Pre-Need Services

Pre-Arrangements:
For several important reasons, the arranging and funding of funeral services in advance of need is a decision many people are making today. Those reasons include:

• Medicaid considerations
• Financial advantages
• Estate planning benefits
• Eliminating concerns about the impact of inflation
• No immediate kin to make future decisions
• Not burdening others with decision making
• Unique, personal concerns
• Additional payment options
• Priceless peace of mind

Pre-Arrangement laws vary from state to state. In New York State, all pre-funded funeral arrangements must be trusted using either F.D.I.C insured or U.S. Government backed securities. This is the safest and most secure method of pre-funding funeral arrangements. For anyone wishing to pre-fund funeral arrangements here is how Leo F. KEARNS Funeral Homes assists the customer:

1. There is absolutely no charge or set-up fee for recording the needed information, detailing all instructions and costs involved, and establishing the F.D.I.C. Trust.
2. The money is deposited in the consumer's name in trust for the Leo F. Kearns Funeral Home in an F.D.I.C. insured account. In the event there is ever a need to cancel the trust, there is no cancellation fee and 100% of the original principal and interest credited is returned.
3. The trust used by the Leo F. Kearns firm for this purpose is The Pre-Plan Trust and is used by more funeral homes and consumers throughout New York State than any other trust.
4. A fully funded Pre-Plan Trust earns an enhanced rate of interest, which enables us to guarantee the price of the funeral quoted by applying the interest earned to cover future inflationary increases. The current rate  of interest is over 3% in 2010.
5. When Medicaid funds are involved, while the Trust may not be cancelled, the beneficiary funeral home may be changed at any time by the consumer, thereby retaining complete portability of the funds and providing freedom of choice to the consumer.
6. The entire amount of the fund can be deposited when the Trust is established or the funds can be deposited over a period of time. A price guaranteed Trust requires full funding so that the interest earned is sufficient to cover inflationary increases.
7. Because 100% of the principal and credited interest remains in the name of the consumer in the Trust, there is no financial loss in the event a family re-locates.

For more information about the Pre Plan Trust you can call us and we'll mail information to you, or stop in and pick up the information.

Pre-Arrangements Without Creating a Trust

For some, there is no financial need to establish a Trust. Assets from other sources such as insurance may be available. However, there may still remain good reason to make pre-arrangements for the future. Simply having a notation in a will regarding funeral arrangements is not the answer. Wills are often referred to long after a funeral service has taken place and are rarely specific about complete funeral instructions.

At Leo F. Kearns we offer the same service of recording all necessary details, including vital statistics, burial or cremation information and anticipated costs without any fee and without binding obligation on the consumer. Taking advantage of this service often offers an individual or family peace of mind. When a death takes place out-of-state, such pre-arrangements can be very helpful and offer possible cost savings as well by eliminating an unnecessary duplication of services.