OVER" - Another thing that some facilities do is offer you to "sign over" your car, house, jewelry, property, stocks, bonds etc. as collateral, Stay away from these options and those facilities. They will make more off of you than the service was worth. assigning all kinds of "fees" Any funeral establishment that does that is not worth staying at. The chances are and they are betting that if you do not have the funding now, you will never have it and those things you signed over to them will eventually be theirs. Most of the times facilities that due this have a variety of different vehicles in their parking lott and are making more money on their ill gotten loot than they are the business profits. Be very weary if they mention that they can "have their attorney do up the documents............" You are not the first. Establishments such as this are referred by friends that are unaware of who they are recommending and the damage that can be done.

Cash/Check/Credit Cards

Yes, there are some folks who can simply stroke a check for funeral expenses. Oddly enough, it isn't the idle rich who get nailed with expensive funerals, as they are more inclined to have simple ceremonies following a 'family-only' direct burial or cremation. Look to ritzy Scottsdale for instance, where wealth is a foregone conclusion, and you'll see that over 70% elect cremation. The big-dollar funeral is a blue-collar phenomenon, which is to say ... most of us. Sociologists would have a field day explaining why this is, but survey after survey has proven it true. So, for most of us, ready cash is simply not an option.

Credit cards, however, MAY be an option and even a good one at times. Virtually all funeral homes now accept credit cards, and if you've checked your mail lately you know credit card companies are hungry for business. And, with some of the competitive rates available today, you might well want to put funeral costs on a credit card -- say at its 'introductory rate' of 0%-9%, rather than leave a balance on the books at the funeral home (which charges 12% or more APR on any outstanding balance) while waiting for the insurance proceeds to arrive. This is also a good way to keep your insurance benefits out of the hands of the death industry.

Insurance Death Benefits - Assignments

This is a common way of handling expenses, it is very legitimate and a tricky one if you don't understand how it works. What happens is, you bring the deceased's insurance policy with you, the funeral director calls the company to make certain it is still in force and will pay a benefit, then you (the beneficiary named in the policy) sign forms granting the funeral director all or a portion of those benefits.

This is where it can get tricky, you should never sign away any more than the good-faith estimate provided by the funeral (on the contract) . Funeral directors sometimes want to take control of the entire death benefit, then keep their portion and return the rest ... if any ... to you. DON'T LET THEM DO THIS!

A CORPORATE PRACTICE - You may encounter this ploy, particularly if you let the funeral home handle the cemetery fees as well. Say you get a bill for $8,600 and the itemized bill for the funeral portion is only $4750, what do you know about the rest of the charges? Nothing! Since cemeteries are not regulated by federal law, or required to furnish detailed lists of charges , the funeral director can simply list Cemetery Costs -- $3,850 and leave it to you to ferret out what it was all for. If this sounds like an invitation to abuse and over-charging congratulations, you're learning. Handle the cemetery yourself, preferably in advance, and with the minimum allowable outer container. If you are forced into a position were you must fund through the funeral home, ask to see a copy of the itemized contract from the cemetery. You should get one anyways if you are using an off site mortuary from the cemetery.

If you choose to assign a policy because you have no other way to finance/fund the service, remember, the assignment company AND the funeral home are going to have their "fees" added to the total cost, traditionally it is around 5% for each ones fees, if you are charged more, consider another facility. REMEMBER! The more you assign the insurance policy, the more you are going to pay out to the funeral home for those "FEES".

For more information on using life insurance to pay for a funeral click on the following link and read:  "I thoght I was going to get somthing back from that $10,000 Insurance policy"

Pre-Payment Plans (AKA Pre-Needs)

Are They?
Good intentions by you, Bad management by them -These sound like a good idea, but rarely are the way they are operated by the funeral industry. They hype the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing your family will not have to shoulder a financial burden when you die, yet very rarely follow through on that. It is a rare pre-paid funeral that includes all costs, with the family typically having to pony-up an additional $1,000, $2,000, or more. It is also rare for a payment plan offered by a funeral home to be anything more than reselling an existing product with an extra layer of profit thrown in. For your best value, get your insurance from an insurance company and cut out the 'middle man'.

A built-in problem with all funeral expenses, and what drives prices into the ludicrous range, is what is known as 'up-selling', and this is due to funeral sales people (laughingly referred to as 'Grief Counselors' in the trade though they cause more grief than they help with) being paid commissions on their sales. It is not uncommon for these sales folks, and cemetery sales personnel as well, to call up their elderly customers who have pre-paid for goods and services and, under the ruse of updating their computers or whatever, get them to come by to verify information. Then they are hit with a hard-sell to upgrade their goods and services. One sales person told us he closes over 40% of these calls.

STORY TIME - An extreme example of up-selling occurred in Florida a while back and made the news again recently, wherein an SCI-owned funeral home had up-sold an elderly lady funeral goods and services totaling $136,000! The victim of this is still alive, living in a nursing home, and largely oblivious to what had happened to her. The family sued, SCI settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, and hopefully folks who read the Associated Press account are a bit wiser.

NOTE - NEVER, EVER SIGN OR AGREE TO A PRE-NEED PLAN/CONTRACT THAT IS ITEMIZED WITH THE WORD OR WORDING "INCLUDED" WHERE THERE SHOULD BE A SPECIFIC MONETARY AMOUNT!

"The Affordable Funeral"
Now on to the various pre-need/pre-purchase plans. The book, "The Affordable Funeral" goes into detail on these plans, with a break-down of the common ploys, half-truths, and outright lies associated with them, and you are well advised to read up on any plan before you buy, and for certain if you have already bought one . . . to learn what it is you actually purchased. For our purposes here, we'll look at the typical plans offered.

NOTE- Any Pre-Need insurance plan or trust can be used at any funeral home anywhere. It is up to the funeral home that you are presenting it to if they will accept it for all the services selected or written into the plan. Most will take it. They will not turn down an opportunity to earn money, even just a little. So if you see an add in the paper that says, "Will accept other Pre-Needs from other funeral homes", ask them if they will give you everything the other location will for the pre-need price. If they say no, move on. (this is misrepresentation tactic to get you in the door) You can find a place that will take your pre -need as is, and honor it. Also, if you have a Pre-need that you got at another facility that you feel you paid to much for, consider approaching a more affordable location and have it rewritten there, you may be surprised that you will have a refund coming. The Corporate funeral Pre-need program writes alarmingly pricey plans, consider using any pricey pre-need plan at a more affordable location and you will "probably" get some of it refunded.

1. Insurance-based Plans

Quick, would you go to a McDonalds to buy a pizza? No? Then why on earth would you buy an insurance policy from a funeral director? (I provide policies at my funeral home, some families still want them) Typically these policies are little more than a policy offered by another company, to which the funeral director adds additional premiums, names himself as beneficiary, or buys at a discount.

Be wary of those that offer 'coverage to anyone up to 80 years of age!' or something similar. Odds are there are restrictive clauses that will limit the actual pay-out of these policies for several years, and perhaps forever. If you are paying premiums and only stand to get back the total of those premiums, you are just giving someone else money to invest for their futures, not yours.

So, you may be asking, what should one do? Simple: go to the source. If you want an insurance plan to cover your burial expenses, call your insurance agent or broker and add to an existing policy or buy one for enough to cover expenses. Realize that funeral costs historically escalate at a rate nearly triple inflation, so don't settle for what it would take to handle things today, pad it and hope for the best.

2. Trust-based Pre-Payment Plans

TRUST is a great word. You see it on coins, investment companies, and banks. It has a solid feel to it, and that is the intention, to make you ... well ... trust whoever wants your business. Funeral directors love trusts as a prepayment instrument for several reasons. First, they are easy to sell because they sound like a great deal. You pay in money, the money goes on deposit in an interest-bearing account, and when your time comes, voila! the trust is there to defray funeral costs. That's how it looks on the surface anyway. Now for the bad news.

In many states, not all the money you pay in actually goes into an interest-bearing account. In fact, in some states as little as 60% is required to be put on deposit, plus the funeral director is allowed to keep 10% or more as 'Administrative Fees', so now you're down to perhaps 50% of your money actually working for you. The rest is working for the funeral director. Add to this the fine print which may say the funeral director can keep 30% or so of the total paid in, should you decide to cancel the program and 'cash out' the trust, and you'll see that perhaps the funeral home sold trusts are not much good. They certainly bear looking into in any event, and having someone knowledgeable go over it with you ... other than whoever is trying to sell it to you.

Another built-in problem is continuing payments. There may be a clause to the effect that, should you miss three payments in a row, the trust can be locked, with the interest accrued or even the principal going to pay the funeral home's 'administration fees'. A recent case in Virginia points out what CAN happen, and often does.

ANOTHER GOOD STORY - A family lost their father, who died at a nursing home after three years as a resident there. They made the obligatory trips to the funeral home, to pick out the casket, floral sprays, burial vault, etc ... and to the cemetery to arrange for the burial. At both stops they were gratified to see on the 'good faith' estimates no totals, but rather the words "Pre-Paid" written in pen across the balance block. Then came the bad news.

Bla, Bla, Bla, Business as usual...
At 9:30 the morning of the funeral, which was scheduled for 11:30, the funeral home called to say there was a problem and could family members please come immediately. Turns out, according to their records, that the deceased had not made a payment on his pre-payment plan since 1990, the year he had suffered a stroke and lost many abilities! Since the deceased had already been placed in an up-scale casket (the model the deceased had picked out), they had no choice but to buy it. They managed to scale back a bit on services not yet rendered, but still left the funeral home with a bill for over $6,000 and NO MONEY in the trust to help pay it. Then, upon arriving back home, they found a message to call the cemetery and found the same situation there. Oh, and perhaps not coincidentally, both the cemetery and the funeral home are owned by the same giant corporation! The family is considering a law suit, and we wish them luck.

3. Totten Trust  (Bank Trust)

This is the one that will work for you....
So, is there anything we DO recommend? Yes, the Totten Trust. Most funeral homes hate these, They make no money off of them and have little leverage control over the family, you can  use them anywhere and the funeral home that was "considered" when writing it wont know. They do not add to the value of the funeral home.

 'This is a simple little account you set up with your bank. You pay money in, 100% of it goes on deposit and you get to keep ALL the interest accrued. Should you decide at a later date that you prefer cremation, you can draw the money out . . . all of it if you like . . . with no penalty. Should death occur, the family controls all the money in the trust, including any left over after funeral expenses are paid. Talk with your family bank and/or lawyer on how to set one of these up.

A word of caution, often the 'demonstration' the funeral home gives you on their trust-based program will show an average earnings of several percentage points MORE than you'll get with a Totten Trust through a bank. Don't be fooled by this. Consider that perhaps only 50% of your money will actually be earning interest, and the 'administrative fees' will likely be based on what you have paid into the trust PLUS interest earned and at the end of the year, with the funeral home plan. Taking these into account, plus the 30% forfeiture should you cancel the account or become unable to make the payments, the Totten Trust will likely be your best buy.

Desperate Sources and Resources

It is a fact (A VERY UNFORTUNATE FACT) of life that some people will die without sufficient resources for funeral expenses. Any funeral society anticipates this, to some degree, so most major cities set aside a budget for the burial of indigents, homeless, or basically poor individuals. This is the indigent burial program in Maricopa County, the deceased is placed at the White Tanks Cemetery near Litchfield Park. You must qualify to be placed with this program.. Likewise, MediCare/MedicAid has provisions and programs in place to assist qualified individuals in getting a decent burial. Some churches have funds for this, and there's the other programs with the Salvation Army and certain Indian tribes assist those within their tribe. Ask around at your city and state government offices, as well as churches to see if such funds are available if you have need for them.

HEY! Lets look at Direct Cremation..

Concerned? We should be, REMEMBER! Direct Cremation was meant to be a VERY affordable way for those that have little to handle the final arrangements of the deceased, IT WAS NOT MEANT TO COST  thousands of dollars for such a simple procedure. Shop around.

The greater Phoenix Area offers a variety of facilities that provide cremation services for under $800. Avenidas Funeral Chapel, Abels Funeral Services, Angels Cremation and Burial, Harper funeral home, Eastlake Mortuary. These are but a few, and a vast majority of these facilities use the same crematorium. Please shop around.

We wish you the best of luck and encourage your desire to further educate yourself with the funeral industry, its laws, and what is, and is not considered fair businesses practices to you, the consumer.

Miguel legaspi