When you don't want to leave behind for your loved ones the burden of planning and paying for your funeral, the most logical thing to do is go ahead and pre-plan your funeral arrangements at your chosen funeral home and arrange to have it paid for in advance. While this is a pretty straightforward process, the biggest concerns usually come in with the costs involved simply because most want to keep the costs as low as possible. If you are going to plan your funeral in advance, there are a few financial questions you should make sure you ask the funeral home director.

Are there minimum payment amounts required by the funeral home?

Most funeral homes will not require that you pay for the entire funeral in advance when you start the pre-planning process, but rather, they will expect you to make payments until the fees and charges are covered in full. One thing you will need to know is if there will be a minimum payment amount involved once you have your plans in place. Some funeral homes will require you to make a payment each month of a certain amount, while others just allow you to pay what you can, when you can pay it. 

What are the best ways to keep the funeral costs as low as possible?

Just by doing a little research on your own you can usually come up with a handful of ways to shave some of the costs off of your funeral expenses. For example, you could opt to provide your own attire or even go with a closed-casket service and usually save some money. However, each funeral home will be able to offer their own information about how you can save money on the costs, so make sure you ask when you are in the pre-planning process.

Where will the money you pay be kept for the long term?

For the most art, funeral homes will place funds in an escrow account once you start making payments, but this can vary from place toplace. You will want to know where the money you pay is being kept and should get documentation to prove such. Some funeral homes do actually place the funds in an interest-drawing account as well, which can be helpful to cover extended expenses down the road if prices of service offerings change before you pass away or even if you change some of your plans.