Lifesong Funerals, Author at Blog | Lifesong Funerals

What is Funeral Insurance?

After funerals at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, if you have funeral insurance, your family will be able to use that policy toward payment of final expenses. Funeral insurance is easy to purchase, since the policies do not require a health examination as part of the approval process. Some policies are guaranteed-acceptance, which means you won’t be required to answer any health questions at all.

Although the death benefits of funeral insurance policies are moderate, they offer a very affordable way for everyone to have some or all of their final expenses covered. This can give you and your family peace of mind after you die.

While you can buy funeral insurance at any age, the targeted age group for funeral insurance policies is between 50 and 85. Death benefits usually range between $5,000 and $25,000 (the higher the death benefit, the higher the monthly premium will be). Death benefits are paid to the beneficiary listed on the policy. That person will then be responsible for putting that money toward your final expenses.

While you can purchase standalone funeral insurance policies, some insurance companies may allow you to convert a portion of an existing insurance policy that you have with them into a funeral insurance policy. This is most typically done when you have multiple policies with an insurance company, and one of those covers the purchase price of your home.

After you’ve been paying off the purchase price of your home for several years, you may not need the full amount the policy covers. Under the policy conversion plan, you can take the extra that is no longer needed and convert that to a different kind of insurance policy, including a funeral insurance policy.

Not all insurance companies offer this option, so be sure to check with your insurance agent to see if your insurance company does. This is an easy way to get a funeral insurance policy in place with very little hassle.

Because funeral insurance is a whole life insurance policy, it has no term – or end – to it (which means that premiums won’t go up in predetermined increments of time) and it is in effect for as long as you live. Most funeral insurance policies are considered paid in full when the policy holder reaches 100 years of age.

There are two types of funeral insurance plans: standard and preneed.

A standard funeral insurance plan is a whole life policy that is paid out to the beneficiary you name after you die to help pay for final expenses. Your beneficiary is free to work with the funeral home of their choice and they can choose whether to apply the death benefit toward any of the expenses you owe when you die, including medical bills, legal bills, credit card debt, or mortgage loans, auto loans, or personal loans.

A preneed funeral insurance plan differs from a standard funeral insurance plan because the death benefit is paid directly to the funeral home you choose instead of to a beneficiary. Preneed funeral insurance policies pay out shortly after your death.

When purchasing a funeral insurance policy, the best type of premium you can get is a leveled premium, which is locked in for life as soon as you purchase the policy, so you never need to worry about premiums increasing as you get older.

If you want to know more about funeral insurance policies at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations can help. You can come by our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can contact us today at (850) 627-1111.

Preplanning Your Funeral

Funeral preplanning is among the cremation services offered in Tallahassee, FL. As cremations become a more popular method of final disposition in the United States, the desire to preplanning funerals has also gained momentum among Americans.

If you don’t think you need to preplan your funeral, then think about the other momentous events in your life. Would you want just a few days to plan your wedding or the birth of your children? Of course not.

Yet, if you don’t preplan your funeral, then that is exactly the scenario you will leave your family with. With over 500 decisions that need to be made about funeral arrangements, a few days is hardly enough time to give a funeral the care and attention it deserves.

You can prevent your family from being put in this stressful position while they are grieving over losing you to death by planning your funeral in advance while you are still alive.

By preplanning your funeral, you can also make sure that your desires and wishes for your funeral are honored. If you want to be cremated and your family doesn’t know that you want to be cremated, then your wishes will not be honored and your desires for your funeral will not be met.

To begin preplanning your funeral, sit down and write out what you want done after you die. If you want to be cremated, then specify that in your instructions. You can specify whether you want a direct cremation – cremation with no services beforehand – or you want an indirect cremation (services held before you are cremated).

If you want to have a service before or after you are cremated, write down the details of what you want included in the service. Specify what readings you would like to have read and who you want to read them. Specify whether you want eulogies given and who you want to give them.

Specify what kind of spiritual comfort you want to be included. Think about what you want to leave of your faith and beliefs with your family and other mourners. Include scriptures that have special meaning to you. Designate the clergy member that you want to do this part of the service.

Next, pick out the music you want played at your service. If you want songs performed live by vocalists or instrumentalists, then specify those songs and who should perform them. If you want recorded songs played, then include their titles and the artists.

Record any final words of wisdom or advice you want to leave with your family and those who’ve gathered to mourn your passing before the service ends.

Once you’ve got these instructions written down, then schedule an appointment with your funeral home director and leave a copy of your instructions with them. The funeral home director will create a folder where your wishes will be stored. If you have a funeral insurance policy, you can also leave the pertinent information about the policy to be placed in your folder by the funeral director.

Preplanning your funeral is a way to reduce extra stress for your family when you die. Make sure to discuss your funeral plans with them and give the person who will oversee your final affairs a copy of your funeral instructions.

For more information about funeral preplanning and cremation services offered in Tallahassee, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can call us today at (850) 627-1111.

What is Embalming?

A part of funerals at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL is embalming. While this process is designed to delay the natural decomposition of a body after death, it is so much more than just a scientifically-based part of the funeral process. Embalming extends care to a loved one even after they have died.

If you are having a viewing or the funeral will be an open casket funeral, then embalming is a necessary part of the preparation for these ceremonies.

When a person dies, the first thing that happens is that funeral home staff removes the body from where death occurred and transports it back to the funeral home, where it will be bathed and disinfected to both ensure the safety of funeral home staff and to show honor and dignity to the deceased. The body will then be stored at extremely cold temperatures to inhibit decomposition.

During your meeting with the funeral home director to make arrangements for the funeral, you will be asked how you want your loved one’s body to be prepared. You can choose to have the body prepared and embalmed, dressed and stored at very cold temperatures for cremation, prepared for whole body donation, or prepared to be transported to another funeral home where funeral services and burial will take place.

While you don’t have to choose to have your loved one embalmed, if you want to having a viewing or visitation and you want your loved one’s casket open or closed during the funeral service. If you want a visitation or a viewing, then your loved one’s body will be embalmed (the funeral home director will explain this to you).

Next, you will need to decide what your loved one will wear and what accessories – such as glasses, tie tacks, and wedding rings – you want them to wear. You can either bring these to the funeral home with you when you make the funeral arrangements or you can bring them after you have met with the funeral director. The accessories can be returned to you after the funeral service if you wish, or you can leave them on your loved one for burial.

Because only the upper half of your loved one will be displayed in the casket, you do not have to bring shoes or socks. However, you may, for sentimental reasons, to provide socks if your loved one always had cold feet. It’s just a little touch to show that you care as much about them in death as you did in life.

Embalming includes replacing bodily fluids with a preservation solution that will arrest the natural decomposition of the body. It also includes dressing the body, cutting fingernails, shaving (for men), applying natural-tone makeup to make your loved one look as close as possible to the way they did when they were alive, and hair styling.

Embalming has a long history that dates back to the ancient Egyptians. The royalty and rich who were buried in the storied pyramids of Egypt were embalmed to preserve their bodies and then wrapped in shrouds to further delay decomposition. Embalming became popular among European scientists during the 19th century when they wanted to preserve cadavers to do anatomical research. And in the United States, embalming became a standard funeral practice during the Civil War.

If you want to know more about embalming at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations can help. You can come by our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can contact us today at (850) 627-1111.

How to Defuse Family Inheritance Disagreements

After cremations as part of the cremation services offered in Tallahassee, FL, the will or revocable trust of the deceased person will be on the immediate family’s mind. Even for families that generally get along pretty well together, the terms of the will or revocable trust may not sit well with some of the family members, which can often lead to disagreements, arguments, and revival of old rivalries and issues within the family.

One of the most common family inheritance issues is the idea that one of the children – and heirs – was the parent’s favorite, and therefore, got treated better in the will or revocable trust than the other siblings. This can be anything from being named the executor or the trustee to getting assets that other siblings feel like they should have gotten.

Being the executor of a will or the trustee of a revocable trust is a lot of responsibility and requires a lot of time and effort to do. Being chosen by a parent for this task is often more a function of involvement (i.e., one child is more involved with the day-to-day life of the parent, so they are more aware of what’s happening and what the parent wants after they die) than of being the favorite child.

However, the favorite child issue is one that frequent arises when other siblings find out they weren’t named – or even asked to be – as the executor of the will or the trustee of the revocable trust. Not being asked or name can often be seen by other siblings as a lack of confidence and trust by their parent in them. This can lead to resentment and serious mistrust of the process of distributing assets by those siblings, which can lead to horrendous arguments and nasty confrontations.

To defuse this situation, it’s important that the executor or trustee be sensitive to the feelings of the rest of family and invite collaboration and open communication as the distribution process is going on. Getting angry and defensive will only make things worse.

Another issue that often also arises with wills and revocable trusts is fairness. Many people equate fairness with equality. When it comes to the distribution of assets, this can mean that all beneficiaries expect an equal share of the assets.

However, that’s usually not how wills and trusts work. The deceased person had the big picture in mind when they drew up this legal document and they considered many things before making the specific bequests and percentages of distribution of their assets. The bottom line is that what they decided was fair is legally binding.

Sometimes executors or trustees will get ambushed by other beneficiaries and will be asked to give them something not specifically left to them or to change a bequest because “it was promised to me.” The best way to defuse this situation is to let all the beneficiaries know that they will be receiving exactly what the deceased person gave them and no exceptions will be made.

A third common issue for executors and trustees is be on trial from the rest of the beneficiaries for the job they’re doing. Criticism can be harsh and relentless. And this can make the job even harder and more stressful.

To address this issue, make sure everyone knows the rules at the outset. If you know your family well enough to know there will be trouble, consider getting an objective third party onboard to help with the process. And, finally, don’t let the process consume you. Place limits on the amount of time you will do this work and adhere to them.

For more information about cremation services offered in Tallahassee, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can call us today at (850) 627-1111.

Disposing of Medications after Someone Dies

After funerals at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, you will start cleaning out your deceased loved one’s things and you will very likely find some of their unused medications. All the medications should be disposed of. Many people, as they near the end of life, are on comfort-care medications, which can include medications like morphine and other opioid medications, as well as sedatives or anti-anxiety medications. These are dangerous to leave just lying around, but you may not be aware of ways to safely get rid of them.

Keeping unneeded prescription medications is a bad practice for everyone. However, when a loved one dies, there may be medications that can be dangerous or, if taken, could lead to addiction. It’s imperative to get rid of these medications as quickly as possible.

Accidental overdoses, especially in small children, are a real possibility, simply because young children are curious about everything. Most of the prescription medications that elderly people take are dispensed in bottles that have easy-to-open lids, which means that they will be easy for small children to open as well.

About 90% of accidental drug overdoses in children under the age of five occurred because they took medication they found while they were not supervised. Many medications are colored, and young children may think they are candy. But taking these medications could lead to serious injury or death.

Prescription medications can also be a gateway for heroin or fentanyl use. Many dying people are on very powerful pain medications to make them comfortable during the dying process. Some of these are likely opioid drugs. Morphine is a very common opioid drug given in the last few days of life.

Although teenagers are the most likely to try these prescription medications, the reality is that the road to addiction could start for anyone at any age if they decide to try these medications. Researchers who looked at data compiled from 2007 to 2011 found that people who’d taken painkillers when they were not experiencing pain were 19 times more likely to move into heroin use.

Improperly disposing of prescription medications, such as flushing them down the toilet, presents many dangers to the water supply. These medications can be ingested by fish, which when ingested by humans, can cause endocrine disruption.

There are several ways you can properly dispose of unused prescription medications.

One way is to drop them off at a pharmacy drop-off box. Both Walgreens and CVS have these boxes available in many of their stores. The medications will then be properly disposed of by waste disposal companies.

Most prescription medications have instructions for safe disposal. If you don’t find this, mix the medications in cat litter, used coffee grounds, or dirt and place them in a sealed plastic bag and throw them in the trash. Be sure to remove all personal information from the bottles before disposing of them.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has a program called the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, which occurs in April and October. The DEA will set up temporary collection locations in grocery stores, community centers, pharmacies, and Boys and Girls Clubs where unused prescriptions can be dropped off.

If your loved one was in home hospice care when they died, the hospice agency will take care of safely disposing of the medications they supplied, including the comfort care medications.

If you want to know more about safe medication disposal at funeral homes in Tallahassee, FL, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations can help. You can come by our funeral home at 20 S. Duval St., Quincy, FL 32351, or you can contact us today at (850) 627-1111.