Preneed insurance: What to ask at your preplanning appointment

If you’d like to pay your funeral expenses in advance with a Preneed Funeral insurance plan, you’ll need to spell out your wishes in a preplanning appointment. Here's what to ask your preneed agent.

By Natalie Altieri

As you work through your estate planning checklist, you’ll eventually have to decide whether you’d like to pay the costs for your funeral expenses in advance. An easy way to do so is with a Preneed Funeral insurance plan.
 
A Preneed Funeral insurance plan, also known as burial insurance, covers funeral expenses that can include everything from the casket to flowers to transportation for the family. In order to create your policy, you’ll need to spell out your wishes in a preplanning appointment with a preneed agent, who is associated with a funeral home. The preneed agent will total the costs, and that amount is the basis for your Preneed insurance plan. Upon your death, the funds are given to the funeral home to pay for your funeral, rather than to a beneficiary.

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Prepare for your preplanning appointment

Your preneed agent will walk you through the four steps to preplanning your funeral, but you’ll also want to go into your preplanning appointment prepared. So, as hard as it is, you’ll want to consider details like where you want to be laid to rest and what features you want included at your memorial before your preplanning appointment. Ask yourself questions like:

• Do you want a burial or cremation?
• Do you want a traditional service or a celebration of life?
• Do you want a green funeral with eco-friendly services? 
• Do you know where you want the services to be held?
• If you are a veteran, do you want military funeral honors?

Calculate your funeral expenses

Ask questions at the preplanning appointment

You’ll also want to make a list of questions to ask your preneed agent at the preplanning appointment, such as:

• What are my options for creating a meaningful, unique service?
• Can we have a funeral if we are choosing cremation?
• Can we hold the funeral service somewhere other than the funeral home?
• Can you explain what’s covered and what’s not covered with my policy?
• What if my family wants to make a change?
• What if I change my mind after I sign the contract?
• What if there’s not enough money to pay for the funeral when I die?
• What if we move away and need to use a different funeral home?

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Inquire about plan and payment options

Once you’ve made your funeral decisions, you’ll want to ask your preneed agent what your plan and payment options are. For example, Great Western offers two Preneed Funeral insurance plans — Course and Voyage — and a variety of payment options. A preneed agent can describe each plan, so you can determine which one is right for your situation. 

Find a Preneed funeral home partner in your state

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