New year has always been a time for reforming old habits and achieving new goals.
However, if like me, you struggle to keep your resolutions, why not ditch the trivial and frivolous and make planning ahead for the inevitable your number one priority for the coming year.
As one of the few certainties in life, death must be addressed ahead of time so that plans can be made in advance. If you do, however, fail to plan ahead, the burden - both financially and in terms of actually making the funeral arrangements - could fall to your loved ones.
When there's no funeral plan in place, the cost of the service is usually paid out of the Estate of the deceased, but if the funds are insufficient then the executor (usually the next of kin), is often held personally liable.
If your family genuinely cannot afford to pay the cost of your funeral, they would have to go through the rigmarole of claiming financial assistance. If they do in fact meet certain eligibility criteria, the amount awarded would be (based on the average 2011/2012 award) about £1,241 which is only 16% of the total cost of a funeral today.
The death of a loved one is a difficult time and is only compounded by financial worries over how to pay for the funeral.
Nevertheless, having a funeral plan in place ensures that friends and family don't have to make such difficult decisions at a testing time in the grieving process, and it means you pay for your funeral at today's prices.
With a funeral plan from Golden Charter, you are guaranteed a reliable and trustworthy independent funeral director who will carry out your funeral with the utmost respect, care and professionalism.
