Prepaid funeral plans: Buyer Beware
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Buy your casket in advance and save thousands of dollars on funeral expenses.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says the sales pitch may sound convincing, but be careful -- you could end up losing your shirt.
Military veteran Clarence Corter thought he was putting funeral finance worries to rest when he bought a pre-paid military casket for under $3,000 from a company called "Celestial Burials".
"We ordered a casket and it had an Air Force insignia on it because he was in the Air Force. And so, we ordered that, and we ordered one for me too because they were less expensive," explained Corter's wife, Betty.
When Clarence died several years later, Betty called the owner of Celestial Burials to send for the casket.
"We contacted him right away. And then we went to the funeral home and let them know that they were shipping it within 24 hours," Betty said.
But the casket was never delivered.
"When we got there, he was laying on a table. They had no casket for him," she said.
Betty and her children had to come up with $3,500 for a new casket on the spot. According to postal inspectors, nearly 5,000 families got burned in the scam alone. The victims lost more than $ 2.4 million.
Investigators say military vets and retirees are prime targets. Funeral directors warn that you must do your homework with any pre-paid funeral arrangement.
"With the advent of the technology we have today, the internet and word of mouth, has anybody else done business with these people? Are they people of their word? That is the crux of any business," said funeral director Joseph Lapinski.
And be sure to discuss your funeral plans with your family, long before they're faced with the emotional stress of saying goodbye.
Investigators report a number of cases where companies claimed to offer pre-paid funeral plans only to pocket the payments, instead of putting them in an escrow account.
Instead of getting involved in a pre-paid funeral plan, experts recommend looking into a "Payable Upon Death" account at your bank. That way at least, you're earning a little interest, and the money is there to support your family after you're gone.
Whatever you do, it's important to make your plans before you need them, and talk to your family so there are no unexpected surprises when you're gone.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says the sales pitch may sound convincing, but be careful -- you could end up losing your shirt.
Military veteran Clarence Corter thought he was putting funeral finance worries to rest when he bought a pre-paid military casket for under $3,000 from a company called "Celestial Burials".
"We ordered a casket and it had an Air Force insignia on it because he was in the Air Force. And so, we ordered that, and we ordered one for me too because they were less expensive," explained Corter's wife, Betty.
When Clarence died several years later, Betty called the owner of Celestial Burials to send for the casket.
"We contacted him right away. And then we went to the funeral home and let them know that they were shipping it within 24 hours," Betty said.
But the casket was never delivered.
"When we got there, he was laying on a table. They had no casket for him," she said.
Betty and her children had to come up with $3,500 for a new casket on the spot. According to postal inspectors, nearly 5,000 families got burned in the scam alone. The victims lost more than $ 2.4 million.
Investigators say military vets and retirees are prime targets. Funeral directors warn that you must do your homework with any pre-paid funeral arrangement.
"With the advent of the technology we have today, the internet and word of mouth, has anybody else done business with these people? Are they people of their word? That is the crux of any business," said funeral director Joseph Lapinski.
And be sure to discuss your funeral plans with your family, long before they're faced with the emotional stress of saying goodbye.
Investigators report a number of cases where companies claimed to offer pre-paid funeral plans only to pocket the payments, instead of putting them in an escrow account.
Instead of getting involved in a pre-paid funeral plan, experts recommend looking into a "Payable Upon Death" account at your bank. That way at least, you're earning a little interest, and the money is there to support your family after you're gone.
Whatever you do, it's important to make your plans before you need them, and talk to your family so there are no unexpected surprises when you're gone.
I don't prepay for anything...it never seems to work out. We set up accounts and put aside burial expense money. Funeral homes are way too expensive, go out of business and there are more options these days than there used to be, like cremation, live funerals and online casket retailers. Our family is more traditional, so we bury our loved ones with ceremonies.. The last three deaths, we purchased from an online retailer, Best Price Caskets. We saved almost 10K over these 3 funerals with them and my bank account is happy, with no sacrifice. We has beautiful caskets no one knew what we paid, but the last one, the funeral director thought I spent at least 6500-7000. I felt so good when he said that!!! Try them out, the service and products were phenomenal. We'll never buy from the funeral home again.
I was going to have my Westie stuffed and use him for a footstool, he was so rectangular. But it would have made me too sad, I'm glad I didn't.Â
 Burying people with ceremony, in the ground, is what some people choose to do, but it's mostly for the survivors. My father in Law was buried with a graveside funeral, while my mother was cremated with no funeral (Not my decision) - I think the burial was a better way to go, but I guess you can always have a proper funeral and then cremate. They both live on in our fond memories, and the handles and wood and comfortable casket lining are of no consequence.Â
I have requested cremation because we aren't rich and the money would be better used for husband-hunting, I guess they will need new golf clubs anyway because he's left handed.
lets put cemetaries out of business. Get cremated and then get scattered. Ashes to Ashes.....why do we bury people anyway? That is just odd to me now. The spirit lives on, but the bodyis just a shell.....it should be given back to the earth.
@jeff perhaps you should be left to rot where you fall, or given to the body farms as an experiment in progress, or donated to science? There are many ways to dispose of a body. But if someone doesn't want to be cremated, their wishes should be taken into consideration.
@jeff burying gives back to the earth more then spreading the ashes would. Your body contains nutrients that worms and micro-organisms would thrive off of. It would add nutrients to the soil. When you are cremated, all of that is burned off and you are just adding carbon to the soil.
I wanted to be cremated and placed in random salt and pepper shakers in restaurants all over the world but my wife said NOOOOOO. Â
Total buzz kill I know.
My wife has marching order that she is to do the least expensive thing with my body and use the money on a trip or something she can love and hold.  My original thoughts was to donate my body to science but she didn't like that idea.  We already looked into cremation and found a cremation society that is affordable and has good marks. She can give them a rum or scotch bottle to transport me where ever she wishes to scatter my ashes or what not.  I have saved and planned to hard financially to have it wasted on my dead body.
Costco has caskets for $950, shipping included and you get your 2% back if you're an Executive member. Although... I heard redeeming the rebate check in the Great Beyond is problematic.
I wouldn't be surprised if the vulturous Death Industry didn't plant this story so we would be wailing to the Funereal Leeches... er... Directors, PLEADING to spend thousands of dollars for the Hamiltonian Deluxe Mirror-Lined Satin Platinum Casket, only $10,000 plus fees. One funeral home was clever (maybe they all do this as a sales tactic), they placed a cardboard box with some string around it at the entrance of the sales room. "Oh, yes, that's our economy model, only $1,500."
@Getov MylonThey're having a sale!! Only 95 dollars for a cardboard box on a piece of plywood
http://www.edline-yahn.com/?page=cremationcontainers2&detail=195204&product_type=catalog_item