Funeral Trusts: Planning Your Funeral With An Irrevocable Funeral Trust

Planning your funeral with an irrevocable trust can ensure you have enough money to pay for the service.

There are some benefits to planning your funeral with an irrevocable funeral trust. The main benefit? It ensures you have enough money to pay for the service.

Even if you did things the “right way” - you worked hard, paid your taxes, provided for your family and set aside money for your retirement, you could lose all or a substantial amount of your savings if you (or your spouse, if married) need to go to a nursing home.  You may not even have any money left to pay for your funeral.

With most seniors opting not to purchase long-term care insurance, many older adults are at risk of having their estates plundered if and when the need for long-term care arises.  If you need to enter a skilled nursing facility, you will have to spend down your assets to as little as $1,500.00.  At the time of your death, there won’t be any money left to pay for your funeral.  That is why it is imperative to consider funding your funeral now in an irrevocable funeral trust so that you are assured you’ll have money set aside to pay for it.

An irrevocable funeral trust is a trust you create for your final expenses.  It is a single premium life insurance policy that is placed into your “Trust” for safe-keeping until you pass away.  Because the policy itself is owned by your “Irrevocable Funeral Trust,” it offers tax-free benefits, protection from inflation, and can be shielded from confiscation by Medicaid or nursing homes.

At the time of death, the funeral trust pays any funeral home that provides the services, meaning that people are free to relocate wherever they choose later in life.  Speak to an experienced elder law attorney or funeral home provider for more information.

This article is part of the eFuneral Resource Center and was written by Timothy J. Forrestal, an accomplished Cleveland, Ohio-based attorney with an impressive track record in the fields of elder law and estate planning.  He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section of the Ohio State Bar Association, the AARP Legal Services Network and the Better Business Bureau. For more information, please visit www.forrestallaw.com. The Forrestal Law Office Medicaid Planning Team offers help in the following areas: Division of Assets, Medicaid Planning, Living Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Estate Planning, Living Wills, Nursing Home Planning, Guardianships. Those thinking about end-of-life should visit eFuneral.com for help researching, planning, and arranging a wide variety of funeral-related services.