FUNERALS ARE FOR THE LIVING Plan now to save your family $$ and aggravation later Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland & Environs www.mdfunerals.org Why plan for your funeral now? -- Planning a funeral takes time -- Making decisions when grieving should be avoided -- Nearest funeral home may be more expensive -- Funeral homes and private cemeteries are profit- making businesses -- FTC found 1 in 5 funeral homes are deceptive & manipulative -- Avoid on-line services offering to arrange low-cost funerals or cremations -- Learn your options and then plan now to save your family $$ and aggravation later Funeral & burial options listing - from most to least expensive -- Traditional funeral & burial (most expensive) -- Green burial -- Traditional cremation & cremains burial -- Home funeral -- Immediate burial -- Direct cremation & save/scatter remains -- Donate body to medical science & education (no cost) Traditional funeral ($7,000 minimum – Not including burial) -- Body transfer from -- Basic services of place of death Funeral Dir. & staff -- Wood or metal casket -- Embalming -- Body prep. & dressing -- Visitation or viewing -- Funeral service -- Floral arrangements -- Transport of floral -- Hearse / limousine arrangements to grave to gravesite -- Prayer / remembrance -- Death certificates cards -- Death notice in newspaper Typical burial of casket or urn ($4,500 minimum – Not including funeral) -- Interment service fee on a weekday; more if late afternoon, weekend or holiday -- Single gravesite; much more if “double depth” -- Vault for casket or outer container for urn -- Opening & closing of ground -- Casket lowering device, ground cover, chairs, tent -- Stone monument or bronze plaque installed -- Administrative processing fee Green burial - ($6,500 minimum) -- Body transfer from place of death to funeral home -- Basic services of Funeral Director & staff -- Eco-friendly bathing & embalming, if desired -- Plain wood or wicker casket or cloth shroud -- Gravesite in a green cemetery (likely more costly than the price of a traditional gravesite) -- Body transfer to gravesite -- Interment service fee on a weekday; more if late afternoon, weekend or holiday -- Opening & closing of ground -- Casket lowering device -- Stone monument, if desired – Death certificates Traditional cremation & cremains burial ($5,500 minimum) -- Body transfer from place of death to funeral home -- Basic services of Funeral Director & staff -- Embalming & body preparation if there will be a viewing -- Wood casket -- Viewing & funeral service -- Crematory fee -- Urn or other cremains container -- Vault or other outer container for urn/cremains container -- Burial of cremains in a cemetery or placement in a columbarium -- Death certificates Home funeral - ($1,600 minimum) -- Body transfer from place of death to home (can be in a private vehicle) -- Casket or minimum container -- Viewing & services at private home (no cost) -- Dry-ice to keep body cool for 2 to 3 days -- Body transfer to funeral home -- Basic services of Funeral Director & staff -- Burial or cremation (see charts on burial and cremation options) -- Death certificates What you need to know about caskets & urns -- Casket price list must be available to you at funeral home -- Casket prices typically range $2,500 to $10,000 from funeral homes (less if purchased from Costco, Walmart, & Internet) -- Caskets available in all types of wood plus bronze, copper, stainless steel and 16, 18 & 20 gauge steel in many colors -- Gasketed metal caskets available to keep out air, water & other outside elements for a while -- Funeral homes cannot refuse to use or charge handling fee for caskets, urns & other containers purchased elsewhere -- Minimum containers usually are available at funeral homes in fiberboard, particleboard, cardboard, & cloth/vinyl shroud -- Wood caskets can be rented for viewing & services Least expensive options Immediate burial ($1,200 minimum - Plus burial expenses) -- Body transfer from place of death -- No embalming -- No viewing or services at funeral home -- Minimum container -- Death certificates Direct cremation ($850 minimum) -- Body transfer from place of death -- No embalming -- No viewing or services at funeral home -- Cardboard casket or -- Death certificates cloth/vinyl shroud -- Cremains returned in plastic bag & small box if no urn provided -- Scattering or keeping cremains costs little; burying cremains in a cemetery costs many $$ (see chart on typical burial) Donate body to medical science & education (no cost) -- Arrange in advance with State Anatomy Board or medical school -- Phone Anatomy Board or school & they will arrange to pick up body -- Body later cremated & cremains returned, if desired Prepaying options Funeral homes & cemeteries love prepayment (“pre-need” trust) -- Irrevocable or revocable trust -- Insurance-funded plans Problems with pre-need trusts and insurance plans -- Consumer may have emergency & need money back -- Any interest earned on trust goes to funeral home, not consumer -- Insurance plans may give only partial refunds, if refund desired -- Funeral home or cemetery may change ownership or close -- Consumer may move away -- Many instances of pre-need funds theft Pre-need trust makes sense if death imminent or doing Medicaid spend down Payable-on-death account at bank provides greatest flexibility -- Can close account later without penalty if need money -- FDIC insured -- All interest earned goes to consumer -- Not linked to a particular funeral home or cemetery Top 10 ways to save your family $$ & aggravation 1. Plan ahead: learn what options you want & don’t want; decide how much you’re willing to spend; tell your family what you want 2. Avoid on-line services offering low-cost funerals or cremations 3. Take a friend with you to visit several funeral homes and several cemeteries to compare prices & services 4. Ask to see their general price list (GPL) & casket price list during visits; get an itemized bill before buying anything 5. Buy only what you want; avoid “package” deals 6. Avoid embalming unless there will be a viewing 7. Avoid expensive caskets; rent one if will have a viewing or service 8. Plan a memorial service later vs. having a service at the funeral home and/or at the gravesite 9. Set money aside beforehand in payable-on-death account at bank 10. Don’t prepay unless death is imminent or doing a Medicaid spend down Summary -- Remember: Death is inevitable but expensive funerals are not. Pre-plan but don’t pre-pay. -- Talk to your family about what you want -- Learn what your options are by visiting; www.mdfunerals.org and at www.consumer.ftc.gov -- Put your plan in writing; share it with your family -- Don’t make your family decide on your funeral arrangements when emotionally distraught as they may disagree & spend far more than is necessary FCAME - protecting the rights and wallets of grieving consumers We EDUCATE -- Provide info about after-death care options & prices on website -- Promote after-death care planning with one’s family -- Respond to consumer emails; speak at seminars We ADVOCATE -- Act as a voice for consumers with media & government entities -- Work with funeral & cemetery regulatory agencies / boards -- Initiate & testify on funeral, cremation & cemetery legislation -- In last 9 years, helped win approval of about 20 bills at MD General Assembly that strengthened regulation of funeral homes & cemeteries, including 4 bills that FCAME initiated. AND…. Helped defeat about a dozen different bills at MD General Assembly that would have weakened funeral home or cemetery laws.