Pre-Planning Services

There are many important reasons to consider what kind of funeral or memorial service you would wish to have, and how you would like to be remembered.

Six Reasons to Preplan Your Funeral.

We feel that there is no reason not to make these important decisions well in advance. After all, we plan for our retirement, our investments, our children’s education… even our vacations. We plan for everything – including those things that may never actually happen. Doesn’t it make sense to plan for something you know will happen?

There are many important reasons to consider what kind of funeral or memorial service you would wish to have, and how you would like to be remembered.

Preplanning…

  • Provides peace of mind to you and your family
  • Makes estate planning easier
  • Facilitates Medicaid matters
  • Protects against inflation and future cost increases
  • Relieves your family of being faced with complex decisions at a difficult time
  • Provides you with the ability to choose exactly the services that are right for you
  • Offers several financing options that make payment easy and convenient


How Prepayment Works.

When you pay for your funeral arrangements in advance, the money goes into a trust which is protected by FDIC insurance or US government-backed securities. New York State law requires this. Therefore, your prepayment is guaranteed safe and secure.

There are some other points to keep in mind regarding the protection of your prepaid funds:

  1. There is no charge or set-up fee for establishing the trust.
  2. The money is deposited in your name, in trust for the Matthew Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Inc. If you need to cancel, and have a revocable trust, there is no cancellation fee, and you will receive all your money back, plus interest.
  3. When you pay for your funeral arrangements in full, your money in the trust earns enhanced interest. This is how we are able to protect you against future cost increases, because the earned interest covers future inflation.
  4. By subscribing to the Pre-Plan Trust and funding the complete amount of the funeral, the trust will keep up with inflation.
  5. If Medicaid funds are designated for paying your funeral expenses, the trust may not be cancelled. However, you may change the beneficiary funeral home at any time. This gives you peace of mind should you move, or select another funeral home.
  6. You may fund your prepaid funeral in advance, or make payments into the trust over time. This provides you with great financial flexibility.
  7. Since the trust is established in your name, your principal and interest are protected in the event you relocate.
  8. If so desired, we can come to your home to make prearrangements.


How to preplan without creating a trust.

It is not necessary to prepay for funeral arrangements, though it is a good idea, and does protect you against possible price increases in the future. We are happy to work with you, assisting in making your choices, and keeping them on file in case they are ever needed.