I found a cremation-only place to take care of my mother's remains last July, and it was only about $795. Don't use a mortuary -- I did with my dad before I knew better and it was $2500.
If you can make payments, that's a good thing, or put it on a credit card if you can. Don't let them talk you into buying more than a couple of death certificates, because you won't need more than that. I still have all 12 they talked me into buying for my dad, and all 5 I bought after Mom died. Still waiting for someone to ask for one and keep it. (I'm also still waiting for someone to ask me for my grade transcript from college, and I graduated in 1983.)
Just adding, if there are final expenses like it debts, they die with the person. No one is responsible for those debts.
I so hope COVID showed us that we don't need to spend thousands on funerals. I family I know had the nicest memorial service for a brother they lost. The urn was set inside a beautiful wreath of flowers. We are lined up to pay our condolences at the Church. They had a nice luncheon with help from the ladies and men at the Church Hall.
I have told my girls I want no viewing. Just cremate me and go out to dinner.
IMO no, its not possible to by life insurance this late in the game. Some will not pay out until you have paid premiums for 2 yrs. And the older u get, the higher the premium is. Igloo gave some good info to.
Pre pay funeral, often a discount will be given if you pre pay. If yo need more then "bank" what a policy would cost. You/she would not get much of a pay out now anyway and there is probably not a lot of time to build up "equity" in most policies.
If you are asking about funeral / burial insurance, that probably will not be at all feasible for her if she is already on hospice. Those supposedly affordable “end of life final expenses” policies that get touted on TV are - in my understanding - all have time exclusions…. So yes it is a funeral / burial policy but you have to buy it and pay the monthly premiums and do so for a pre-set period of time BEFORE the policy will do a pay out. If your family member is already on hospice, they are deemed 6 months or less to live. So it will be super important to read the fine print on the policy for any type of time exclusions.
To buy life insurance or final expense type of policies imo those need to be done way way ahead of time to be affordable. No insurer who wants to stay profitable is going to sell an immediately available 25K policy or even a 10K at $100 or even $250 a mo premium to someone over US actuarial tables for death or on hospice.
You might want to look at preneed cremation policy as that will probably be the most affordable way to do a burial.
If there is a spouse, SSA will pay the spouse $250 towards final burial expenses. SSA has had it at this low payout for decades now. Family or heirs cannot get the $, the $ is only for a surviving spouse.
Oh PeggySue don’t get me started on CP….. they do not sell traditional death benefit insurance but sell you “units” of coverage at $9.95 a mo. And you are limited to the # of units u can buy. Like 12 units! And what the units pay depends on your age & sex at the time.
so a 68 yr old guy can get a 12 units with a max of $9504 benefit with a mo premium of $120 a mo. The older you are the lower the payout.
That “guaranteed acceptance” has a 2 year waiting period to get the full benefit paid if you die by natural cause. Otherwise what you get is a “graded benefit” which basically means you get all your premiums back plus a bit of interest. Some other burial plan type of insurers have a full 5 yr waiting period.
Imo the hardest part is that you have to, have to, pay the premium on time each month. And what seems to happen is that the elder or their family forget to pay or are late and the insurer will cancel that policy in a hot second. Cancelled with zero return of premiums paid. Too bad, so sad.
"You qualify for hospice care if you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and meet all of these conditions: Your hospice doctor and your regular doctor (if you have one) certify that you're terminally ill (with a life expectancy of 6 months or less)."
If you can make payments, that's a good thing, or put it on a credit card if you can. Don't let them talk you into buying more than a couple of death certificates, because you won't need more than that. I still have all 12 they talked me into buying for my dad, and all 5 I bought after Mom died. Still waiting for someone to ask for one and keep it. (I'm also still waiting for someone to ask me for my grade transcript from college, and I graduated in 1983.)
I so hope COVID showed us that we don't need to spend thousands on funerals. I family I know had the nicest memorial service for a brother they lost. The urn was set inside a beautiful wreath of flowers. We are lined up to pay our condolences at the Church. They had a nice luncheon with help from the ladies and men at the Church Hall.
I have told my girls I want no viewing. Just cremate me and go out to dinner.
If yo need more then "bank" what a policy would cost. You/she would not get much of a pay out now anyway and there is probably not a lot of time to build up "equity" in most policies.
To buy life insurance or final expense type of policies imo those need to be done way way ahead of time to be affordable. No insurer who wants to stay profitable is going to sell an immediately available 25K policy or even a 10K at $100 or even $250 a mo premium to someone over US actuarial tables for death or on hospice.
You might want to look at preneed cremation policy as that will probably be the most affordable way to do a burial.
If there is a spouse, SSA will pay the spouse $250 towards final burial expenses. SSA has had it at this low payout for decades now. Family or heirs cannot get the $, the $ is only for a surviving spouse.
so a 68 yr old guy can get a 12 units with a max of $9504 benefit with a mo premium of $120 a mo. The older you are the lower the payout.
That “guaranteed acceptance” has a 2 year waiting period to get the full benefit paid if you die by natural cause. Otherwise what you get is a “graded benefit” which basically means you get all your premiums back plus a bit of interest. Some other burial plan type of insurers have a full 5 yr waiting period.
Imo the hardest part is that you have to, have to, pay the premium on time each month. And what seems to happen is that the elder or their family forget to pay or are late and the insurer will cancel that policy in a hot second. Cancelled with zero return of premiums paid. Too bad, so sad.
Assuming she has Medicare:
"You qualify for hospice care if you have Medicare Part A (Hospital Insurance) and meet all of these conditions: Your hospice doctor and your regular doctor (if you have one) certify that you're terminally ill (with a life expectancy of 6 months or less)."
This would cover the expenses.
Source: https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/hospice-care