204 E 5th St Atlantic, Iowa 50022
Mailing Address: P.O Box 129 Atlantic, Iowa, 50022
204 E 5th St Atlantic, Iowa 50022
Mailing Address:
P.O Box 129 Atlantic, Iowa, 50022
Planning Your Funeral Service
Planning Your Funeral Service
Life is often hectic, and the last thing some people want to talk about is planning, especially where death is involved. At Roland Funeral Service
in Atlantic IA, we offer professional funeral pre-planning services. Planning ahead can bring such a sense of stability and peace of mind for your loved ones - you can't afford not to plan ahead.
Advantages of Planning Ahead:
WWII Vet's Jeep at the Gravesite
Steps to Planning
"There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps." Peter A. Cohen
Planning is very important when it comes to creating loving memories. Take one step at a time, following the underlined links to helpful resources:
- Understand and embrace the enormous value of planning for your loved ones.
- Download and complete your free organizer.
- Consider and plan how the funeral will be paid for and who will be legally obligated to take responsibility at the time of your death.
- Set an appointment with one of our planning experts to develop or fine-tune your plan.
- Enjoy the peace of mind knowing that your affairs are in order.
Roland Funeral Service will coordinate all the details with you. Our goal is to insure that they are carried out to your satisfaction.
Service Payment Options
There are several ways that people go about paying for funerals. Below are some of the most common:
- Cash
Cash is the most obvious way to pay for a funeral when completed. Do you have banking accounts accessible to the ones who will be in charge of paying your funeral and other previous monthly expenses that may be due at the time of death?
- Personal Savings and Investments
Cash is often placed in a financial institution in the form of personal savings and investments. There are many of these products to choose from. Keep in mind that death may occur at a time which might not be convenient for withdrawal from a particular investment due to market timing, tax implications, or withdrawal penalties. Are these readily accessible to the ones who will be in charge of paying your funeral and other previous monthly expenses that may be due at the time of death?
- Personal Life Insurance
Personal life insurance is a common way to prepare for a death where-as personal savings and investments may either be inadequate or ill-situated for early withdrawal as mentioned above. At the time of death, a claim is sent in to the life insurance company and the company sends a check to the beneficiary in the amount of the death benefit. For family clarity and ease of administration, Roland Funeral Service is often designated either as owner or beneficiary of part or all of an insurance policy with an agreement that funds will only be used to the extent of the actual funeral costs. This is often the case where Title 19 may be a consideration. In the case that Roland Funeral Service is not designated as beneficiary, is your beneficiary prepared and notified that it is to be used for your final expenses?
- irrevocable BANK Burial Trusts
Irrevocable Burial Trusts are often used to prefund for funeral purposes. We coordinate with you local bank, where you have a sense of familiarity and to keep your finances where you are comfortable. To do this, you simply meet with us to pre-plan an approximate funeral amount and we arrange with your financial institution to set up a burial trust. This involves the purchase of a CD in the amount of your pre-planned funeral expense. Agreements are signed with both the financial institution and Roland Funeral Service that state the funds will be set aside exclusively for funeral-related expense. At the time of death, the financial institution writes a check directly to Roland Funeral Service. Irrevocable Burial Trusts are commonly used when Title 19 is a consideration.
Interest earned on the trust rolls into the final funds available at the time of need to help with inflation or additional choices made by the family at the time of need. Income tax has to be reported annually on the CD investment earnings.
In order to avoid confusion regarding these options, please give us a call. We would be honored to help in any way we can.
Considering Title 19
Title 19, AKA Medicaid
Medicaid is a program that pays for covered medical and health care costs of people who qualify. The Medicaid program is funded by federal and state governments and is managed by
Iowa's Estate Recovery program Iowa's Estate Recovery program.
So, what does Title 19 have to do with pre-planning a funeral?
Basically, in order for people to qualify for various government medical and health care cost programs, they must meet certain income and resource limits that vary from program to program. Usually, this means that a person must divest oneself of, or spend down, most of their assets and remain under specified low-income requirements to qualify for the government benefits.
In other words, if people want to provide for their funeral, they must avoid Title 19 so they can use their own savings, investments or personal insurance or they must arrange to pay for a funeral before going on Title 19 via an irrevocable funeral trust which protects those funds from being reclaimed by the government.
Your personal decisions regarding this depend on your specific economic and health care situation. If you would like to discuss how this affects your personal funeral pre-planning needs, stop in and visit us.
Iowa's Estate Recovery Information