Pre paid funeral?

[Cycleops]

Goof idea getting it all sorted beforehand.
Down here it's the deceased's family that decides what the arrangements are not the wife. This leads to fights and disagreements so on many occasions the body might stay in the refrigerator for over a year.
There's a fashion now for showy large funerals. These guys have become very popular:

View: https://youtu.be/j9V78UbdzWI

 

[fossyant]

FIL had one but hadn't paid in for long enough (under 12 months). Co-op did refund the payments though. MIL now has one, we paid about £3k-£3.5k as she needed to reduce her 'savings' so this was the best way to do it.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I think they are a good idea financially wise, by father paid about £600 each for both my mother & himself, that would have been 25 years or so ago. We used my mothers some 8 years ago & unfortunately I can see having to use my fathers this year, but he will have go his monies worth.

As to the risk I think you just have to ensure it's unwritten by a reputable company & not just a fly by night.

 

[Blue Hills]

It is with some surprise that I learn it would be legal for my wife to simply bury me in the garden, next to the dog. Of course, questions might be asked if she doesn't wait until I'm dead.

Don't worry - i think it might depreciate the resale value of the house (you, not the dog)

 

[Kingfisher101]

I think what you need to be asking is does the plan retain its value or will it have to be added to after X amount of years? Also go with a big company like the COOP because if a small place goes pop then you will lose your money.
A mates Mum died and the first thing the funeral director said was that there was not enough money in the plan to cover the funeral etc. People seem to think that if they pay into one of these plans then that's it, its taken care of and its not always the case.
I don't want any type of funeral for myself and I'm not doing it for my Mum either its just going to be straight burial/cremation and that's it. I personally dislike big black funerals.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Have you managed to book a date?

 

[DaveReading]

Goof idea getting it all sorted beforehand.
Down here it's the deceased's family that decides what the arrangements are not the wife. This leads to fights and disagreements so on many occasions the body might stay in the refrigerator for over a year.

When my late father's wife died about 10 years ago, all hell broke loose between him and her grown-up (in years, at least) children about who should determine the funeral arrangements.

 

[Jenkins]

I want one of the ones where they simply pick up your body, cremate it and then send or take the ashes back to your family.

I would rather they have a get together and spend a few pounds on some food and alcohol and have a laugh about things we used to do.

Funerals are so stressful for the families and cost so much money that I would turn in my grave at all that.

That's effectively what my mum & stepfather have. All pre-paid, no fuss and they've even put aside some money for a small family do afterwards.

Looking to do organise similar for myself in the future to save my sister any hassle (if she outlasts me that is)

 

[Accy cyclist]

It just so happens thqt a chum of mine runs a business hand making bio degreadeable coffins. Always assuming I go before him, thats what theyll do - dig a deep hole and chuck me in it for the worms to nosh on. No church service of the like foe me.

I wonder how much such coffins cost,when cheap wood ones will rot in a few years,letting nature take its course. My ex ( now retired) grave digger friend told me that when he 'rodded' a grave,to see how far down to dig for the next occupier,he'd look at how long the last coffin had been down from the gravestone date and if it was a few years old and rotten it was a cheap one,but if it'd been down over a decade and was still intact it'd be an expensive one. I also wonder why folk chose or have chosen for them, expensive coffins when the body is to be cremated.🤔

 

[Archie_tect]

...I also wonder why folk chose or have chosen for them, expensive coffins when the body is to be cremated.🤔

... last act of vanity.

 

[Accy cyclist]

And, yes, the company could go bust just like any other company. Then a second payment will have to be made. That doesn't sound like a good deal.

Not too sure,but i thought there was a kind of national funeral association,that honoured the arrangement if such a thing happened.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Just thinking about it. I have 2 friends who are ex funeral directors, a friend who's an ex gravedigger and one of the ex funeral director friends has a girl/lady friend who's an embalmer.

 

[rikki]

The husband of a cousin is the designated gravedigger for his community. It has become a thing in that community for the relatives and friends of the deceased to get together and dig the grave. The local council permits this providing the gravedigger's fee is paid, because you can't be doing it to avoid paying the gravedigger. He then donates the money to a local charity or sporting club associated with the deceased.

 

[ColinJ]

I worked with a former gravedigger once. He dug one plot out and ended up standing inside a coffin that had been buried below many years before... (The rotten lid of the coffin collapsed with the weight of him standing on the soil above it.)

 

[slowmotion]

I have not got round to it yet but I think it's quite a good and kind idea to sort out a pre-arranged funeral for yourself. When the time comes, the last thing your family will want is the hassle of dealing with all that stuff.