Estate planning involves a lot of aspects from property management to preferences of care. While you might find yourself focusing on to whom your assets and money go after you die, it is also important to consider the expenses of your passing. Having your funeral planned and prepaid may help ease the financial pressure your loved ones might experience alongside that grief.
Preneed contracts and funeral trusts provide options for you to consider.
Preneed contracts
These agreements happen between you and the funeral home you plan on running your funeral services. They specify details about topics including your visitation, whether or not you prefer burial or cremation and other wishes for your funeral. The funeral home in question may walk you through the potential costs and take payments as you choose to make them.
Funeral trusts
As Funeralwise.com details, these trusts indicate the funeral home in question as the benefactor in order to set aside money for anticipated funeral costs. These may or may not be the vehicle a funeral home opts to use to fund preneed contracts. If you do not have a funeral home in mind, there are other trusts known as payable on death accounts that act as a convenient way to transfer money for the payment of funeral costs.
Scrutiny of these agreements
All of these options have written agreements at their core. Double-checking the legal terminology in these contracts is important to fulfill your wishes regarding this subject. You want these contracts to use language that is concise and clear. That way all parties involved act accordingly.