Benefits of prearranging a funeral
By Eric Vandermeersch - Published on Saturday, 23 January 2010 22:47
A growing number of Canadians are prearranging their funeral and making their final wishes known. This brings them peace of mind knowing all of the necessary items involved with a funeral are taken care of and if they act quickly they can take advantage of significant savings. All funeral services that are not prearranged before July 2010 will be subject to the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) being put into effect in Ontario.
Peace of Mind for Both You and Your Family
Losing a loved one is very difficult. Add to that, your family feeling helpless if there is no clear direction regarding your last wishes. Taking time now to prearrange and preplan your funeral will give you peace of mind knowing that everything will take place the way you want it, while greatly assisting your family during this distressing time.
Relief to the Surviving Family
Many people ask the question, "Why should I prearrange my funeral when my family can look after the arrangements?" Though this may be true, very few have the conversations necessary to fully prepare the family to do so. Prearranging will provide relief to your grieving family by alleviating the pressure of making hard decisions during a difficult time, take away the financial burden and remove any uncertainties regarding your last wishes. All of the details will have been looked after by you, allowing your family to focus their time on each other.
Price Guarantee for You
You benefit from a price guarantee. Once you pay in full for the services of a pre-paid funeral contract, those services are guaranteed at the price paid with no time restrictions. You pay no additional fees. The paid funds will go directly into a trust account where they will remain until the death occurs. Once that happens, the funds are released to the funeral home so they may perform the services you purchased on the prepaid contract. Any interest accrued in the trust account will go toward covering any cost inflation. If there are any funds remaining after the present day costs are covered, the remaining funds will go back to the estate of the deceased.
Know What Is Included
It’s important to know all the services funeral homes prearrange and those they don’t. Some do not include disbursements which are paid to other parties on your behalf. For instance, the three mandatory disbursements for a cremation include the government death registration fee, coroner’s cremation certificate and cremation fee. If these are not prearranged then the customer will end up paying the difference at the time of death. Our company believes it is important to include all services in our prearrangements to protect our customers. This is contrary to the rest of the industry where funeral homes are prearranging less and less to limit their risk.
Prearrangements are a great thing to do for yourself, but it is an even greater gift for your family. Even if your family members are uncomfortable with the subject, the comfort it provides when it’s needed is invaluable. Please call us if you have questions or if you would like to learn more about prearrangements at 416-479-0012, or visit our website at www.torontofuneralservices.com
