Funerals

rgren2 · Guru

Funerals

Whenarewethere · Guru

Have a non attendance funeral. Someone picks up the ashes when ready. About a $1000 for the gas! Then your relatives can do their own thing in their own time on their own premises. We have been to few of these where the families have organised their own private get together. Much nicer than the typical funeral event.

DMaxer · Guru

When a person dies the bank will release funds (if there is sufficient funds) from the deceased's bank account upon the production of an invoice from the funeral director together with a copy of the notice of death signed by the medical practitioner. This will be done prior to any grant of probate and is usually released within a day or two. Most of the major banks no longer require probate for sums up to about 50K.

As to whether you have a prepaid funeral or how you wish to have your funeral conducted is a personal decision for you and your family to make, hardly a decision to be made by anonymous people on a caravan forum I would think.

rgren2 · Guru

DMaxer wrote:
When a person dies the bank will release funds (if there is sufficient funds) from the deceased's bank account upon the production of an invoice from the funeral director together with a copy of the notice of death signed by the medical practitioner. This will be done prior to any grant of probate and is usually released within a day or two. Most of the major banks no longer require probate for sums up to about 50K.
As to whether you have a prepaid funeral or how you wish to have your funeral conducted is a personal decision for you and your family to make, hardly a decision to be made by anonymous people on a caravan forum I would think.

Im after ideas, not requests. Most people our age have had some experience with funerals, I just wish to avoid pitfalls. I have found out that with funeral insurance, it doesnt have to pay for the funeral and some beneficiaries have not used the funds for their intended purposes.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

Personally, I think funerals are a waste of money. If your children organise it, they might feel pressure to pay more to show that they care about you, money straight down the drain, IMO. Not paying more for the gold handles doesn't mean jot about how much they care......

If you prepay, you can just pay for what you think is reasonable and they won't have to worry about anything. Even for you both, when one goes before the other, you won't have to be thinking about it, you'll know that it was all decided. If you have the funds to prepay, I'd do it. Taking the responsibility off your kids/partner is worthwhile. It also depends on your ages, how much time you realistically have left. Prepaid for a 30-y-o may not be warranted, but for an 80-y-o not a bad idea.

I would not take out "insurance". It may be value if you drop dead tomorrow (not something you'd hope for), but otherwise you just keep paying and paying and all that money goes towards a funeral instead of something more useful or productive. Prepaid is closed ended, you pay for what you've decided and that's that.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Funerals are for the living, not the dead. Let those who care decide.
Cheers,
Peter

Whenarewethere · Guru

David Bowie had a non attendance funeral.

Wanda · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Funerals are for the living, not the dead. Let those who care decide.
Cheers,
Peter

My thoughts exactly

Ian

Craig1 · Guru

A prepaid Funeral Bond is asset exempt from Centrelink if that helps your financials, gets a small growth each year. Much moe than $1000 for a private burn here btw.

deverall11 · Guru

If you prepay does this mean the sum is locked in and not subject to any
price increases. Given that in general terms you do not have a Date of Death,
do you offset this by the fact they have your money and therefore have use of it?
At this stage interest rates are negligible but are on the way up.
What guarantee do you have they will still be around when required?
Except for the obvious will they will honour that agreement. The last thing
you want is for the grieving relatives to get into a bun fight.
I am serious and think it's a valid question. Unless you're
a funeral director this is unchartered territory for most of us.
Larry

Whenarewethere · Guru

300kg, don't skimp, of timber is probably the cheapest option & it is not fossil fuel.

Kebbin · Guru

Maybe a couple of things you may want to do is nominate the Crematorium so the Solicitor/s can pay the bill out of your account/s.
Next thing is to appoint someone you trust, one or preferably two of your children or siblings with a Enduring Power of Attorney, I would advise not to appoint a Solicitor here for obvious reasons. The Enduring side is in case you no longer have the capacity to make your own decisions.
Along with that you should consider the new legislation on euthanasia, I do not want to be in such a state as to not know what's happening or becoming a burden on a child or partner

-- Edited by Kebbin on Friday 20th of May 2022 10:29:31 AM

rgren2 · Guru

Power of attorney has been done, we recently had our wills updated and did the power of attorney then. We did ask the law bloke about the funeral and he did ask to be informed when we made our decision.

Buzz Lightbulb · Guru

I'm still trying to convince my wife to put me in the compost bin. I don't think it's legal so I won't push it but I did find that there are natural burial sites around some capital cities:

Eco-burials, home funeral options on the rise as consumers think outside the box

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-07/eco-burial-grounds-and-home-funeral-options-on-the-rise/12262436

Or you could go for:

Body composting a 'green' alternative to burial and cremation

[url]https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-26/body-composting-a-green-alternative-to-burial-cremation/100486964[/url]

Or donate your body to science and let them sort out what happens to the bits you no longer need.

Medical students reveal gratitude to those who donate their bodies to science

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-23/inside-the-world-of-body-donations/6416854

Or there're 'body farms' where they put your body in a paddock or a forest and the forensic scientists use the observations of your decaying body to help understand how a body decays in the open.

'Body farm' proposed for central Queensland would be world first for tropics

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-22/body-farm-proposed-for-central-queensland-would-be-world-first/8047048

All the above options are better for the environment. I don't know if available in Australia but some countries allow the bodies to be freeze dried and then crushed. Apparently it uses less energy than cremations.

I'm all in favour of memorials. I've been to them and they are so much better than funerals. People seem to celebrate the life of the person who's passed away rather than their death.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Buzz Lightbulb wrote:
Or donate your body to science and let them sort out what happens to the bits you no longer need.

Our bodies are set to be donated to the medical students, after the usable bits (if any) are removed for transplants.

They also pay for the disposal of what is left when they are finished with you, if you wish.

The catch is that the body needs to get to the university within a fairly short time after death, so another option may be requred if you die in some remote area.

Our kids are very happy with this arrangement.

Cheers,

Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Friday 20th of May 2022 07:08:56 PM

Aussie1 · Guru

We are both registered organ donors.
Our personal wish is that organ doning be made the standard. With an "opt out" provision for those that do not want to be part of it.
Our opinion is that it is such a sad loss of organs that could improve the quality of someone else's life.

Mike Harding · Guru

It's very much a personal decision rgren2; I have zero interest in what happens to my dead body and have *instructed* that I be cremated in the cheapest way possible, a cardboard coffin, a trip to the crem. in a friend's station wagon and the like.

My suggestion is let your deceased estate pay for it.

Edit:

Is a dead body in a coffin in a station wagon in breach of the seat belt laws? :)

-- Edited by Mike Harding on Friday 20th of May 2022 04:55:14 PM

rgren2 · Guru

I like to be organised and provide as little stress to the family as possible. Im not looking at a state funeral, just looking at all the real solutions.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

deverall11 wrote:
If you prepay does this mean

There are government regulations that must be complied with Basically, the money is held in trust until the person dies, the funeral people don't have use of it. The regulations probably differ in different states, so if it's something someone is considering, they should look them up to make sure that any agreement is following them.

JeffRae · Guru

Pre-paid funeral means it's only one phone call to the funeral parlour that you have pre-paid with and every thing is done for the surviving spouse or children. Only thing ours doesn't cover
is nibbles and refreshments as the funeral parlour does not do catering.

My Mother pre-paid her funeral after Dad died as she knew the stress she was going through at the time and didn't want anybody in the family to do the same.

The pre-paid funeral is not classed as an asset so is a good way to reduce your asset level if you want too.

Also looked at donating our bodies to science, but if they don't need you body when you die, the next of kin still has to organise a funeral

DeBe · Guru

One week ago our son died & had a prepaid funeral in place which was $5000 for just a cremation & nothing else. But be aware he was shifted from the hospital to another town 33Ks away for end of life care. But to get his body back to the funeral parlour there was a $250 transport fee.

hufnpuf · Senior Member

DeBe wrote:
One week ago our son died

I'm so sorry...

KevinJ · Senior Member

I'm also leaving my body to science. Until they need it, I'm preserving it in alcohol.

bratboy · Veteran Member

KevinJ wrote:
I'm also leaving my body to science. Until they need it, I'm preserving it in alcohol.

Yep I've invested quite a bit of time and money getting a head start on that option myself biggrin

86GTS · Guru

I don't have any friends, that's been my policy for all of my life, who needs them. Who trusts them?
I have been happy in my own world & don't need other people around me to feel secure.
I'll be cremated, my ashes scattered in my location of choice & my small immediate family will be having a BBQ, piss up in my backyard to send me off.
Job done.

dorian · Guru

86GTS wrote:
I don't have any friends, that's been my policy for all of my life, who needs them. Who trusts them?
I have been happy in my own world & don't need other people around me to feel secure.
I'll be cremated, my ashes scattered in my location of choice & my small immediate family will be having a BBQ, piss up in my backyard to send me off.
Job done.

I've been betrayed by almost everyone I've ever trusted, so nowadays I avoid making friends and I refrain from trusting people. I've requested that there be no ceremony, and that I be buried in a cardboard coffin in the clothes that I die in, and I want only my brother to be present. I'm a down-to-earth kind of guy.

Wizardofoz · Guru

Aussie1 wrote:
We are both registered organ donors.
Our personal wish is that organ doning be made the standard. With an "opt out" provision for those that do not want to be part of it.
Our opinion is that it is such a sad loss of organs that could improve the quality of someone else's life.

The problem is at our ages, most organs are worn out and not worth donation, I would think.

SoloMC · Senior Member

I'm not sure youcan specify how your body is used when donate to science. Lots of bodies these days are used on body farms to determine the processes of decomposition. This can range from the body just being positioned on top of the ground down to being buried underground

Aussie1 · Guru

Wizardofoz wrote:
Aussie1 wrote:
We are both registered organ donors.
Our personal wish is that organ doning be made the standard. With an "opt out" provision for those that do not want to be part of it.
Our opinion is that it is such a sad loss of organs that could improve the quality of someone else's life.
The problem is at our ages, most organs are worn out and not worth donation, I would think.

Rather a sad attitude and not a good reason not to at least make the commitment to donate. Yes, perhaps age can be a factor but, science is always improving and there just maybe something of value/use that will assist someone. Ashes and or worms will certainly ensure no one will benefit.

In the meantime my friend, stay safe and well.

patrol03 · Senior Member

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Funerals are for the living, not the dead. Let those who care decide.
Cheers,
Peter

I agree entirely. It is the job of the executor/s. I assure you will not be worrying about it. Remember one thing.....there are no pockets in shrouds.