Planning & Preplanning

PREPLANNING
Families plan all aspects of life, such as education, vacations, weddings, birthdays, and retirement. Preplanning funerals makes sense. It ensures that your loved ones will not have to deal with difficult arrangements at the time of death. Loved ones can use that time to comfort each other, reflect and heal. Preplanning allows you to make unhurried, informed decisions. Also, it ensures your wishes are carried out exactly as you want them. In addition, prearranging funerals helps families learn about benefits available (SSI, veterans), and preplanning helps control costs. Prearranging is also beneficial in situations where one may not be capable of making responsible decisions.

Preplanned funerals are easy to arrange. Make an appointment with the funeral director, and bring a relative or friend to help you with the decisions that have to be made. You will be assisted in all stages of the planning process. During the prearrangement conference, the funeral director will discuss the following with you: Disposition, Merchandise, Services, Placement of Remains, Obituary Notice, Memorial Gifts and/or Flowers. A record of all of your decisions and arrangements will be kept to ensure that all of your wishes are carried out.

During the preplanning process, you may choose to prepay for the funeral in advance. The funeral director can assist you in setting up a trust account in the New Jersey Prepaid Funeral Trust FundTM. This is a program of the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association that allows you to write a check directly to the trust fund for the cost of the funeral you have planned. Then an FDIC insured account will be set up in your name, pooling your deposit with thousands of other accounts. In this program your money is safe and earning interest at a higher rate of return compared to a standard savings account. The interest earned over time should help offset the costs of inflation of the funeral you planned. Another advantage of a prepaid trust account is that your trust account is immediately available with proper notification, unlike bank accounts which are frozen upon death.

If you have prearranged and prepaid for your funeral, it is comforting to know you have done all you can to provide financially and emotionally for your family after your death.

After you have made prearrangements, let your family know about these arrangements.

Contact us if you would like more information about prearranging a funeral.

PREPLANNING FAMILY INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS
When dealing with a significant “life event” or change in family status, such as marriage, divorce, or death, your personal or family information may not be foremost in your mind. Therefore, it is important to keep this information up to date and readily accessible. The time that you spend now will help your family later. We suggest that you compile the following list of information, update it regularly, make sure someone close to you knows the location of this information and related documents, and keep it in a safe place:

•     Husband’s and Wife’s:
•     Vital Statistics
•     Education
•     Employment
•     Special Accomplishments
•     Civic or Community Group Involvement
•     Military Statistics and Discharge
•     Funeral Director, Funeral Service and Memorialization Instructions
•     Children
•     Organizations to be Notified
•     Other Persons to be Notified
•     Clergy
•     Physician
•     Medical History
•     Eye, Tissue, Organ Donor Information
•     Lawyer
•     Estate Information (Will, Living Will, Banking, Credit Cards, Safe Deposit Boxes)
•     Real Estate Information (Deeds)
•     Insurance Information Historical Information (Obituary)
•     Personal Property Inventory
•     Cemetery Information and Deed
•     Social Security
•     Motor Vehicle Commission (Automobile Information, Registration, Titles)

AT NEED OR PRENEED INFORMATION
You can download and print this form for arranging at need or pre need arrangements. The information is used in completing death certificates and obituaries. After you have filled in all of the information, you can fax, mail, email, or bring the completed form in to the funeral home.

Download the Form