Paying for Funeral

[grandmoon]

I decided to open a bank account and put money aside to pay for my funeral.

When I mention it to people most of them say "But you would die for years yet."

Today Tony said "So you can't die before you have saved up enough money "

Tony thinks like me.

[curraone]

I think it is a great idea to have a special savings account to save up for a funeral. 

Also there is a great little book issued by the seniors assoc, where you can write down any details that you want your people to know.   This is very handy as it has details like where your will is stored, what banks etc need to be notified;   what kind of funeral service you would like, songs, flowers etc;  who to notify.

Because my mum lived to a great old age, 92!,  we found it really helpful that she had filled in the book, particularly some details about her early life, her club memberships, volunteer work etc.

Truly this is a great idea, because when someone near to you dies, most people are too upset to be able to remember.

[lurker172602]

That's interesting curraone. What is it called please and how do you get it?

[electric*mayhem*band]

Even if you haven't a dollar to your name (ditto your nearest and dearest) when you finally shuffle off this mortal coil, one thing's for certain, and that is that your local council won't leave you above ground.

[imastawka]

I think it's an excellent idea.  

I have discussed funeral plans with my daughter - she's very practical

I have chosen a particular song and she agrees with it

Always loved it .............Blackbird by The Beatles

[punch*drunk]

Beautiful song stawka. my son plays that on guitar its one of my favorites.

My grandfather asked me to organise his funeral when he was diagnosed with cancer. He must have known he was very sick and not told us because he'd only started saving for it a couple of months earlier. When I prepaid his, I did my dads at the same time. It makes things a lot easier when the time comes, far less details to organise.

[lyne-flyn]

My Mum had a prepaid funeral plan for years. Dad would never agree to get one because eh said they were morbid.

Mum passed away suddenly last May and when my sister went to organise her funeral she prepaid Dads as he had terminal lung cancer.

He passed away 8 weeks after Mum and having everything organised made things just that bit easier as we were still grieving for Mum and Dad's funeral would have been very hard for us to organise.

[horizon1907]

I personally think it's a great idea. When my Mum died, the entire family was so confused with the entire process. Luckily, our Funeral Director was a personal friend and she helped us throught the entire process without adding anymore Stress. It costs a small fortune for even the Simplest of Services. Mum was sent off with a great " Celebration of Life". People still talk about how Marvelous the Send off was, even after nearly 15years. Funerals don't have to be Morbid. A Celebration of Life,is more fitting I think anyway.  It's a fact of life and as we all get older, we start to realise how life can change in a nano second. Be Prepared for it and plan away. Have it done the way YOU want it.

[cherry*135]

It is sensible to have enough funds set aside for ones own funeral or have a prepaid funeral. Funerals are expensive. Bereaved don't need to be panicing about how they are going to pay for a family members funeral.

About a week before my elderly father died he wrote down the hymns he wanted at his funeral. He also stated he didn't want a long funeral ( he had been to a few of them himself).

He had a proper will, but he also wrote down a few items that were for Mum and she could decide what to do with them. Left nothing in doubt.

[aps1080]

Great idea.

Something I must do myself.

[ashjoma]

Excellent idea

Some months before mum suddenly died, mum just said one night "there's money in my account for my funeral ". Looking back, I now think mum must have known her health was deteriorating

And when unexpectedly mum died, there was enough when we needed it

But I would add, have your pin recorded somewhere where the person arranging the funeral can get the money when needed. As we had no idea of mum's PIN number, we could not find the pin recorded and had to go into the bank and needed death certificate and will and the money was transferred to dad's account

Mum did not express any particular wishes, but I knew she dud not like overseas companies or anything fancy or costly.

I found a lovely small company in Sydney, all Australian, no pushiness and did a simple, no frills service.

So I think it is a good idea as I needed a deposit and then the remaining amount on the day,

On the day of the service I thought few neighbours and friends would attend but 50 people turned up and a room and some food was arranged for after the service by the on site catering
This cost over $1100 for drinks, nibbles, basic hot food ( cheapest package). For the 40 people who stayed afterwards.


.