The People of Lippert-Olson Funeral Home
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Preplanning
Preplanning is getting together with your funeral director or funeral preplanning consultant and discussing with him/her all or part of the funeral. These discussions could include:
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Day, Time & Place of Service |
Celebrant & Readings/Verses to be read |
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Hymns, Soloist, Organist, Prerecorded Music, & Background Music |
Cemetery/Mausoleum & Inscription Work |
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Casket, Outer Burial Container, Urn and/or Urn Vault |
Selection of Memorial Folders/Prayer Cards |
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Style of Register Book |
Clothing & Jewelry to be Worn |
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Memorial Services |
Obituary/Death Notice Newspaper(s) Placement |
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Veteran's Administration Notification/Military Honors |
Memorial Funds to be Established |
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Pictures to be Displayed |
Other Personal Mementos to be Displayed |
We encourage you to bring your family members with you so they may have the opportunity to give input and suggestions.
Prefunding
Prefunding of the funeral is depositing funds for the estimated funeral expenses. The funds deposited do remain in the person's name with the funeral home payable upon death. Funeral Trusts can be set up to be recognized as a qualified exempt asset for Medical Assistance and Title 19 programs There are three choices in Wisconsin, either bank trusting, insurance trusting or using Wisconsin Funeral Trust. Note: please check with your funeral director about which trust is appropriate and approved in your state.
Bank Trusting: is when funds are deposited in an account (Checking, Savings or Certificate of Deposit) in either a bank, savings & loan or a credit union. These accounts earn interest at the current rates and any interest earned is considered income and taxable with a 1099 Interest statement being sent out by the financial institution at the end of the year. This trust can either be revocable or irrevocable, however, SSI and the MA/Title 19 guidelines determine how these trusts are set up.
Insurance Trusting: is when funds are used to purchase a life insurance policy. Policies will either have guaranteed growth, non guaranteed growth or no growth at all. If the policy does grow it is not taxable (No 1099 Earning Form is sent). The entire policy can be placed in an irrevocable trust to meet the SSI and MA/Title 19 guidelines.
Master Trust Trusting: is when funds are deposited in an account with a Master Trust. This is usually a group of like business's who pool their assets for better returns on investment. This may not be an option in every state. Here in Wisconsin we are able to use the Wisconsin Funeral Director's Association Wisconsin Funeral Trust. These accounts earn interest at a rate often above the current rate of return paid by Certificates of Deposit at your local bank. This can be done with the trust paying the appropriate taxes (No Form1099 for interest earned would be sent) or with the person for whom the trust is established paying the tax (They would receive a Form1099 Interest Earned Statement). This is irrevocable and will meet the SSI and the MA/Title 19 guidelines.
A Quasi Funeral Trust: this is considered a quasi funeral trust because unlike the trusts mention above, the funeral home does not receive a check from the client.
Pre-existing Life Insurance Policies: some of our clients have paid up life insurance that they wish to shelter for the purpose of meeting Medical Assistance and Title 19 guidelines. With these clients we still go through the entire preplanning to develop a cost basis for the funeral. Once the preplanning has been completed then we assist with the pre-existing life insurance policy. This requires a number of steps and is much different than establishing an insurance funded funeral trust.
First, the policy must be a paid up whole life policy.
Second, the owner must agree to change ownership and beneficiary to our funeral home.
Third, there is an insurance funded funeral service agreement between the funeral home and the owner of the policy. This agreement states that this policy is to be used towards payment of funeral expenses. The second part of this agreement states that any remaining funds after all funeral expenses are paid will be returned to the estate of the deceased.
Fourth, we require that the owner of the policy agree to the funeral home using an insurance assignment company to get the proceeds from the policy. There is a convenience fee associated with this transaction and the fee is explained to the owner of the policy.
Please be sure that the person you are making funeral arrangements with is qualified. You should either be meeting with a funeral director or with a Preplanning Consultant. Our staff does include several individuals who are Certified Preplanning Consultants (CPC's). The CPC designation is awarded to individuals who have gone through the prescribed course and passed the exam which is given by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).
Click on the Link below for the "My Wishes" preplanning booklet.