Pre-Planning Options
Taking the time to arrange your funeral now leaves one less thing your loved ones will need to worry about once you’ve passed. We are here to help you every step of the way.
While people spend months planning events like weddings and trips, few think about the one event that is certain to happen: their funeral. While most people do not want to think about their own mortality, the time to pre-plan your funeral is now. The primary advantage of pre-arranging your funeral is to relieve the burden on your loved ones in an emotional time, and to ensure your funeral is carried out according to your wishes, eliminating the task of second-guessing what you would have wanted. Pre-planning and pre-paying your funeral is one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give to your family.
Pre-Payment Options
Pre-paying for your funeral reduces stress and financial burden on your loved ones after your passing. We can co-ordinate a payment plan that suits your needs. Options include a single payment plan, to monthly bank account withdrawals. By pre-paying your funeral, you ease the financial impact on your family. Pre-payment also protects you and your family, from inflation, and the growth is non-taxable. Depending on your region, if your funeral costs less than the amount you have put aside, those funds will be refunded back to your beneficiaries. For more information on what is applicable in your region, simply speak to your funeral director. Each year thousands of people decide to pre-plan and pre-pay for their funeral. These plans are designed to be flexible and to accommodate the many changes that often occur in people’s lives.
What you can do in advance…
- Decide on Burial or Cremation and your casket or urn type.
- Pick what type of service you want (religious, military, non-traditional)
- Choose which funeral home to use.
- Designate your pallbearers, pick any music or readings you want at your service.
Benefits of Pre-Planning
- Between 70 and 75 decisions are made within the first 24-48 hours of death. It’s difficult to think rationally while making so many decisions within days of losing someone. Pre-planning gives yourself, family, and friends peace of mind.
- It’s easy. Anyone can do it, and you can change your mind at any time.
What happens after pre-payment is made?
When pre-payment money is received by the funeral home, we then deposit that money into a trust fund through a bank, which is managed by GFD, (Guaranteed Funeral Deposits of Canada), a fraternal organization. GFD, then provides you with a certificate indicating that the money is now being held in trust. Interest is gathered in this account over time, on the day that the client dies, the trust company is notified by the funeral home, the trust company then tells the funeral home how much money with interest has accumulated. Based on the official price list of the funeral home, the current cost of the services is compared to the total amount of money held in trust, including interest. If the total in trust is more then the current cost, then the excess funds are returned to the estate, if there is less money in the trust account then the current costs then the estate or next of kin will owe nothing because the pre-payment was guaranteed.
Do I have to pay for my services all at once?
No, you do not have to make payment in full, you may choose to pay for your services over a number of months or years. Time payment is easy, affordable and there are no administration fees. Here is how time payment works. If your choice is Direct Cremation the total amount would be $1261.50 ( the cremation fee is removed from the price, as it can not be paid over time and must be paid directly to the crematorium, that price is $485). Based on a total of $1261.50 if you wanted to make payments over 4 years (48 months) your monthly payment would be $26.28 per month. It is that simple and that affordable.
What if I have already pre-paid with another funeral home?
If you have pre-paid arrangements with another Funeral Home, we have good news, you can easily transfer your pre-paid funds to our Funeral Home. Simply call one of our Funeral Directors and we will be please to help review your documents from your pre-payment. In almost all cases we will be in giving you a refund cheque. The most common situation is that a client will have pre-paid much more that what our charges are for the exact same services, what we do is compare what our charges are compared to what is in trust already, we then write you back a cheque for the difference. In some cases that can be a refund of thousands of dollars back to you , just another way that we are different from our competition.
Don't wait! Start Your Pre-Plan Today
