The Funeral Rule

As a consumer, your rights through a variety of shopping processes is protected by the federal government.  The funeral shopping process is no exception.  After some research, Federal Trade Commission found that the consumer was in a very weak bargaining position, particularly if there had been a death.  All of the grief, anxiety and a lack of education were distinct barriers the consumer would have to overcome, many times failing to overcome, in the bargaining Continue reading

Departing from the Traditional

DepartingfromthetraditionalFeature

There seems to be a trend for disposition that is moving away from the traditional funeral and burial and moving towards a commemoration of the life of the deceased.  The Baby Boomer generation includes 78 million Americans, and represents 29.4% of the total U.S. population, according to the U. S. Census Bureau.  I am not sure if its just a coincidence, but it appears that as this generation ages, its reputation for doing things differently Continue reading

Social Media- A New Area to Consider When Preplanning

I had a conversation a few months back with a Huber Heights City Commissioner who is also an attorney.  We were discussing various issues regarding end of life planning when he related a story about his brother. His brother had a profuse online presence.  He had many email accounts, social media accounts and the like, but there was one area that my friend noted a particularly large outpouring of grief and sentiment that my friend Continue reading

Why Pre-plan?

PreplanGraphic4713

Two thirds of the time I meet with the wife to make the burial arrangements for her husband. They had either neglected to make arrangements in advance or they purposely avoided the issue.  Now she is faced with making the arrangements without him and may be facing needless anxiety and guilt.  Not to mention the cost. Planning arrangements in advance though not the most popular of activities is one of the most important.  There are Continue reading