Some individuals may deem themselves lucky to have never attended a funeral in their lifetime. However, as folks move into their 40s and 50s, they are sure to be invited to a funeral soon. We get asked many questions about what happens at funerals as we do about non-recourse funeral funding, which is a method of ensuring that a life assurance policy is assigned to ensure the funeral bills can be met without waiting months for probate to complete.
Understanding Funeral Behavior
Although you will see exaggerated funeral behavior in drama and on television, for many it is an overwhelming event, where most worry that they might say the wrong thing or appear not to speak appropriately to the family of the deceased.
The most important point is to remember that you should put the family first. They are in mourning at such a great loss.
When you are invited to the funeral, you should make sensible enquiries with the funeral coordinator about how you are expected to dress and where and when you will be expected to attend.
Refuse to Make Assumptions
Each individual family has their own idea about what they want and expect as part of the funeral and service. This is not the time to impose your own thoughts and beliefs.
Although individuals will be sharing their joy by telling stories about the deceased, the tone is still somber and noise should be kept to a minimum. You will hear nervous laughter, but outright hilarity is perhaps left at home.
Do not judge how much the individuals have spent on the funeral and the service. Where they have organized non-recourse funeral funding in advance, they may have sufficient funds for a more elaborate funeral, but have decided the content of the service and the details for all the expenses that they have chosen.
Where we can be of any help, it is mostly around organizing the assignment of life insurance policies so that we can complete non-recourse funeral funding to ensure that the funeral director is paid in a timely manner and the family members do not have to worry about meeting bills from finances they may not have.
