Financing

Insurance companies and funeral homes often tout the benefits of the pre-paid plans they sell. They urge customers to pay for their own funeral in advance—in order to spare their survivors the trouble and expense, lock in current prices, or shelter their assets from Medicaid. Read more

First, be aware that you or your family will be responsible for paying the funeral bill. No charity will bail you out if you go into debt for a funeral. Take a realistic look at your budget, before calling a funeral home. Decide what you can comfortably afford—without sacrificing money you need for daily living. Read more

As with any major purchase, it’s wise to examine the funeral home’s price list very carefully before signing any contract. That way, you can ensure that the funeral you want fits within your budget. The Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule, enacted in 1984, includes many important consumer protections that make researching and buying a funeral easier than in the past. Read more

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP IN A FUNERAL CONSUMERS ALLIANCE Funerals in the United States are more elabo-rate and costly than funerals in most other countries. Competition in the usual sense is largely absent in the U.S. funeral business. Yet, paradoxically, there are too many mor-tuaries and half of them receive only one or two cases a week. Read more

JOSEPHINE BLACK PESARESI My father, Hugo L Black, died in 1971. At that time he was 85 years old and the second longest sitting Associate Justice in the history of the United States Supreme Court, having sat on the Court for nearly 35 years. An avid tennis player, he served on his two beloved courts—the Supreme Court and the tennis court— until a few months before his death. Read more