Pre-Payment Funeral Options
Imagine if it was you.
Imagine for just a moment that you received a call someone that you care deeply about has passed away. The grief you feel can be paralyzing, now you realize the task of making funeral arrangement is yours. You are not sure what they wanted, you never talked about it. You make calls to your family, unsure of what to say and you find out that funeral arrangements were made many years earlier. You call the funeral home just to make sure that this is true, and find out that it is true. The funeral director calmly reassures you, not only has everything been arranged for, everything is paid for entirely. There is no greater gift that someone can give, than leave behind instructions for final arrangements outlining what is to be done, for the people who are left behind. It is almost like the person who is no longer physically present is sitting next to you and guiding you through this very difficult journey. The pre-arranged instructions are very powerful on their own, but imagine if this very personal gift was fully paid when you arrived at the funeral home. We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to pre-funding your pre-funeral arrangement.
The gift that you will never forget.
We see this scenario many times and know the relief an individual brings to a surviving family by just leaving pre-arranged funeral instructions behind. There are many choices and ways to pre-fund a funeral. The first choice is to not pre-fund it at all, and just leave instruction. As we indicated before, that in itself is a very powerful tool. Second option is many families have purchased life insurance policies for just such a purpose, to pay for final expenses. The policy that you already own could be used to pay for the funeral expenses and other final expense items when needed. The downside of planning to use your own life insurance is that the prices of the funeral selected are subject to change due to normal inflation over time. The upside is you do not need to pledge any addition resources to know your expenses will be paid in the future. We are aware that preferences that you express today may become cost prohibitive in later years. The only way to guarantee the present and future costs of a pre-paid funeral service is to couple the prearranged funeral with a product that guarantees the inflationary costs will be met when the funeral is needed. We offer many such products that upon conclusion of the pre-need arrangement we guarantee that the present and future costs will never increase to provide these services on your behalf to your family. We have indicated below some of those choices.
Guaranteed Inflation Proof Pre-Funeral Trust Account
A funeral trust account is established to provide inflation proof monies for a pre-arranged funeral. The monies deposited into a trust account guarantee, through the interest earned on the account, that these monies including interest will be available to pay the funeral bill at the time of need. There are two options in selecting a trust account. The first option is when the funeral bill has been totaled; the monies in the same amount are deposited into the trust account. The second option is a person can make payments to the trust account in any amount they choose, and when the total is reached, there will be no further payments made and the funeral would be guaranteed to be paid in full at the time of need.
Your funds are protected by a bond required by the Illinois State Controllers Office and each individual trust account is insured and reviewed annually by that office. All funds must remain in the trust account until they are needed to pay for the pre-arranged funeral. If you move or simply change you mind, all funds with accumulated interest are released to you, because the funds are always yours and never the funeral homes. There are many benefits to a trust. The money deposited into the trust account is yours. If at any time a crisis should arise, or if you change your mind regarding the type of service you would prefer, those funds can be depleted or added too at any time. The Fred C. Dames Funeral Home also guarantees their trusts. Even if the current inflation out paced the interest accrued on the trust account, we guarantee there would be no additional charge to our families. It there is a positive balance after the funeral bill is paid, those monies would be refunded to the estate of the deceased.
Insurance Plans
Insurance plans are designed for those families looking to the future. They offer the opportunity to fully fund the guaranteed present and future cost of a selected funeral service with a number of payment options. This is accomplished through the use of a specially designed life insurance policy that, by its guaranteed inflation adjustments, protects effectively the insured costs from the results of inflation. There are many insurance products available on the market today each with their own advantages. If your family is interested in Burial Insurance we can discuss all of the products available, and which one would best suit your family’s needs. Even though you have been told you cannot get full coverage insurance because of advanced age or poor health, you should investigate this opportunity with us at your convenience.
Universal Funeral Service Contract Acceptance Program
A proven concept in funeral service based on an old idea, value. This program was designed with traditional values in mind, as well as financial considerations at heart. The program is simple. If you or any member of your family has a pre-arranged funeral contract with any other funeral home providing funeral home service in Illinois or anywhere in the contiguous United States, the Fred C. Dames Funeral Homes will honor that contract in its entirety regardless of other funeral home charges.
This means a family’s arrangements at any funeral home will have the same funeral service, merchandise and amenities at either of the Fred C. Dames Funeral Homes spacious facilities at no additional cost. This is the Fred C. Dames Funeral Homes promise, here when you need us.
