Losing a loved one is an experience that is beyond words to describe. Sooner or later we will all have to face this experience, though few if anyone is ready for it. Dying without life insurance creates a new financial burden that complicates the experience further.
What will you do with a death in the family? Are you prepared to handle the complexities of burial, funeral, dealing with their estate, and other plans that need to be made?
The cost of a funeral with viewing is somewhere around $9,000, while cremation is around $6,000. The cost often must be paid first before a funeral home will do anything, meaning that a financial crisis occurs for many that don’t have the money or don’t have a burial policy.
If you find yourself responsible for making burial and or funeral arrangements for your loved one and they didn’t have life insurance or a burial policy then here are some ways to find the means needed.
What does life insurance do for my family?
Most people get life insurance for the purpose of supporting their dependent spouse or children financially after they pass away.
Traditional financial planning would have you believe that you only “need” life insurance during your working years while your children are young, however, these are the years that in large part most people grow up without ever having anything happen. That being said tragedies DO happen and for THAT reason I believe life insurance is necessary while we are young, and especially as we get older when something is eventually guaranteed to occur.
If you learn about life insurance and investing you can build an ever-growing, secure financial portfolio that can be passed but also used while alive. This article is not about that but about what to do if you weren’t aware and how to handle things.
What are common costs after death?
If you have handled a funeral in the past then you are aware there are a lot of line items to pay for that begin to add up quickly. Here are some of the things to think about:
- Casket
- Embalming
- Hearse
- Service car or van
- Transportation of remains
- Facility use- Funeral
- Facility use- Viewing
- Burial Vault
- Burial Plot
- Death certificate
- Optional expenses- florals, meals, musicians, etc
How to pay for a funeral without life insurance
- Social security administration
If your loved one collected social security before death then the social security will pay a small amount, around the $250 range.
That doesn’t amount to much when you look at the list of things to pay for above. There are some that decide to release the body of their loved one to the county coroner. This essentially means you are giving up the body for the government to take care of. Most likely this means they will cremate the body as that has a considerably lower cost.
- Loan or payment planning
Some funeral homes offer a payment plan. Don’t count on it but it’s worth asking around if you find yourself in an unexpected death situation.
Alternately you can check with a bank or other lending institution for a loan to cover the cost of a burial and funeral.
- Up to family
This option should have been first as if some die without life insurance it is entirely up to the family to figure out how to handle their remains. This is exactly why burial insurance is available and just another reason that life insurance can be so helpful.
What other costs are there after final expenses
When someone passes away funeral and burial expenses are just the beginning. They are the most immediate expenses that occur but those that are left behind have even more to come.
Consider that surviving family will have to travel to attend the funeral, as well as hotels, meals, lost wages, and possibly even counseling.
When you die there are also the regular living expenses of the surviving spouse and children for the rest of their lives. Many that get life insurance want to help ease them into that transition period when they have to figure out their life without them.
Life insurance policies can be used to cover existing debt like mortgages or rent, car payments, food purchases, credit cards, as well as taxes that may come up.
Plan ahead
Getting the proper insurance policies helps you ease the burden of sudden death. It’s hard enough to deal with the grief and loss of a loved one much less if it is complicated with the burden of financial uncertainty. A final expense policy helps for the end-of-life expenses we will all have, specifically burial and funeral.
Life insurance policies can help with the other financial burdens that continue but are left behind for others to figure out.
Estate planning is a comprehensive plan that helps with all sorts of aspects for when one passes away, which can include the previous two.
Buying the right life insurance
There are a lot of different options for life insurance, just as there are a lot of different financial, occupational, business, investment, and personal goals. The latter case is in part responsible for the life insurance options.
Whatever your circumstances, goals, resources, or lack of them, there are options available. The trouble comes down to you taking the time to look into them. We are here to help you figure it all out.
Aside from life insurance, health insurance is a concern to many- find out if health insurance is more important than life insurance.