[Trayderjoe]

Originally Posted by Villageswimmer

I’m not sure. Wouldn’t it be a true gift to your heirs? My mom did this, and all we needed to do was make one phone call. It worked perfectly. This was up north.

I agree here. One of the contracts I am signing will be for my parent. I have been through multiple funerals in the family and there is enough stress with dealing with the passing that having to make decisions "on the fly" only exasperates the situation. I understand not everyone agrees with prepayment, and that is ok, but decisions made emotionally or in haste could be more problematic. Making a single phone call and getting it all taken care of seems intuitively better, as indicated by the shared experience above.

Not sure why OP refers to company “A” and “‘B.” Why anonymity?

I chose to not name the companies, as I did not want to "taint" anyone who chooses to attend or not attend a seminar based upon my posting. Company "A" might be a more viable option for someone based upon their personal circumstances. I wanted to give people something to think about and perhaps it will give them ideas for questions to ask which might make the experience more valuable for them, such as a follow-up on the point below about how secure from loss would the investment be?

We attended a seminar held by Baldwin Brothers. They’ve been in business some forty years and, by all accounts, have an excellent reputation.

The only reason we didn’t go for it is that they were not able to answer the question “what if they go out of business before I die?” Yes, I know there’s a “trust fund” which would (likely) refund a portion of the amount we prepay to the estate. That part was somewhat gray, but, more importantly, where does that leave our heirs if this occurs?

We just were not able to get a definitive answer to this question. We all know that anyone can go out of business despite their success today.

I think I wanted to hear they were part of an association that would honor the contract should Baldwin Brothers cease to exist.

I understand and respect the hesitancy. Perhaps if one is in a situation where the end is closer than desirable, it would be less of a concern?