Funeral Assistance For Low-Income Families

Many people rush into decisions because of these extenuating circumstances, leading to unnecessary costs and stress. You can avoid many of these hardships using knowledge and due diligence. 

When someone passes away, a funeral home generally arranges and provides services to the family. The funeral home will determine the costs.

Applicants must have a funeral, cremation, and burial cost less than $3,500 to qualify for funeral and burial payment assistance. The funeral home can assist you in filling out the application for this payment assistance.

Also, Read: Free Washer And Dryer For Low-Income Families

Preparing For A Funeral

When planning a funeral, you may feel overwhelmed and drained if you haven’t discussed your loved one’s wishes. If you plan, funeral planning doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The following tips will help you avoid financial or emotional burdens when grieving.

Affordability

Take a look at your financial situation. You and your family must discuss your budget before moving forward. Funeral costs do not matter how much you love or respect the deceased. 

Set A Solid Budget

There is no limit to how much you can comfortably spend at a funeral home if you don’t. When budgeting, you determine what you can spend without sacrificing your rent, depleting your savings, or accruing high-interest debt on your credit cards.

Make Sure You Shop Around

The cost of the same service can vary by thousands of dollars, even within the same town. Think about your past experiences with funeral homes and compare them to the ones you’re considering.

Other resources may be available if you need assistance paying for a funeral. A funeral might be out of your reach due to a lack of funds. If you find yourself in this situation, here are some options.

Charities And Non-Profits That Help With Funeral Costs 

Numerous charities and non-profit organizations have filled funding gaps in the funeral industry. You can contact them directly if you need assistance with funeral costs. The following organizations may be of assistance to you.

Children’s Burial Assistance

It is common for adults to use funeral funds when planning for their end-of-life needs. You might not anticipate funeral expenses when you don’t want to think about your children dying. In the wake of an unimaginable loss, Children’s Burial Assistance supports families. The company donates a burial plot and vault and pays for all burial and cremation costs.

Children’s Burial Assistance donates a burial plot and an urn to families who need assistance with burying their children. Information and referrals can be found in a comprehensive resource database. They offer donation burial plots in their inventory to offset the costs of burying loved ones. A cremated child’s urn is provided to a family if one is available.

The CBA’s resource database contains information on funeral homes, crematories, cemeteries, headstone and grave marker manufacturers, casket companies, florists, etc. Several funeral homes offer their services to CBA families at a low cost or sometimes free of charge. Families with limited funds can benefit from these resources. Families often save more money by combining resources.

Final Farewell

The Last Farewell charity assists parents with the expenses of burying their children. Final Farewell’s mission is to provide financial assistance, advice, and guidance to grieving families of all faiths and backgrounds so that their beloved children may be buried in a dignified and affordable manner.

Ninety percent of the organization’s activities occur in Greater Philadelphia, assisting needy families. As well as helping families in Pennsylvania, they have also helped families across the country.

If a family meets their charity policy, funeral services, including burial, may be provided for free.

Private foundations, government grants, and fundraising events primarily fund the organization. Several service providers, such as funeral homes and cemeteries, contribute “in kind” to expand the impact of direct funding. Funeral and burial services are provided at cost by several regional funeral homes.

There are no paid staff or independent contractors at Farewell. A Board of Directors governs them with a diverse group of members from the local community. It is natural for an individual who desires compensation to resign from the Board of Directors. A fair market value policy will determine the amount of compensation payable.

The TEARS Foundation

The TEARS Foundation directly pays funeral homes up to $500 for funeral costs. This organization assists with the funeral expenses of babies under a year of age. It also covers the funeral expenses of fetuses after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Assisting families facing financial hardship by providing burial or cremation funds, TEARS Foundation relieves their financial burden. As part of comprehensive bereavement care, parents can also participate in grief support groups and peer companionship activities.

The TEARS Foundation helps thousands of needy families by providing financial and emotional support. A member of their staff will contact you within 48 hours if you need assistance or if you would like to speak with someone. You can fill out their online application form to contact them.

They have a financial assistance program and eligibility requirements that can be found in their Funeral Application Guidelines. Feel free to contact them if you are still waiting to hear from them within 48 hours to ensure your application has been received.

Funeral Consumers Alliance

A low-cost burial option is one of the services offered by the Funeral Consumers Alliance, but the organization does not provide funeral services outright. The association assists low-income families by partnering with funeral homes and churches nationwide. During the funeral planning, consumers are ensured adequate preparation and protection by Funeral Consumers Alliance.

Social Security Death Benefits

The Social Security Administration will pay $255 to a deceased worker’s surviving spouse or children. There will be only a small amount of coverage for funeral expenses. If an obituary is being published, it can still be useful because of the fee, how much content is included, and whether or not a photograph is attached.

A surviving family member may also be eligible for benefits. Survivor benefits may be available to the following people:

• The widow or widower has reached 60 or older (50 if disabled).
• The deceased’s unmarried children under 18
• A 62-year-old couple with dependent children
• If the couple was married for at least ten years before divorcing

Social security retirement benefits might be available as a survivor if your deceased loved one qualified for them. Retirement benefits are generally available to those who have worked for at least ten years, while survivor benefits are available to their spouses or children. A deceased person may still be entitled to survivor’s benefits even if they did not work for ten years. Your family would have had less to work for to receive benefits if you were younger when you died.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides burial assistance to victims when the President declares a disaster area. If a person has died due to a disaster, directly or indirectly, they are eligible for benefits. Assistance can only be provided to those who have exhausted all other forms of assistance. Below is a list of burial assistance services that FEMA may cover:

• Urns and caskets cost a lot of money
• Service at the funeral
• A maximum of five death certificates may be requested
• A burial plot and a cremation niche
• Markers or headstones in public or private cemeteries

Military Burial Benefits for Veterans

Depending on whether the death was service-related or not, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a different amount of funeral assistance. For deaths caused by service, veterans receive a burial assistance of up to $2,000, while for deaths not caused by service, veterans receive a burial assistance of up to $780. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) benefits may also be available to spouses of military personnel. A spouse may receive a death gratuity in the event of a service-related death.

As a result of a disability acquired during military service, a person dies due to a service-related death. The VA offers more benefits to veterans buried in national cemeteries. There is an average cost of $1,240 for grave openings and a fee for grave closings.

There will also be a gravestone, a burial flag, and a burial container. The price of an upright headstone can range from $1,000 to over $10,000. The VA offers $780 for interment plots if you choose a private funeral.

There are, however, a few conditions to keep in mind. If the veteran’s employer paid for the funeral, they would not be eligible for this benefit. Moreover, funeral benefits are not available to veterans with dishonorable discharges.

FAQs

Q1. What are the cheapest funeral options?

Ans: You can cheaply bury your loved one by choosing direct cremation. The process is respectful, allowing you and your family the time to select the most appropriate burial option for you and your family.

Q2. What is the simplest funeral?

Ans: The simplest funeral is held at a local crematorium without a hearse. You can celebrate the life of your loved one in the chapel when the coffin is ready. A simple funeral has a similar structure to a traditional funeral, but it tends to be much less expensive.

Q3. What documents are needed for a funeral claim?

Ans: The death certificate must be a certified copy. If younger than 18, a copy of the birth certificate or the deceased’s ID or passport is required. Obtain a signed, dated, and stamped statement from your bank, not over three months, showing the beneficiary’s or estate’s banking details.

Conclusion

Many questions must be answered when planning a funeral, just as with any big purchase. The problem is that most family members are unprepared when making decisions about funerals and other final expenses. When dealing with them, funeral homes often don’t inform families of their rights.