Paying for the Funeral

Recently, I made a post about a new form in Wisconsin that allows a person to designate someone to act as his or her representative for funeral and burial arrangements. In addition to thinking about who should act for you and what type of funeral or memorial service you may want, it is also a good idea to think about how it will be paid for. Over the past few days there has been a lot of discussion on the Elderlaw listserve about funeral homes requiring a loved one to sign personally for the costs of the funeral instead of waiting an billing the deceased's estate. For people low on cash or with poor credit, this can cause a crisis. Here are a few ideas for making sure your final arrangements are covered:

• complete a POD (pay on death) card for a checking or savings account, payable to the person making your arrangements;
• list the person making your arrangements on your life insurance;
• work with a funeral home that agrees to bill your estate;
• pre-pay for a funeral.