Posts Tagged ‘Estate Planning’

Obituaries and Identity Theft

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

For most people, obituaries are a way to pay a tribute to a loved one and to advertise the time and place of a memorial service. Great time and care is taken to write the obituary in a way that honors the deceased, and a picture is lovingly selected to go along with it.

Unfortunately, not even death keeps predators away. The recently deceased are a target for identity theft, and one way in which people gather information on their victims is to search the obituary page for leads. The damages caused by this kind of crime can be catastrophic—especially for the grieving family. For example, if the spouse or partner of the deceased is still living, he or she may be held financially liable for the theft of monies or credit. It can also be a huge hassle to go through the police and credit agencies to prove that a theft occurred.

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What to Do if You Can’t Afford a Funeral

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

For all the benefits of advance funeral planning, burial insurance, and the affordability of options like direct cremation, death is still a very costly affair. In fact, for some families, it’s too costly—and that’s when funeral planning can become a real problem. Although it isn’t something people like to think about (either in relation to their own life or in others), there are occasions in which it simply isn’t possible to pay for a funeral.

While this situation isn’t ideal, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have options. Government and church organizations exist to provide support, and you may be able to find a financing option that suits your lifestyle. If you are getting ready to plan a funeral and don’t have the available funds to cover it all, here are a few of the choices you face:

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What is the Difference between Burial Insurance and Funeral Insurance?

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

When it comes time to start advance planning a funeral, you’ll find that there are several options open to you. In addition to purchasing a plot or pre-paying for services, you can also choose to buy a funeral insurance policy. Like life insurance, this policy is paid out at the time of death—though usually in a matter of days rather than months, which helps you to cover the immediate costs of the funeral.

Burial insurance might be another term thrown around as you decide which type of pre-payment plan is right for you. This option sounds more specific than funeral insurance, in that it might be earmarked just for the burial process, but the truth is that both types of insurance are the same. They are flexible and affordable options designed to help cover the costs of interment (either burial or cremation, as the case may be).

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When Should You Start Funeral Planning?

Friday, September 9th, 2011

Because death can happen at any time, there is no “right” age at which to start funeral planning. Some people like to take care of their estate planning soon after they have children, and funeral planning is a big portion of that. Others wait until their retirement years or after a long-term diagnosis has been made. Still others don’t make any funeral plans at all, and it is up to their families to coordinate all the details.

While all of these are acceptable outcomes, most funeral homes recommend that you start funeral before you reach retirement age—ideally when you are doing the rest of your long-term financial planning. It is much easier to set aside funds for burial while you are organizing your finances for retirement rather than waiting until you might have to stretch your dollars or face mounting funeral costs.

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Standard Life Insurance vs. Preneed Funeral Insurance

Monday, August 1st, 2011

When it comes to advance funeral planning options, one of the most common choices is funeral insurance. Like a life insurance policy, funeral insurance allows you to pay premiums during your lifetime with the promise of a payout upon death. Your beneficiary is then able to use those funds to finance your funeral, so that the financial burden is not placed directly onto your family’s shoulders.

How are They Different?

At its most basic core, traditional life insurance is intended to support life. Ranging in amount from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars, these are flexible financial arrangements that allow you to put a “safety net”under your family. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 25, 45, or 65, life insurance is meant to provide financial support to your loved ones in the event of your untimely death. That is, your family gets the money they need to pay for the mortgage, college, and even daily life as they struggle through a sudden loss.

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Funeral Planning: What is a Living Trust?

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Although much of the information you’ll find online regarding funeral planning has to do with funeral pre-plans and the kind of funeral insurance that allows you to tie your money into a specific funeral home, there are actually many different types of financial and legal steps you can take to secure your estate.

One such option in funeral planning is a living trust. Like a will, a living trust allows you to allocate your money and resources to your dependents. However, unlike a will, this contract can take effect while you are still alive. This not only makes a lot of the proceedings an easier transition, but you can cause your estate to avoid probate so that your family doesn’t have to wait for the legal system to process everything before they gain control of their inheritance.

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Funeral Planning and Terminal Illness

Monday, April 11th, 2011

One of the most common questions we get here on our blog is “when is the best time to start funeral planning?” By now, almost all of us have heard about the options in funeral pre-plans, which range from setting aside funding via a trust or funeral insurance policy to actually planning the details and paying for caskets and burial plots in advance.

What most of us don’t consider is exactly when planning a funeral is best. Is it when you’re in your 40s? 50s? Facing retirement?

There is no single answer to this question, and only you and your loved ones can decide for sure when to start funeral planning. One thing, however, that is almost always universal is the benefit of funeral planning in the final stages of a disease or terminal illness.

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What To Do When Someone Dies: Real Estate

Friday, January 21st, 2011

When someone in your family dies, there is a good chance that he or she had real estate (either in the form of a personal residence or in investment properties) that will be subject to either probate, inheritance taxes, or both. In cases where the real estate value is high or completely paid off, this can represent a great financial boon; in others, where there may be a mortgage on the property, the house or land may end up going to probate to pay off existing debts before you’ll ever see a penny.

Depending on your relationship with the deceased, the process of finalizing all the paperwork and transferring the property will vary. Here are a few of the more common situations:

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What To Do When Someone Dies: Debts and Bills

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Few people die with every bit of their financial affairs in order – even if they left a will or went through substantial funeral pre-planning. That’s because most Americans live on a delicate balance of money coming in, money going out, and money being moved to savings or insurance accounts. And when a loved one passes away, this balance doesn’t go with them. It is up to the dependents and beneficiaries to navigate the many different bills and debts left behind.

Before you pull out your checkbook or start panicking about how you’re going to cover all the immediate expenses, it’s important to learn your rights and responsibilities about paying bills when a loved one dies.

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Benefits of Funeral Insurance

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Of all the funeral planning options, one of the more popular is funeral insurance. It is similar to funeral pre-plans, in that you are making preparations to cover funeral costs well in advance of the time of death. However, instead of tying up your funds at a particular funeral home or for specific services and funeral goods, you are simply setting aside a pre-determined sum of money that your family can then use to defray some or all of your eventual funeral costs.

Why Choose Funeral Insurance?

Like life insurance, this is a policy that allows your beneficiary to cover funeral costs from a large payout that occurs at the time of death. The number one benefit is saving your loved ones from financial hardship in covering all the funeral expenses.
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Posts Tagged ‘Estate Planning’

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