Tag Archives: funeral guide

Alert to Military Veterans!

I recently saw a newspaper ad directed to Military Veterans about burial in National Cemeteries. What concerned me was that there was a mail-in coupon to a P.O. box without a telephone number for the business. The ad wanted the name, age, spouse’s age, address, city, state, zip and contact telephone number of the person requesting burial or cremation options. In other words, the ad requested a lot of personal information without providing the consumer any information about the company requesting it, not even a telephone number. Be very careful and do not respond to these type ads. Funeral and Cemetery scams are one of the 10 top scams targeting seniors.

FYI: If you have questions about burial in National Cemeteries contact the Veterans’ Administration, a local funeral home, or a National Cemetery if you have one in your area.

Have questions? Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike

Dead People Can’t Pay!

I recently read an article about dead drivers being forgiven for traffic infractions including tickets, fines, and fees. The move is an effort to dispose of these type of traffic cases and give the courts more time to deal with living issues. Great idea!

I wonder, how many deceased drivers’ records are still considered active cases by the courts throughout the United States? Have a problem like this one? Try taking a copy of the death certificate for the deceased to the agency sending the bill to the deceased and see what can be done to resolve the issue. If the agency will not eliminate the case then suggest you give the agency the new address of the deceased (for example, the cemetery, mausoleum or cremation niche address) so that bills can be sent there to the attention of the deceased and see what happens.

Have questions?  Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike

Scam Alert!

I recently read an article about the top 10 scams targeting seniors, and funeral planning was one of the ten.

Be aware there are different approaches, including predators reading death notices and then trying to extort money from the family claiming the deceased owed them money. Be careful!  If this ever happens to you get complete contact information from the caller or visitor and notify the police department. And as mentioned in my book, never put the address of the deceased in the death notice.

 Also, unscrupulous funeral homes will try to add unnecessary charges to the funeral bill by taking advantage of the consumer who is not familiar with funeral policy and pricing. Always shop several funeral homes and final disposition places (cemeteries and mausoleum facilities) for pricing information, and acquire price lists where possible. For example, you may be told a casket is required for direct cremation. Generally a less expensive cardboard cremation box is OK for use.

My advice is shop till you drop and become an educated consumer about the subject before a death occurs, commonly called pre-planning of a funeral. If a consumer waits until a death occurs, and sometimes this cannot be avoided, they are at a disadvantage when making funeral and final disposition arrangements. Again, become an educated consumer about the subject before the need arises!

Suggestion: ask questions prior to a death, look at a website where you can acquire information, ask questions and even purchase a book to help you through the funeral arrangement process. If you read my book and have a question not covered in it, simply e-mail me your question and I will answer it at no charge.

Scams are everywhere, don’t get caught in this one!

Have questions?  Email me at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.

Mike

Frugal Funeral Planning

Check out Mike’s article, just added to the blog today, “Frugal Funeral Planning”, which contains more money-saving tips for the frugal funeral shopper.  Just click on the Frugal Funeral Planning tab above.

Your questions and comments are welcome.  For permission to reprint this article, email Mike at mikeboyd@askthefuneralexpert.com.