Prepaid funeral and burial plans seem enticing. After all, you can make the plans yourself, ensuring your final wishes are carried out, and can save your family the time and trouble of making the arrangements and shouldering the expenses, even with life insurance and other funds, after you’re gone. It’s not that a prepaid plan is a bad idea. In fact, it could be a great asset to your estate planning. However, you need to be careful and ensure that a few extra steps are followed; otherwise, your prepaid plans might be wasted.
First, once the plans are made and paid in full, be sure to safeguard copies of the policy with trusted individuals. If the policy cannot be found, there is little your loved ones can do to carry out your plans and they will wind up making the funeral arrangements and handling the expenses anyway. Furthermore, do not just get the policy, safeguard some copies and keep quiet about it. When you die, your loved ones will be faced with grief on top of other stress, as well as the additional chaos of trying to arrange a memorial service and burial. Let them know beforehand that you have made prepaid burial arrangements, as well as where to find a copy of the policy. This will give them some added peace of mind while trying to navigate the rocky path of grief.
Remember, estate planning is not just about the will, your assets, and your heirs. It’s about final wishes and peace of mind as well.
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