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Pre-Arrangement Process

The Basics of Pre-Planning & Pre-Paying For Your Final Arrangements

Take care of all the  funeral pre-arrangement  details and give you and your family the peace-of-mind you deserve.

Pre-paid arrangements established at other Funeral Homes may be transferred to Rairigh- Bence Funeral Home & Crematory.

The Basics of Pre-Planning


Here's a break-down of the pre-planning process:
  • Identify the type of service you want to plan for yourself.
  • Share your thoughts with your family and ask for their input.
  • How will you pay for this service? 
  • Try to set a budget for yourself.
  • Meet with one of our funeral directors to discuss your pre-planning options.
  • Weigh the pros and cons of each option.
  • Talk with your family or trusted friends about the best options.
  • Arrive at a final decision
In the case of funeral pre-arrangement, another two important step s are involved:
  • Write out your plan with as many details as possible.
  • Send your plan to the Rairigh-Bence Funeral Home & Crematory and provide a copy to your family or next of kin.

The Basics of Pre-Paying


Here's a break-down of the pre-payment process:


  • As mentioned in the previous section, arrive at a final decision.
  • What is the overall cost for the funeral or cremation service? 
  • How do you plan to pre-pay for that service?
  • Meet with one of our funeral directors to discuss your pre-payment options.
  • What funds will you use? Will you use your own personal funds or the proceeds from an existing life insurance policy, or both? (Sometimes people assign the proceeds of an existing life insurance policy in addition to using their own personal funds to pay for their pre-paid funeral or cremation service.)
  • Will you make one complete payment or schedule smaller payments over a set period of time?


We will explain your pre-payment options below.


There are two ways for you to complete your funeral pre-arrangement plan:

  • Make an appointment with us so we can help answer your questions and explore your options for pre-planning your final arrangements. Meetings can be scheduled in our office or in the comfort of your own home.
  • Or if you're not quite ready to meet with us in person, you can begin making your pre-arrangement by using our online pre-planning tool. Just click on the tab below.

Using our Online Pre-Planning Tool to Record Your Basic Biographical Information


This website features Pre-Arrange Online, a step-by-step interactive form that can be used to record your end-of-life plan and send the completed form to our staff for safekeeping. 
Pre-Arrange Now

Understanding funeral pre-payment plans in Pennsylvania:


  • In Pennsylvania, 100% of all funeral and cremation pre-payments must be placed in a third party account.
  • This law was established for the safety and security of you, the consumer.
  • It keeps your investment in a third party account that can only be accessed when needed to pay for your final expenses.
  • Pre-funeral and cremation payments should never be paid directly to a funeral home or funeral director. 
  • Instead, pre-paid funeral and cremation accounts must be established with accredited life insurance companies and/or with accounts established at local banks.
  • Both of those options listed above will earn dividends and/or interest, meaning the funds will grow depending on the current growth rates.
  • All pre-paid options permit you to designate the accounts as "Irrevocable".
  • An "Irrevocable" funeral or cremation account further secures your funds so that they can only ever be used to pay for your final expenses. This designation means your funeral or cremation pre-payment cannot be considered as a cash asset. This is important for people who receive state funded assistance.
  • Keep in mind that by making a pre-paid funeral or cremation account Irrevocable, it means those accounts cannot be cashed in or withdrawn in any way, except for when they are needed to pay for the intended person's final expenses. Neither the investor nor the funeral home can access those monies until they are needed to pay for the intended person's final expenses.
  • Irrevocable pre-paid funeral and cremation plans name the funeral home as the beneficiary (and sometimes owner) of the life insurance policy and/or bank account.
  • While the "Irrevocable" designation secures your funds only to be used for your final expenses, you can always change the name of the funeral home that will be used to carry out your final arrangements. In short, while the "Irrevocable" designation locks your funds aside only to be used for your final expenses, it doesn't necessarily lock you into the funeral home where the plan was established. This permits you the freedom to take your pre-paid funeral or cremation plan with you if you move away from our service area or if you simply change your mind about which funeral home you want to use.

Pre-paid funeral and cremation options at Rairigh-Bence Funeral Home & Crematory



We use two life insurance companies to assist client families when establishing pre-paid funeral and cremation accounts.


Those companies are:

  • Homesteaders Life Company - Since 1906, Homesteaders has been a trusted, reliable and secure choice for funding of advance funeral plans.  Various payment plans are available. This type of pre-payment account can be established at the funeral home during our pre-arrangement meeting. (Some restrictions apply.)
  • NSS Life - Founded in 1890, their mission is to provide their fraternal family of clients with a sustainable measure of financial security via life and annuity products.        This type of pre-payment account can be established at the funeral home during our pre-arrangement meeting.  (Some restrictions apply.)


Your other option for establishing a pre-paid burial or cremation account with us is by working with a local bank of your choosing.

  • Bank Accounts - We usually recommend for you to call several banks in our area to find the best interest rate for "burial cd's".  Usually there are no penalties for withdrawing funds from a bank Certificate of Deposit due to the death of the certificate holder. With that in mind, try to select a cd account that will provide the best return. These accounts must be established at the bank office.  (Banking regulations apply)  We would be glad to accompany you to your bank to assist with establishing a "burial cd". 


Remember that an existing life insurance policy can be assigned to the funeral home to pay for your final expenses. All policies to be considered for this process must be verified by one of our funeral directors at Rairigh-Bence Funeral Home & Crematory. You will need to bring us each policy that is to be considered, in addition to the contact information required to reach the customer service department of each life insurance company.


We don't recommend withdrawing the "cash value" of an existing life insurance policy to put aside funds into a pre-paid account.  While there may be exceptions to this recommendation, it is usually the case that an intact whole life insurance policy will provide a greater death benefit than just the cash value of that policy.

Record Your Wishes

There are many benefits to end-of-life planning . Here are the top ten reasons why you should consider making your funeral arrangements ahead of time:

 

  • It means there will be fewer opportunities for argument and indecision about your funeral arrangements among family members after you're gone.
  • Your survivors will never have to worry about doing the wrong thing when finalizing your funeral arrangements. You will have told them exactly what you want.
  • No mistakes and no oversights. After you're gone, everything will be done your way.
  • You have peace-of-mind now knowing that we will follow through with your wishes.
  • After your death, no one can make any decisions you wouldn't want.
  • Funeral pre-planning is the responsible thing to do. It removes the burden from family members.
  • You can make complex decisions ahead of time when you have the time to think things through.
  • Funeral pre-planning can involve pre-payment. This will save your family money and avoid any financial burdens.
  • Funeral pre-planning involves an awareness of the reality of death.
  • You are almost guaranteed to get what you want.

 

Turn to the Professionals at
Rairigh-Bence Funeral Home & Crematory


Many people are more comfortable making these decisions with funeral professionals. If you would like us to help, call us or send us an email using the Contact Us form. 
Contact Us
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