Where does the money come from to bury people?

Question

Since the death of my grandmother, my sisters and I have been struggling with this. My grandmother very wisely contracted with a local teaching hospital to donate her body. My sisters and I think this is a great idea and have done the appropriate paperwork to ensure our bodies are donated when we die. The medical college will creamate the remains and provide a simple burial (free)after a year. The problem is that our mother and father don't agree with this. They want to be burried. We want to respect thier wishes, but burials are expensive and they have no money.

I am looking for ideas to plan an inexpensive burial for my parents when they die. Does social security provide any money for a burial?
For those who would say that cost should not be a deciding factor in this, please send money. We will keep it in a trust account to pay for our parents burial.

No one in the family has the money for a burial. That was why we all decided to donate our bodies to the medical college. It's free.

Answer 1

Social Security, in some cases only, provides $250. A burial, as you no doubt know, costs WAY more than that. I recently learned, when my son died, that the cheapest cremation, with the remains mailed to me in a plastic box, costs $1,000 where I live.

Also, where I live, there are no paupers' graves. (Yes, in the days after his death I had to research this.) The county will hold the body for an unspecified period of time, cremate it with others, then scatter the ashes over the ocean with no ceremony--though I'm sure there is a certain amount of respect paid. I mean, I'd be respectful, wouldn't you?

In our case, a community organization blessedly covered the cremation. I was able to afford a "pet" urn on eBay (I swear, this is the truth), but it was lovely, and my son wasn't very big, and a little "fairy dust" necklace, in which I mixed a little of his ashes with the glitter and sealed. A local church prepared a beautiful memorial service, and the church ladies brought food. (My son had become involved with the church just before his death, though I was not.)

Tell your parents that they'd better think about this stuff, because they might have to bury one of you, instead of the other way around. And the more planning they do now, the easier it will be on the grieving children and surviving spouse. Or were they guaranteed that they'd go together? I think they are being thoughtless. One expects that from a 15-year-old, but not from one's parents.

Answer 2

Social Security absolutely will not help with the cost of a burial. Hopefully they have life insurance policie(s)?
That's what life insurance is supposed to do - pay for a burial. The average in my area is about $10,000.00.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Do your parents have insurance policies? If they do, that's what most people use to pay funeral expenses. Social Security only pays out something like 200 dollars. Not nearly enough.
You don't have to buy the most expensive casket. You don't have to buy a vault. You don't have to have a service if you don't want to. That would cut down on expenses.

Answer 5

Your parents need to either take out life insurance or save money. I assume most parents do not want to be a burden for their children.
You can't depend on SS or even help from the state. I am afraid you and your family are on your own.

Answer 6

Social Security only pays about 250.00. The rest is up to you and your sister. If you think that anyone on here is going to send you money you are nuts.

Answer 7

Personally- If my parents wanted to be burried and i would doeverything in my power to meet their expectations. i would start savings acount only for this and by the time, they pass on then its already taken care of.

Answer 8

usually its the family that will pay for everything. when my friends mother passed away almost 2 years ago, myself and the rest of their family put all the money together. honestly i dont remember how much it cost all together though.

Answer 9

family mebers give money