pre-pay funerals

A young family I know have recently lost their mother very suddenly and are struggling to meet the cost of even a very simple funeral. Didn't know the mother but there doesn't seem to be any estate as such. They seem to be coping but are clearly finding it very stressful.

greenmossgiel You wouldn't need to make a new will, just add a Codicil. This shouldn't cost too much. You could even do it yourself - just put on a piece of paper something along the lines that you the document is a first codicil to your Will and that you wish to donate your body to science and that all the other clauses of your will dated (whenever) remain in force. You then just have to date the codicil, sign it in the presence of two witnesses, who should then sign it adding their addresses.

If you have a complicated will which has set up trusts then it might be better to go along to a solicitor, also if you are making any major changes to your will then, again, you should get a solicitor to do it. Hope you find this useful.

Me too, glamma!

green the more I read about science donation the more sence it make's DH and I have considered it for a long while as I am to mean for anyone to make money out of my demise,and I begrudge paying for drinks and extra's for people I may be did not like during my lifetime,there must be a nice easy answer to this in maybe holding a memorial service and then have any remains sympathetically disposed of without all the trauma of waiting such a long time for closure.Anyway I am not going anywhere at the moment,will be aroung for a while to carry on haunting everyone for the foreseeable future.

I'd been thinking about the donation of my body to science, too. I understand that there is a real need for more 'cadavers' to be used for research....horrible word, but nevertheless....! However, I wish I'd thought of this when we were making our wills a couple of years ago, because the drawing-up of the will itself cost a fortune, and we also added a 'power of attorney' to it as well, which added even more to the bill. I don't think I can afford to go back to the solicitor and have that added as well...though it would be cheaper in the long run, no doubt!

The mother of a friend of mine donated her body to science. The only drawback as far as my friend was concerned was that it was a year before she received what was left and she could hold the funeral. She felt she was "in limbo" with no closure. I don't know if this is normal as it is not something I have looked into.

I can't afford the payments for pre paid funeral it is hard enough making the money go round and my children are all stretched with children, work and businesses with nothing to spare. A policy no good, credit card would have first call on it. Donate to science a real consideration. I can't afford to die. Is there not a budget funeral? We believe in re-incarnation so my body is just an old coat I will not be in it after I have passed.

Like this www.great-wallofchina.com/terracotta-warriors.html

absentgrana, it would be like all those little people that are carved on the great wall of China. Ranks of 'em, all in rows.

When DH and I lived in Spain the process was to bury the urn into the wall and
go upwards a good space saving idea,the only problem for me was that I am
scared of heights and knowing my luck the next space available would be at the top of the wall!

Not strictly to do with pre-payment funerals, but I wonder why they don't bury people upright and thus pack more into the same space (please excuse this somewhat unsubtle description). I can see that it would have been difficult in the past when you just had a couple of chaps with spades, but digging a deeper, narrower hole must surely be fairly straightforward with mechanical diggers these days.

Never mind Co-op and Tesco, Boots should add funerals to their list of services and we would get 4 points for every pound spent. If we got the timing right we might hit a weekend with 10 points to the pound. Somehow my husband went shopping and managed to change my card into his name so he would benefit if I carked it

By the way have you seen the price of headstones - scandalous!

Do you know both my parents were done by the Co-op and we didnt get any points but we did get £50 discount for being members. I must say they did it nicely

Death divi? Every little helps.
Oh no, that's Tesco.
Do Tesco do funerals. Double points?

If you get a funeral through the Co-op, can you use your loyalty card?

I've known of a few people donating their bodies for medical research and I think it has to be done through the local medical school/teaching hospital. It seemed reasonably straightforward. Each time they had the support of family members so there was no question of opposing the idea. Not sure what the legal position would be. After some time, a service was arranged to which close members of the donors' families were invited.

I told my family that I wanted to donate my body to a medical school but my son said he would oppose my wishes when the time came. I told him I wasn't fussy, he could have me stuffed an stand me in the corner with a lampshade on my head. I definitely wont be giving anybody my money in advance, we might get hit by a meteor.

The organ donor thingummy I filled in wasn't at all complicated. Done and dusted in a very short time. Online too, and then they sent a confirmation by post.

I think it is more complicated than it first appears to donate your body to medical research. The problem with saying take the cost out of the value of your estate is that funeral expenses are up front and probate can take ages.

Prepayment funerals can be a good idea. Prepaying is often money-saving because you pay at today's rates. Obviously, savings depend on how long before the service needs to be provided – but we mostly don't know that. Certainly a big advantage of a funeral plan is that sons and daughters don't have to make decisions at a time of grief, as you will already have done it. I'm sure it's possible to arrange for a cardboard coffin and whatever sort of ceremony you consider appropriate. Cheap and cheerful strikes me as a good way and if I arrange matters myself, no one will be able to accuse my daughter of being a cheapskate or disrespectful. My mum and aunt took out plans at the same time and it made things much easier for me when it came to organising their farewells. As for a warbling minister you don't know – or, more importantly, who doesn't know you – what's wrong with family members saying something? I wrote and spoke the eulogies at said mother's and aunt's funerals. It's incredibly hard but everything I said came from the heart.

Having said all this, I haven't taken out a funeral plan but that is mainly because I am hoping to emigrate and so expect to die on the other side of the world. (I'm hoping to live there for a while first.) However, I am tempted to make a spoof eulogy recording as my one last joke on life.

Yes, sylvia, I say about the vultures with the proviso that any 'useful bits' are used to help others. My nearest and dearest are aware of this.

I agree with all the others. My DH and I have life policies and that can pay for our funerals. Why give companies money years before you are going to need their services (I hope). Also make them as cheap as possible without actually being too mean if you know what I mean. (Does that make sense)

I've thought of that as well, sylvia2036. There's a real shortage of 'cadavers' (horrid word, but there it is) for use in medical research. Saves the cost of a funeral, too - just have a jolly good 'knees-up' instead!

There's always donating your body to medical science - otherwise I agree with Baggy.