[Girlcopper]

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.

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

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.

Yeah, why secrets about the name? Anyway, you dont necessarily have to pay in advance. Have your wishes documented. Cremation desire 1 and 2. Its not really all about paying in advance for a cremation. Its more making your wishes known and making sure the money is left to pay for it. The main thing is where you want your ashes to go. I can definitely see buying your own crypt box at the cemetery of your choice in advance. (I did). Now all that family has to do is get the cremation done and everything else is in place...

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Girlcopper

Yeah, why secrets about the name? Anyway, you dont necessarily have to pay in advance. Have your wishes documented. Cremation desire 1 and 2. Its not really all about paying in advance for a cremation. Its more making your wishes known and making sure the money is left to pay for it. The main thing is where you want your ashes to go. I can definitely see buying your own crypt box at the cemetery of your choice in advance. (I did). Now all that family has to do is get the cremation done and everything else is in place...

I agree with making your wishes known in advance and providing an inheritance to pay for it. That can be specified in your will. But, I don't agree with paying for it in advance. Things change, companies go out of business, people move, and how can you be sure that the people who will handle the funeral will even remember that it is already paid for?

[Graspher]

Great insights - thanks for that...but the A and B reference was a fail.

[Oneiric]

I don't get it. WHEN you die, the funeral home passes through a modest state determined cremation fee to those handling your estate. Why add a layer of hassle beforehand?

[J1ceasar]

Or you can sign up for a free cremation, just Google it as long as you allow them to use your body for science. The only hitch of course is if you did somewhere else than nearby in Florida. But I would imagine the course removing a body is not terribly expensive as it's just dead weight

[jnvillages]

I absolutely 100% recommend having prepaid funeral plans. Plans made in 2014 with Baldwin Brothers recently paid off. Only additional cost was for newspaper obits. Compassionate, seamless and was a relief for me and my family. No decisions had to be made at a stressful time.

[taruffi57]

I went to one at Bonefish by the big Nat'l. sales company. Saved hundreds for my Mom's cremation by assembling the items I did & didn't want at a local funeral home. Nat'l. company couldn't believe I wouldn't sign. (the mini lunch wasn't worth $hundreds.....

[MIskra]

We also attended two presentations from competitive companies. Going into this, we felt it was something we wanted to do, but did not know anything about it. I have to admit, that we are the kind of people who tend to over-analyze everything. This was our experience:

After the luncheon with the first company, we felt very pressured by the presenter to set up a follow-up discussion in our home (to the point we felt uncomfortable). We thought that once she was in our house she would put even more pressure on us and it would be hard for us to get her to leave without a signed contract, so we declined. We later contacted their storefront office in The Villages, asked to speak to the manager, explained the situation, and requested to talk to that person (instead of the pushy-presenter) in their office instead of our house. We were accommodated and the manager was very nice, not pushy at all, and answered all our questions. We wanted to do some comparative shopping, so we did not sign a contract.

We thought the presentation at the luncheon of the second company was more informative and less emotional, which we appreciated. Maybe because we had already been educated in the office of the first company, we found this presentation much better and no pressure whatsoever to do anything. Again, we were hesitant to invite a sales person into our house, but we asked for a private session at their office in The Villages. The private session was excellent and mostly what we talked about was the differences between the two companies. We also contacted the first company for them to confirm and explain any differences. We learned a lot.

We also contacted a funeral home who has been in business for many, many years in this area. We met with them...no luncheon...no pressure....pure information. Also excellent. Several difference were noted and discussed.

We put together a comparison chart on these three options. There were differences between all of them. I don't like to give out the names because none of the differences were bad, mainly personal preferences. We took a lot of time to make up our minds, and we made several follow-up calls/emails to all three. We ignored all of the BS "sign now because prices will be increasing" threats, and in the end, so did they. All knew we were doing serious research, and they gave us our space.

We chose the second company. We called the other two and thanked them for their time and explained that the option we chose worked best for our particular circumstance.

Because everyone's personal and family situation is different, I would suggest that you not take anyone's recommendation or opinion. Just do your own due diligence. First decide if preplanning a cremation (or burial) is the route you want to take, and if so, move forward as you would with any major purchase. Include your family in your decision so that everyone knows what to do at the time of your death (regardless if you pre-pay or not).

[DonH57]

My father set his up many years ago and we were so thankful he did. I only had to make one phone call to them other than the ones to family and they took care of everything just as he wished. They offered assistance for family members with bereavement counseling and were so professional in meeting my father's needs and handling every step.

[65Proff]

Excellent synopsis of the presentations. I went to one last year and I can probably guess which company was B. Since I do travel, the added travel protection was well worth the cost. Most importantly, I now have peace knowing my family won’t have to make these decisions in their time of grief.

[Hackercraft]

It has come to my attention that some Funeral homes are offering to divide the cremains between the surviving children. This is not acceptable if the deceased is an observant Catholic as the Church requires the cremains be kept together and buried, not kept on the mantle.

[irishwonone]

Thanks. Very well written and excellent informative advice.

[Trayderjoe]

Originally Posted by MIskra

We also attended two presentations from competitive companies. Going into this, we felt it was something we wanted to do, but did not know anything about it. I have to admit, that we are the kind of people who tend to over-analyze everything. This was our experience:

After the luncheon with the first company, we felt very pressured by the presenter to set up a follow-up discussion in our home (to the point we felt uncomfortable). We thought that once she was in our house she would put even more pressure on us and it would be hard for us to get her to leave without a signed contract, so we declined. We later contacted their storefront office in The Villages, asked to speak to the manager, explained the situation, and requested to talk to that person (instead of the pushy-presenter) in their office instead of our house. We were accommodated and the manager was very nice, not pushy at all, and answered all our questions. We wanted to do some comparative shopping, so we did not sign a contract.

We thought the presentation at the luncheon of the second company was more informative and less emotional, which we appreciated. Maybe because we had already been educated in the office of the first company, we found this presentation much better and no pressure whatsoever to do anything. Again, we were hesitant to invite a sales person into our house, but we asked for a private session at their office in The Villages. The private session was excellent and mostly what we talked about was the differences between the two companies. We also contacted the first company for them to confirm and explain any differences. We learned a lot.

We also contacted a funeral home who has been in business for many, many years in this area. We met with them...no luncheon...no pressure....pure information. Also excellent. Several difference were noted and discussed.

We put together a comparison chart on these three options. There were differences between all of them. I don't like to give out the names because none of the differences were bad, mainly personal preferences. We took a lot of time to make up our minds, and we made several follow-up calls/emails to all three. We ignored all of the BS "sign now because prices will be increasing" threats, and in the end, so did they. All knew we were doing serious research, and they gave us our space.

We chose the second company. We called the other two and thanked them for their time and explained that the option we chose worked best for our particular circumstance.

Because everyone's personal and family situation is different, I would suggest that you not take anyone's recommendation or opinion. Just do your own due diligence. First decide if preplanning a cremation (or burial) is the route you want to take, and if so, move forward as you would with any major purchase. Include your family in your decision so that everyone knows what to do at the time of your death (regardless if you pre-pay or not).

Thank you for re-enforcing the original topic of this thread. You actually laid it out better than I did. I would almost believe that we were at the same luncheon based upon your description of the pressure to meet privately by the one presenter.

I would re-iterate that this thread was not started to discuss pre-payment versus waiting, but to share my experience in going to these seminars and that it is a potential learning opportunity.

One of the questions/comments I replied to, but in retrospect, was ineffective in the method I used was why I did not name the two companies. My original response was: "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?" I will add to this to make it even clearer that the subject was not to identify which company is better in my opinion, which I would have done by "naming names".

I tried to be as objective as possible in my description, and based upon questions here such as what if I move? or what if the company goes out of business?. I did answer them more directly, although they are still brought up here. But guess what? These questions are why you SHOULD go to these seminars and get your answers straight from the company representatives. Should you not like the answer(s) you still have the choice to not pre-pay or to deal with a specific company.

There are those who suggest leaving the money in a will or trust to pay for the costs. Do you know (don't assume) as to WHEN those funds will be released specific to your circumstances? Is it possible that your family will be paying up front and can they afford to do so, while they await re-imbursement from the will/trust? Are you aware of the process upon death for handling your remains and the timing? Do your instructions specify the funeral home to handle your remains? Are you aware that if your remains are sent to the wrong funeral home there are a lot of costs involved? Do you know who makes the decision and when they have to make the decision as to the handling of your remains? I actually got information about the handling of the remains/timing from the representative of company "B". I also recognized what I didn't know when I went to the first seminar that I learned in the second seminar. Miskra did a great job in follow-up to go back to the original company and get their responses.

Overall, it is still YOUR responsibility TO YOUR FAMILY to become informed of what happens and when before process becomes reality. It is your choice as to the how.

[Kerlampert]

Very helpful info. And a reminder to have the will and trust docs updated to reflect your wishes. We recently went through this and our beneficiaries willb able to deal with all the details in peace.

[kappy]

There are several companies that you can choose if you want to donate your body to science. The company I chose was not in Florida however, they will handle everything when the time comes.