Prepaid Funeral Plans

Simonne15

There's a lot of good advice in the MSE article. I am commenting here because have recently learned from a trustworthy lawyer I know that you can put money aside in a Prepaid Estate Plan which isn't tied to any funeral company. It is lodged with the lawyer, is outside of your estate for inheritance purposes and what interested me particularly is that it is then accessible by your inheritors or executors at time of death for out of pocket expenses etc. depending upon what you specify.
I am concerned that I don't want anyone to struggle and become in debt for anything that is incurred by my death that has to be paid immediately and before the estate would be sorted out. 

Mojisola

Simonne15 said:

I am commenting here because have recently learned from a trustworthy lawyer I know that you can put money aside in a Prepaid Estate Plan which isn't tied to any funeral company. It is lodged with the lawyer, is outside of your estate for inheritance purposes and what interested me particularly is that it is then accessible by your inheritors or executors at time of death for out of pocket expenses etc. depending upon what you specify.

I've googled the bit in bold and haven't found anything - are you sure your solicitor is trustworthy?

As for paying for the funeral, that's not a problem - the funeral director sends the bill to the bank and it will be paid from the deceased's account.

One drawback is that you don't get the benefit of freezing the price of the funeral at today's prices - my parents' funerals with AgeUK were much cheaper because they had bought funeral plans some years before they died.

poppystar

It doesn’t always work out cheaper. My father had a prepaid funeral and it was more costly than the ‘bundle’ they were offering when he died was. I guess maybe they build in possible future rises. The funeral directors did use some of that money to pay for orders of service that weren’t part of the original funeral he purchased, so I was relatively happy with how they handled it.

All funerals are effectively outside the estate as they are an allowable expense for calculating IHT. 

Gers

Simonne15 said:

There's a lot of good advice in the MSE article. I am commenting here because have recently learned from a trustworthy lawyer I know that you can put money aside in a Prepaid Estate Plan which isn't tied to any funeral company. It is lodged with the lawyer, is outside of your estate for inheritance purposes and what interested me particularly is that it is then accessible by your inheritors or executors at time of death for out of pocket expenses etc. depending upon what you specify.
I am concerned that I don't want anyone to struggle and become in debt for anything that is incurred by my death that has to be paid immediately and before the estate would be sorted out. 

Seems to be 'pre-paid probate plans' - something to be very wary of, even the FCA warn against them.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/consumer-warning-pre-paid-probate-plans

https://wards.uk.com/news/pre-paid-probate-plans-the-very-real-dangers-explained/

SDicki

My father has sadly recently passed away and I believe he purchased a Funeral Plan. Unfortunately having gone through all of his paperwork I can't find any details. Is there a register than I can access to trace a Funeral Plan?

Primrose

I googled " How to trace a funeral plan" and came up with this.   It may not be all inclusive but you could contact them and ask if they know of other sources.
bear in mind thiugh that a number of these plans have " gone broke" over the years

The NAFPP is pleased to offer our Find My Plan service, which is a single online search form to trace any lost prepaid funeral plan. Your application will be sent to whichever institutions you choose. There is no need to pay a fee to find your old plan

Best  of luck and condolences on your loss

youth_leader

I prepaid my non attended cremation with Aura about two weeks ago, I was told I would receive 'paper copies' in the post. As they haven't arrived, I telephoned. 

Just a heads up - when I rang, choosing No 2 as 'wanting to get a plan/discuss an existing plan' there was no reply.  I tried three times and held on for twenty rings.

When I chose a different number, the young lady that answered said they were 'thin on the ground' this week.  Not that reassuring thinking of my kids in X years phoning to say I've died.

Trooper9

What happens to the money in the plan if you die outside your country without insurance to bring your body home?

WYSPECIAL

Trooper9 said:

What happens to the money in the plan if you die outside your country without insurance to bring your body home?

If dying abroad meant that your prepaid plan wasn't used you'd have to look at the terms and conditions. Most give a refund less an admin fee.