How To Control Funeral Costs From Trusted Saskatoon Funeral Home

12. Oct 2022 Admin Saskatoon Funeral, Trusted Tips

Since 1910, Saskatoon Funeral Home has responded to the needs of Saskatoon & area citizens of every faith and every walk of life. They have a proud history as Saskatoon's longest-serving, local, family-owned and operated, full-service funeral and cremation provider to trace its roots to the beginning days of our city. Saskatoon Funeral Home are a Trusted Saskatoon funeral home.

How To Control Funeral Costs

Most people don’t know, but generally think a funeral is "expensive". Contrary to popular belief, though, the cost of a funeral has become lower in relation to most other products and services.

Even so, if you don’t have an idea of what’s involved, funeral expenses could seem to be costly, confusing, and never-ending. If you know what to expect you will be able to understand and control those costs.

1. Professional Services

Includes such things as transportation of the deceased, embalming (if requested), completion of legal documents, burial permits, cremation documents, consultation, and other costs of staff, facilities, vehicles and equipment.

2. Merchandise

Refers to material items such as a casket, an urn or guest book.

3. Disbursements

Disbursements are fees paid on your behalf for other products and professional services involved in the funeral such as honourariums, flowers, or luncheons.

4. Resting Place

These costs are associated with wherever the remains of the deceased are permanently placed. This includes not only a cemetery or columbarium, but also (in the case of cremation) scattering by land, sea or air. Costs can vary greatly. The funeral directors listed in this Guide have no vested interest in a cemetery; they can provide you with the best options and can sometimes acquire property for you at substantial savings.

5. Memorialization

Includes the purchase of a monument and a memorial plaque, or another form of memorial such as a donation.

One of the best ways to prevent overspending is through pre-arranging. That way, you can discuss your selections and choices, consider the total cost, and keep your decisions on file with the funeral home. If you wish, you can also pre-pay those expenses at today’s prices to reduce the effects of inflation in the years ahead.

Visit their website to learn more about pre-planning a funeral and grief support, as well as the traditional funeral and cremation services that they have to offer. They are always there to help. Check out their listing on Trusted Saskatoon to read more reviews and to see all the services they offer.

Saskatoon Funeral Home is your Trusted Saskatoon funeral home.

Trusted Saskatoon Funeral Home Discuss Legal Details To Sort Through After Death

12. Oct 2022 Admin Saskatoon Funeral, Trusted Tips

Legal Advice

After a death, there are many legal details to sort through. While in some cases, it is not necessary to get a lawyer, it is strongly recommended. A lawyer will make sure all the “t’s are crossed and i’s are dotted”. The time following a death of a loved one is extremely emotional, and even the closest family will have disagreements over the most trivial matters. To make sure there is still peace in the family, it is a good idea to let a lawyer figure things out.

Before getting in touch with a lawyer there are several important documents that you need to gather. Those include:

Wills
Deeds
Bank Statements
Insurance Policies
Vehicle and Boat Titles
Tax Documents

Bank Accounts

What is to be done with bank accounts after a death varies province by province. In some regions, bank accounts are automatically frozen after a death. To avoid any complications, the bank should be notified immediately, and you should find out the procedures for releasing these funds, and how to set up a new account for funds received after the death. It’s recommended that a joint account stay open for at least six months to allow you to deposit any cheques that are made out to the deceased. To take a name off a joint bank account, banks require a Funeral Director’s Statement of Death, or Proof of Death. If the deceased had a safety deposit box in a bank, the contents can be sealed after death and a Statement of Death and in some cases, the Legal Will of the deceased will be required to gain access to the contents.

Death Certificates

A Funeral Director’s Statement of Death is often necessary before anything can be done. This document can be obtained through a Funeral Director. It is a good idea to obtain multiple copies as most agencies require an original and not a photocopy.

The Provincial Death Certificate is required by Land Titles to remove a deceased’s name from the title of the property. The most convenient way to order the provincial death certificate is through the department of eHealth’s web portal at www.ehealthsask.ca. There you will find instructions on who is eligible to order the death certificate and the process to apply.

Wills

Everyone knows they should have a will, but the vast majority – about 70% of us – do not. Writing a will is easy and inexpensive, and once you are done you can rest easy knowing your hard-earned money and property will be distributed according to your wishes. As well, if you have children, you can leave instructions on who will be left in charge of them if you pass, leaving that decision out of the court's hands. Making a will is easy, you just need to be at least 18 years of age and must be of sound mind when the will is written. To make a will legal it must:

Expressly state that it is your will
Be computer generated or typewritten
Be signed and dated
Be signed by 2-3 witnesses, these witnesses must be people who don’t stand to inherit anything in the will

Although you do not need a lawyer to complete a will, it is recommended to do one with a lawyer, as it will avoid any legal headaches after your passing. Once your will is complete, it’s recommended that it is kept somewhere safe and secure outside of your home. If you do your will through a lawyer, most law firms will store it for you free of charge. Many people keep their wills in a safety deposit box at a bank, but this is not recommended as the contents could be sealed at the time of death. The executor of your will should be aware of its location.

Probate

Probate is the legal process that transfers the legal title of property from the estate of the deceased to their beneficiaries. During the probate process the executor of your will goes before the courts and identifies and catalogues all the property you owned, appraises the property, and pays all debts and taxes, proves that the will is valid and legal, and distributes the property according to the instructions of the will. Probate can be a long, drawn-out legal process, and there are some probate-avoidance plans in place. Simply speak to your attorney to find out what you can do to avoid probate in your area.

Executors

An executor is the personal representative of your estate. They are the person in charge of taking control of your assets, paying off any debts, and distributing assets to your beneficiaries per the terms and conditions of your will. You can choose anyone to be the executor of your will, but it is a good idea to choose someone who is both competent and trustworthy. The person you choose to be executor should be outlined in your will. Someone you appoint to be the executor of your will has the right to refuse, so you should have a backup executor in place just in case.

Saskatoon Funeral Home is your Trusted Saskatoon funeral home.

Wiegers Financial & Benefits Provide Advice To Expecting Parents About Wills

3. Mar 2021 Admin Saskatoon Insurance, Trusted Tips

Wiegers Financial & Benefits is one of the largest private financial planning and employee benefits consulting firms in Saskatchewan. Its Saskatoon Financial Planning Division provides business owners, households, retirees, and students with expert investment and insurance planning services to help them reach their long-term financial goals. They also have a Benefits and Personal Insurance planning division. In this latest Wiegers Financial tip they share information for expectant parents- Wiegers Financial Benefits are Trusted Saskatoon Financial Advisors and Trusted Saskatoon Insurance and Group Benefits experts.

Writing a Will Before Baby is Born: A Step-by-Step Guide for Expectant Parents

The transition from being child-free to becoming a new parent is one of the best times to evaluate how you want your baby to be raised in the future. While preparing for a baby, expectant parents should think about all possible outcomes relating to their future beyond which colour to paint the nursery.

When you’re married without children, you know that everything you have will automatically be given to your spouse should you pass away. Preparing for a baby should include initializing a plan in the event of an untimely death of one or both parents so that your child is fully supported.

Before you get into the process of writing a will, you should know what it is. A will is a legal document that outlines your final wishes and provides an action plan that details how you want them to be carried out. If you have named beneficiaries in your will, you need to ensure that they match the beneficiaries you have named on other plans like your life insurance. It is also very important that your will supports what you have established in your financial plan.

You likely haven’t written your will yet, as nearly half of all respondents to a 2016 BMO survey haven’t made a will (Advisor’s Edge). It’s easy to find reasons to put this task off – maybe you’ve never been around someone who’s died, you have no incentive to get it done, or you’d rather not think about your own mortality. But when you choose to bring a little person into your family, there’s a new element added to your life. And some parents, unfortunately, forget to write a will, which leaves a mess that, for not much money, could be resolved.

Will planning is part of the financial services process. In most cases, our financial advisors will prompt clients about their will in the initial conversations around their future. The reason they do this is that your plans could be compromised based on discrepancies between your insurance and investment forms and your will. Simply put, your best intentions could be wrong or unfulfilled without having a plan in place.

How to write a will for expectant parents:

DETERMINING YOUR BIG PICTURE

Your will is as unique to you as your life. Therefore, both you and your spouse should start the process of writing a will before the baby is born with an open conversation. Thinking through your final wishes will bring you peace of mind and leave one less thing to worry about while you’re busy raising your child.

First, you’ll brainstorm your hopes for your family’s future while considering specific details, such as type of funeral, distribution of financial assets, and healthcare preferences before putting pen to paper. Once you have an idea of your big picture, you’ll list every what-if scenario that could result from your death. If it helps, you’ll begin with the question, “if I’m not here tomorrow, what will happen to my spouse and child?” If both you and your spouse were to pass away suddenly, you must ask yourselves, “Who do we want to look after our child?” and “Can that person afford to be a guardian to our child”? Our financial advisors don’t mind if you come to your initial meeting with some uncertainty about your big picture. Like most folks, you might not have been asked about your final wishes before, so you likely won’t have an answer anyway.

Here are a few of the typical questions expectant parents should anticipate from us:

Who would agree to be a legal guardian for your young child?
Would the guardian of your child also be the trustee of your assets?
Who would you feel comfortable handling your affairs (i.e. who do you want as executor)?
Who would make medical decisions for you if you couldn’t?

Starting the will discussion early will help you answer the what-ifs you have relating to your family’s future.

SHARING YOUR PLAN

Once you’ve built a draft idea of your big-picture plan, you’re on to the next stage in will-writing for new parents: sharing your plans with those named in the will. This may seem like the easy part of the process, but it’s often overlooked either intentionally or unintentionally. Because you’ve taken the time to think through your final wishes, you’ll definitely need to share a draft of your will with your spouse. Your wills don’t have to be the same, but they should convey each of your wishes. It may seem like a heavy conversation topic leading up to or after the birth of your first child. However, having a talk about your final wishes is a gift that will keep you on the same page as partners well into the future. It’s crucial to be as open as you possibly can.

In addition, you’ll need to communicate your plans to all those named in the will, not just your spouse. Ensure everyone mentioned in the will agrees to their position as executors, trustees, legal guardians, etc. For example, one of our own financial advisors was asked if she would become a guardian to four kids from someone close to her if they passed away. She determined that while she had two kids of her own today, she wouldn’t be able to take on the responsibility of four additional children tomorrow. After giving the request some serious thought, she said, “No, I can’t do that”. Ask for feedback on your plans or be open to making changes. Your first choice regarding your final wishes may not want the responsibility.

CONFIRMING YOUR WISHES

You’ve drafted a big-picture plan, gotten approval from your family members and those named in the will, and now you want to finalize it. You can either write a handwritten (a.k.a. holographic) will, use a digital service to create one online, or report it to your lawyer to formalize one. All options are perfectly legal. However, we recommend verifying your plans with a lawyer.

Do you need a lawyer to make a will?

Hiring a lawyer to write your will ensures there are no questions asked after you’ve passed away. Handwritten wills often leave out key details, but lawyers are trained to turn over every stone to produce a document that will do what you want it to do. We can, if you like, refer you to an exceptional lawyer who can help you prepare a rock-solid will where you’ll get priceless accuracy. Plus, if you’ve followed this process from the start, you’ve done most of the work upfront.

Providing your lawyer with your nitty-gritty details will save you from lengthy consultations with them, so you can spend more time enjoying life with your new baby. Just make sure your spouse and/or executor know where you’re storing your finalized will and how they can access it. It’s important to note that this third step is ongoing. Every five years or so, both you and your spouse should read through your wills to confirm and update as needed.

Preparing for a baby is an exciting time that should include some thought about protecting them in the future should either you or your spouse pass away. Talk to your Wiegers Financial & Benefits advisor about initializing a will. If you’ve been through recent life changes, potentially including having a second child, you should review your will.

Maurice Roberge, B.A., B.Ed.

Sales Support Coordinator, Wiegers Financial and Insurance Planning Services Ltd.

Wiegers’ also has a Benefits Consulting Division thatincludes many consultants and support staff who custom-design the most employee-valued and cost-effective group benefit, personal insurance, employee assistance programs, and retirement plans available. Contact Wiegers today for a no-obligation consultation to determine how they can help you.

Wiegers Financial & Benefits are Trusted Saskatoon Insurance and Group Benefits Advisors and Trusted Saskatoon Financial Advisors

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