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I’m planning my funeral
To protect your loved ones from all the financial and administrative difficulties they might face upon your death, you can organize your end of life today.
If you can plan your retirement by choosing a supplementary retirement plan, if you consider the future of your spouse and children by writing a will, why not plan your funeral?
These few tips and tricks will allow you to depart in peace and make life easier for those you hold dear.
I’m organizing…
The family is often helpless when a loved one dies, especially if it happens suddenly. Indeed, the formalities and the constraints of time and money associated with a death can be overwhelming. Preparing your own funeral is the ideal solution to spare your relatives any additional troubles.
The administrative side
By writing down your “last wishes statement,” you will spare your loved ones from having to make these difficult choices. In this letter, you stipulate what you want. Burial or cremation? Upon your death, your loved ones will simply have to respect your wishes.
The organizational side
First, you need to choose whether you prefer to be buried or cremated. Indeed, the cost of the operation as well as a large part of the logistics depends on this choice.
On average, the cost of funerals in Belgium exceeds 6,000 € for a burial and 3,700 € for a cremation.
Some points such as the coffin, the preparation of the deceased’s body, its transfer to a defined place up to the ceremony, the reception at the funeral home, and the administrative formalities are part of the services offered by a funeral home service.
In case of burial:
- The coffin can cost you between 1,000 € to 3,500 € depending on its quality;
- You must deduct the purchase of a concession from the municipality;
- It is necessary to include the price of the funeral monument which is between 1,250 € and 6,000 €, or even 25,000 € for a high-quality granite vault.
In case of cremation:
- The coffin costs you between 600 € to 1,500 €;
- The urn worth between 100 € to 500 € to keep your ashes, or even to invest in a small monument at around 1,000 €;
- The cremation tax of about 500 €.
You must add to these amounts: the necrology in the newspaper which fluctuates between 150 € and 1,200 €, the announcements worth 175 € to 250 € depending on their number and the funeral flowers whose price varies between 50 € and 250 €. Moreover, the reception after the funeral constitutes additional expenses, at about 12 € per person, as well as the religious ceremony which costs nearly 250 €
Practical advice
- Contacting a funeral home is the simplest solution. It has the necessary experience and indispensable know-how to properly organize the funeral.
- You can plan everything during your lifetime by taking out a funeral insurance with a bank or an insurance company. This system has the dual advantage of financially relieving your loved ones from organizing your funeral while guaranteeing a ceremony faithful to your wishes. Moreover, it is the funeral home that takes care of all the administrative formalities related to the death, such as reporting the death to municipal services.
This solution comes in two forms:
The first: the capital contract. You build up savings that will be used to pay the expenses dedicated to your funeral. Upon the announcement of your death, the bank or the insurance company where you have taken out the contract will pay the agreed sum to the funeral home to prepare the funeral according to the modalities you have previously chosen.
The second: the advance payment of the fees concerning your funeral. The funeral company draws up a detailed estimate of the services it will offer for your funeral. This estimate serves as the basis for the funeral insurance contract. When the time comes, the service provider is charged with organizing the entire funeral.
Be aware, the drawback of this formula is the risk of price increases practiced by the funeral home between the date of signing the contract and the date of your death. Consequently, it is obliged to reduce its services or maintain the same offer while asking for a surplus from the family. To remedy this, some funeral homes offer an annual revaluation of the amount of their quote, without the share being increased. Others prefer to ask you to pay a certain amount beyond the contributions that will be used to cover the difference between the capital and the rates applied if needed.
It should be noted that the payment of premiums in these two types of contracts can be made in one payment or in several installments sometimes spread over 10 or 15 years.
Checklist
- Compare funeral insurance offers from different companies and banks to determine which one suits you best.
- Request a quote from several funeral homes.
- Study the solutions they offer for a possible difference between the accumulated capital and the prices in force at the time of your death.
- Inform your family about the existence of a funeral insurance contract and the bank or insurance company to contact if you die.