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    Funeral Pre-Arrangement

    Take a hard task off your family's plate.

    Why pre-plan

    • Family makes decisions while grieving — leads to overspending by $3,000-8,000.
    • Lock in today's prices for tomorrow's funeral.
    • Your wishes followed (cremation vs burial, music, who speaks).
    • Less family argument over what you "would have wanted".
    • Estate executor doesn't scramble for $10K cash when you're gone.

    Average costs (2025)

    • Traditional burial — $9,000-15,000. Casket + plot + service.
    • Cremation with service — $5,000-7,000.
    • Direct cremation (no service) — $700-2,500. Fastest growing choice.
    • Green burial — $2,000-5,000. No embalming, biodegradable casket.
    • Donation to medical school — FREE. They handle cremation, return ashes.

    Three ways to pre-plan

    1. Pre-pay at a funeral home — locks price. Make sure it's state-trust funded (your money safe if home goes out of business).
    2. Funeral insurance / "final expense" policy — small life insurance ($5-25K) earmarked for funeral. Beneficiary spends it.
    3. "Pay on Death" bank account — set aside $10-15K, beneficiary uses for funeral. Most flexible. Recommended.

    Pre-payment scams

    • Funeral home goes out of business — your money may be lost.
    • "Cash advance" funeral insurance often costs more than benefit.
    • Salesman pressuring "today only" pricing.
    • Door-to-door funeral plan reps.
    • Solution: Don't pre-pay funeral home. Set up POD bank account instead.

    Document your wishes

    • Burial vs cremation.
    • Funeral home preferred (or "any reputable").
    • Service preferences — religious, secular, music, readings.
    • Obituary draft (or "let family write it").
    • Pallbearers (if any).
    • Burial plot (if owned) — show family the deed.
    • Veterans benefits — VA covers some military burial costs (free flag, headstone, vet cemetery).

    Write all this on ONE page. Title it "When I die — wishes". Keep with will.

    Free help

    • Funeral Consumers Alliance — funerals.org. Free education + local price surveys.
    • VA Burial Benefits — free for veterans. Apply ahead at va.gov.
    • Memorial planning sites — Everplans, Cake. Templates for wishes.
    • Costco caskets — yes, really. $1,000-2,000 vs $3-7K at funeral home.

    Don't make it morbid

    Pre-arranging is a gift to your family. Spend an hour on it. Tell loved ones you did. They'll thank you for years — much more than any other "estate planning" task.

    Funeral Pre-Arrangement Guide | TekSure