Why Have Life Insurance?

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Before the time comes when you need cremation services in Monticello, FL, you should prepare, as much as you are able, for what will happen after you die. This includes having a current will or revocable trust in place. It also means having a life insurance policy to provide your family with financial security after you die.

 

What is the value of having a life insurance policy?

 

Many people simply do not think about life insurance, especially when they are younger, even if they have families. Death seems a long way away, if ever, and spending more of a family’s hard-earned income on something that will not be needed until far, far in the future does not seem like a priority.

 

However, the reality is that none of us knows when death will come knocking on our doors. You may be perfectly healthy now, but you may be diagnosed with a terminal illness in six months or a year. You might be involved in a horrible traffic accident that claims your life. Perhaps you end up in the path of a sudden weather event, such as a tornado, and you lose your life.

 

Instead of assuming that none of these things could happen to you, it is best to be prepared with the hope that they will not. If you are the primary source of financial support for your family, it is imperative that you take the steps you need to make sure your death will not leave your family in a financially devastating position.

 

The good news about life insurance – if you are younger and healthy – is that it is very affordable, and you can lock in a low monthly rate if you purchase a whole life (term policies typically have lower rates initially, but the rates tend to balloon after the first term – usually 10 years – ends) insurance policy when age and medical conditions are not a concern.

 

Having a life insurance policy means you can ensure the financial health of your family after you die.

 

A second reason why you should have a life insurance policy is that many policies can offer living benefits. These can include protection for a business that you own, supplemental income after you retire, or payment for long-term care.

 

While you do not necessarily need these living benefits when you are younger, you are more likely to need them when you grow older.

 

For example, if you do need long-term care when you get older, you may get sticker shock when you see how expensive it is, especially since most assisted living facilities and many nursing homes have Medicare exclusions.

 

Assisted living facilities, in particular, either do not accept Medicare or have only a few slots available for Medicare. With both assisted living facilities and nursing homes, accepting Medicare as a form of payment is based on how many assets you have. To qualify, in most costs, you practically have to divest yourself of all financial and property assets three years prior to the admission date to be eligible for Medicare admission.

 

cremation services in Monticello, FLIf you have living benefits with your life insurance, you can offset some of the cost of long-term care with those benefits (without having to get rid of everything you own and all the financial resources you have) to make it more affordable.

 

Life insurance protects your family’s financial security after you die and can provide benefits for you while you’re still living. It’s a good investment to consider when you’re planning for death.

 

For information about cremation services in Monticello, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you.

Understanding Active Dying

cremation services in Havana, FLBefore you need cremation services in Havana, FL, you will likely be with your loved one when they are actively dying. Actively dying happens in two stages. The first, which is usually about three weeks (although it can be longer), is pre-active dying.

 

With pre-active dying, you will probably see your loved one exhibit some of the following symptoms:

 

  • Increased restlessness or agitation
  • Increased periods of confusion
  • Decreased interaction with others
  • Increased sleepiness
  • Increased lack of stamina and energy
  • Hallucinations of people who have already died
  • Decreased nutrition and hydration intake

 

The active dying process comes next. It is the last step before your loved one dies. The active stage of dying typically last an average of three days before death comes.

 

The phase of active dying that indicates that death is very close are unresponsiveness, falling vital signs, and rapid and shallow breathing.

 

While not everyone experiences every symptom or sign of the active dying process, your loved ones will likely experience the majority of them. These include:

 

  • Changes in breathing (shallow breathing, irregular breathing, and extended pauses between breaths)
  • Waste incontinence or decreased urine output (urine will often have a dark color)
  • Mottling (blood pooling on the skin’s surface)
  • Changes in body temperature (when blood flow is reduced, blood is directed to vital organs and away from extremities, which will be very cold to the touch)
  • Changes in heart rate and blood pressure (heart rate is slower and blood pressure goes down)
  • Agitation, delirium, and audio and visual hallucinations
  • Fluid buildup in the lungs that produce gurgling sounds

 

All of this can be hard to watch as your loved one exhibits some or all of these signs of active dying. However, you should be aware that while it may be distressing for you, it is not for your loved one.

 

As the body undergoes life’s final shutdown, your loved one is a very deep sleep state (similar to the sleep when anesthesia is administered), and they are not suffering at all.

 

However, to make sure that your loved one does not experience any physical pain or discomfort during this phase, they are given a strong narcotic on a regular schedule. The narcotic enhances the deep sleep your loved one’s deep sleep, so you should not be surprised if they don’t respond to anything.

 

Your loved one is likely still able to hear during this deep sleep, so it’s important for you and other family members, if possible, to be with them and talk with them during the active dying phase.

 

Try to keep your conversations with them and with each other as calm and peaceful as possible. Your loved one can hear not just words, but also the tone in which they are spoken. Fighting and arguing among you and other family members can be very distressing to them.

 

cremation services in Havana, FLIt’s also important to not have a lot of loud, simultaneous noise during your loved one’s active dying phase, because this can be distressing to them too. If you decide to have a little noise, you might play some of their favorite music at a very low volume.

 

You and other family members can sit with your loved one and softly talk with them while holding their hand or with an arm around their shoulders. Someone should stay with your loved one through their very last breath.

 

For information about cremation services in Havana, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you.

How to Pack and Ship Cremation Remains

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One of the cremations services offered in Monticello, FL is help with packing and shipping cremation remains (cremains). After cremations are completed, the cremains may need to be packed and shipped to another location. This location could be a place that was special to the deceased or it could be back home where the deceased grew up and where their other family members are buried.

 

Funeral home directors handle the process of shipping human remains for burial somewhere else, but generally family members assume possession of cremains and are responsible for getting them where they need to be. But funeral directors can help make sure the cremains are packed correctly (in TSA-approved containers or a sturdy container for shipping by the U. S. Postal Service), which is one of the biggest issues people encounter when they are trying to ship cremains.

 

Most American domestic airlines will carry cremains. Carrying cremains could refer to a person who is taking the cremains with them to a specific place or it could refer to the cremains being shipped as air cargo. When shipping cremains by air, the container with the cremains in it. It must be security friendly. Because the contents of the container must be completely visible when scanned for TSA approval, they must be very thin-walled and lightweight urns that are made with wood or plastic.

 

Be sure to tell the funeral home director that you intend to ship the cremains by air and they will make sure that you get a TSA-approved container for the cremains.

 

If the cremains are not in a security friendly container, the TSA will not allow it to pass through security. If their scanners can’t see the contents of the container, they can’t let the container on a plane. You can save yourself a lot of time, money, and extra grief by making sure that you get the right kind of container when the cremains are returned to you by the funeral home.

 

Be sure that the airline you select will carry cremains. Go to the airline’s website. If there is no information on it about shipping cremains, contact the airline to find out what its policy is before you arrive at the airport with your container of cremains.

 

It’s important to have original signed versions of all documents that are relevant. These would include a certified death certificate, the cremation authorization form, the cremains receipt, and the authority of the authorizing agent form.

 

cremations services offered in Monticello, FLThe only legal way in America to ship cremains domestically or internationally is by using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). No other private shipping companies will knowingly accept or transport cremains.

 

For USPS shipment, the cremains must be packaged in a strong, durable container. Every domestic cremains shipment is done using USPS Priority Mail Express. International cremains shipments are done with USPS Priority Mail Express International Service. The only restriction on international shipments is that receipt of cremains must be accepted by the country they are being shipped to.

 

All cremains that are shipped using USPS must have a Label 139 sticker. This sticker makes it easier for mail handlers to know that the contents inside are cremains. The sticker should be affixed to the package beside to the shipping address.

 

If you’d like information about cremations services in Monticello, FL, talk with our knowledgeable and compassionate team at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations for guidance.

Funeral Home Terminology

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One of the cremations services in Havana, FL is to assist the families who entrust their funeral needs to us with the sometimes, new-to-them, terminology used in funeral homes as cremations are being planned.

 

There is a vocabulary that is specific to the funeral industry and to the services they offer. It’s good to know and understand this vocabulary ahead of time. Bereaved families are in the fog of grief when they’re making cremations or burial arrangements. This means any new or unfamiliar information will go in one ear and out the other. The brain is overloaded during this time and simply can’t absorb or process new or unfamiliar information.

 

Burial is the action of placing a deceased person underground.

 

A columbarium is a structure (freestanding or within a mausoleum) with niches that urns with cremains can be stored in. Small gravestones or grave markers are placed over (if closed) or under (if open) each niche to identify the person whose cremains are stored there.

 

Cremation involves incinerating the dead body, and returning what remains – cremains – in a sealed urn to the family of the deceased. Before cremation takes place, the body of the deceased is positively identified by the family. Only one body is cremated at a time. The cremation process takes about two to three hours.

 

A crematory is where cremations are performed.

 

Crypts are burial chambers that are partially or completely underground. Double crypts are designed for two caskets to lie side by side.

 

Death is the end of life.

 

Donations that are made in memory of people who have died are financial gifts that are given either a charity the deceased person supported or a charity that the donor selects.

 

Embalming encompasses both preserving a body with preservatives and antiseptic fluids in veins, arteries, and body cavities, and grooming and dressing a body for funeral viewings.

 

A full couch casket is a casket with a one-piece cover that opens completely.

 

A funeral is a ceremony done to honor someone who has died. While funerals are usually religious events, they don’t have to be. Every funeral is unique.

 

A funeral cortege or funeral procession can refer to mourners who follow a casket as it is brought in or taken out of the place where the funeral service is held or to a motor convoy of mourners who follow the hearse to the cemetery where burial will take place.

 

Funeral monuments (markers) are also called gravestones, headstones, or grave markers. They have pertinent details about the deceased person, such as their name, date of birth, date of death, and tributes or epithets. If a gravestone is upright, it is known as a funeral monument.

 

A funerary recess is a receptacle in a wall that is the casket’s final resting place. Once the casket is placed inside, the receptacle is sealed and covered with a white marble identifying plaque.

 

cremations services in Havana, FLGraves are excavations of soil in cemeteries where caskets will be buried as their final resting place. Backhoes are used to dig and cover graves.

 

Hearses are specially-designed vehicles that are used to carry caskets from funerals to cemeteries.

 

Plots are a measured piece of land in a cemetery where a person will be buried when they die.

 

Prearrangements or preplanning refers to making – and possibly paying for – funeral arrangements while a person is still alive.

 

A viewing or visitation is an event that usually takes place before the funeral service. Mourners have the opportunity pay their respects to the deceased and offer comfort and support to the deceased’s family.

 

For more guidance regarding funeral home terminology and cremations services in Havana, FL, talk with our knowledgeable and compassionate team at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations.

What Families Pass Down After Death

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After cremation services in Quincy, FL, it is common for family members of the deceased to receive things that have been passed down through generations of the family. These are the family’s heirlooms.

After the death of a loved one, surviving family members go through the family heirlooms and distribute them according to the deceased’s stated desires. If their loved one didn’t specify the family heirlooms should be given to, then they should be given to the family members who want them.

Anything can be a family heirloom. It doesn’t have to have any value other than sentiment to be a possession that is passed down through the generations. While some family heirlooms may have monetary value, such as antiques or rare collections, other items may have sentimental value because they have been in the family so long.

And, while some family heirlooms may be quite old, others may be much newer, but they have become family heirlooms because they had so much value in the life of the family whose loved one has died.

However, in many families, there are some common heirlooms that the family keeps and passes on to future generations.

Jewelry is a common family heirloom. This jewelry may consist of a set of pearls, a wedding band set, or a set of cufflinks that has been in the family for a long time. Sometimes, with wedding rings, grandmothers and mothers will designate a specific granddaughter or daughter who should get their wedding rings when they die.

Timepieces are another common family heirloom. It may be a pocket watch that does or doesn’t work or a grandfather clock, but these kinds of timepieces usually get passed on to successive generations in a family.

One of the most surprising heirlooms is furniture. It might have been built by a grandfather or great-grandfather or even further back than that, making it special and valuable. Furniture heirlooms also often include rare pieces of furniture like specially made china cabinets or concert-quality pianos that have been in the family for generations.

Recipes, especially handwritten recipe cards, are also a very common family heirloom. Having a copy of Grandma’s recipe for pecan pie or Mom’s recipe for Southern biscuits is something that each generation will be thankful for. Many families put together recipe books using the recipe cards as a way to pay tribute to their loved one who died.

Bibles and other kinds of books are also common family heirlooms. Some families have Bibles that are very old. It is not uncommon to find more than just family history in these old Bibles, because it was common in earlier times to put letters and newspaper clippings inside the pages of the Good Book. Those can open up a whole new world to the descendants of the original owner of the Bible.

Most American families have members who served in the military. It’s a good bet that some of the items from these family member’s time of military service have been saved and passed down. These heirlooms might include uniforms, dog tags, medals, and boots.

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Another type of family heirloom is handmade quilts. Most recent quilts are made with regular cloth and sewing machines. Old handmade quilts, on the other hand, using scraps of cloth from other sewing projects and were stitched by hand. Some of these quilts were made for warmth in the winter, so they contain a thick layer of insulating material between the patches of cloth, making them both beautiful and practical.

For information about cremation services in Quincy, FL, including grief resources, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lifesong Funerals & Cremations is here to assist you.