MUDRUNNER Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Unfortunatley my wifes aunt passed away last week. She never married or had any kids, so my wife and her brother were very close with her. She made pre arrangements for her funeral about 10 years ago and paid a little over $7000, which according to her reciept covered everything and was payed in full. Now the funeral home is saying that due to inflation the funeral she chose is now $11000, and that my wife and brother need to come with an extra $4000 to cover the cost. Is that even legal?That sounds pretty shady to me, and the family is not pleased with the services performed in the first place. We've never dealt with a pre arranged funeral before, but whats the advantage of paying ahead of time if it doesn't lock in the price. I'm sure the funeral home invested the money somehow to draw interest in the first place, which I would think should cover the cost of inflation. They seem like crooks to me. Any info you guys have would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion_70 Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) It would be good if you could find the contract . My understanding also on these matters is that they are paid in full now and there are no fees later. Funeral homes are heavily regulated by state regulations in most places so an inquiry there would not hurt either. If the receipt is stating it's paid in full, then it should be paid in full. Unless there is s stipulation in the fine print of the contract I would push back very hard on that funeral home. Also check the BBB on that particular home. Edited March 28, 2011 by Orion_70 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Sorry to hear that. Sounds shady to me, think I would be asking for more information and to see the contract. Would seem to me that if she paid in advance there should be no further obligation. Your wife and her brother being put on the hook for that just does not seem in any way right and almost sounds like the funeral home is attempting to take advantage, sure some people would pay without questioning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Sounds fishy to me. That's one of the benifits with the pre-arrangement, is the locked in cost I thought. Doesn't sound right to me, hopefully you have a copy of the contract around to look at the terms and conditions to see if it says anything about inflation costs. I work part time at a funeral home, if I see the director within the near future I'll ask him to see what he thinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) Resolving that issue should be the responsibility of the Executor of the will. It's not that they would have to research it personally if they were not comfortable with it, but rather I'm sure that there should be a lawyer on strength to administer the nuts and bolts of the will (if there is one). Usually a letter from a lawyer, basically telling the contractor to "Blow Smoke", may very well resolve things. Even should they consider going to collection, which would be in Small Claims Court I believe, as it is under $5K, would not bode well for them in a community where their industry requires compassion and non hard-handed tactics. If they do opt for collection, I'm assuming that their challenge could tie up the final closure of the will until such time as all issues were resolved. Resurecting the receipts and contracts for the services your aunt paid for in good faith 10 years ago should have been part of the will package, but if not, a thorough search for them would seem in order first. POST SCRIPT: I went online and read up on "prepaid funeral packages". There are several methods to that end and include "guaranteed" and "non guaranteed" packages. I was actually quite shocked when I read what I perceived to be quite a scam in a multi billion dollar industry. You can pay directly to one or a conglomorate of funeral homes, to an insuring agent, in lump sum, monthly payments, indexed to the cost of living or not, etc. There may be an administrative charge for management of the fund or penalty fees for cancelling, transferring or altering the plan. If additional options are applied at the time of the funeral that vary from the original plan, then the costs are to be borne by the estate or survivors. Additional costs can even be applied to a "guaranteed" plan depending on what's provided and what is shown in the contract. Best of luck and condolences. TBow Edited March 28, 2011 by TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Thanks everyone, for the kind words. My wife has been very close with her since her mom passed away a few years ago. In a way she was kind of my wifes last connection with her mothers side of the family, and helped to fill the void she had after losing her mom. My wife and brother in law are executors, which is why we would be responsible for the payment. I don't see anywhere on her contract where it says either guarenteed or non-guaranteed. It breaks down the cost of each item and what she paid. Her receipt says "paid in full". My wife is going to call another funeral home tonight and ask a few questions to see if they are just trying to take us for a ride, and they are suppose to meet with the funeral director later this week to discuss it in detail. I'm just trying to get as much information as possible since this is all new to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 My wife and brother in law are executors, which is why we would be responsible for the payment. I don't see anywhere on her contract where it says either guarenteed or non-guaranteed. It breaks down the cost of each item and what she paid. Her receipt says "paid in full". My wife is going to call another funeral home tonight and ask a few questions to see if they are just trying to take us for a ride, and they are suppose to meet with the funeral director later this week to discuss it in detail. I'm just trying to get as much information as possible since this is all new to us. Unfortunately it seems these days there is no shortage of businesses/managers/owners that will willfully engage in deceptive practices. Would imagine there are probably a lot of people out there in the same type situation who having just buried a loved one are not thinking just real clear and probably pay up without contesting or even thinking it anything out of the ordinary. Since the receipt says paid in full I would have your wife ask that they furnish a legal contract that was signed by your aunt. Would think such type dealings should be illegal, laws vary state to state, here in TN consumers have little to no protection from scammers, our attorney generals office and consumer affairs division are a freaking joke. You really cannot be too careful these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 A quick call to a lawyer outta let ya know if you are right or wrong. SHouldn't cost ya a penny either for the information. Sorry to hear of this burden during a time of loss! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Get ye to a lawyer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NS whitetail Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Sorry for your lose , and I would surely look into that, it does not seem right to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 prepaid is just that. it's paid in full and the funeral home is trying to cheat you. any lawyer will back that up. they used the money for 10 years and capitalized on inflation. tell the funeral home that had she invested in gold 10 years ago instead of them, she'd now have $36,000.00 in the bank to pay for that $11,000. funeral, and you want a refund for the balance. shysters run that funeral home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedicast Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 My wife is going to call another funeral home tonight and ask a few questions to see if they are just trying to take us for a ride, and they are suppose to meet with the funeral director later this week to discuss it in detail. Definitely invite your lawyer to attend this meeting!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted April 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Well, here is an update on the situation. After meeting with the funeral director last night it turns out that the contract she signed was non-guaranteed. If it is non-guarenteed I really don't see the point of even pre paying for a funeral, and I don't feel that they explained it to my wifes Aunt very well. She had told us several times that her funeral had been totally taken care of years ago. It also turns out that a portion of what she pre-paid was put into a life insurance policy through the funeral home. Somehow my wife and her brother were listed as the beneficiary instead of the funeral home. (Not sure how that happened, but that's the reason that we ended up owing the funeral home.) Had the funeral home been listed as the beneficiary they would actually end up owing us the remainder. The payout for the policy is actually a little more than the total that we owe, so it ended up just about being a wash in the end. Anyway, I hope this information ends up helping somebody else out and possibly prevents future problems. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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