When You Meet with the Funeral Home

When You Meet with the Funeral Home


Chances are, within the first 24 hours of your loved one’s death, you will need to meet with a funeral home to begin the final funeral arrangements. While you could choose to meet with us, you could also decide to meet with another funeral provider. Either way, the following information will help you prepare for what is often called “the arrangement conference.”

Without a doubt, this is a difficult time for you and your loved ones. Yet, it’s comforting to know every member of the funeral home staff will be there to do their utmost to make this difficult time a little bit easier. The Funeral Director will guide you in making all the necessary decisions. It’s good to know you are not alone.

Would You Like Someone to Go with You?

Perhaps you’d like another member of the family to come along with you. Or maybe you’d rather have a friend, Priest, minister or close neighbor join you in the first visit to the funeral home. While it’s not necessary to bring someone with you for moral support, it can be very beneficial. 

Please don’t hesitate to ask someone to join you. Chances are they will be honored at your request, and gladly step up to help you during this time. When you ask, be sure to tell them that if they do not feel comfortable doing so, you’ll understand.

Who is Responsible for Making the Decisions?

It’s important to know exactly who is legally responsible for making the final funeral arrangement decisions for a loved one. If the deceased has not expressed their wishes through a written document such as a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, or a Last Will and Testament, where the deceased has designated an agent to fulfill their wishes; then the chain of command is commonly as follows:
  • Legal Spouse/Partner
  • Surviving Adult Child/Children
  • Surviving Parent
  • Surviving Adult Sibling
  • Ex-Spouse
  • Parent of Minor Child
The person designated as the responsible party, whoever they may be, needs to be present to make decisions, and sign documents. If you have questions about the accepted kinship-related order of precedence, or are unclear as to who is the responsible person in funeral planning, call us.

Should Someone Else be Included in Making the Arrangements?

While assigning responsibility is an important part of funeral planning, it’s also very important to include any children, friends, or other family who would like to be a part of arranging the funeral, and perhaps share in the cost of a funeral. Despite the fact that they may not have any legal decision-making rights, their input could be very valuable to the process.

Assisting in making the final funeral arrangement decisions can be very empowering, and help someone come to terms with the loss. If there are people in your life who you feel should be asked to participate, make sure you ask them. They can always decline.

Have You Gathered the Necessary Documents?

Life and death are full of legalities. When a loved one dies, it is not just an emotional matter for those left behind; it is a legal one which requires the timely completion of paperwork. The Funeral Director will tell you that the first step in caring for your loved one involves completing, and filing, the Death Certificate and Burial or Cremation permit.

These documents need to be completed as accurately as possible and if you are not prepared with the necessary information, then most of your initial meeting will be spent retrieving this information.

To assist the funeral home in preparing all the necessary documents, it’s helpful to bring some of the following things with you:
  • Deceased's Birth Certificate and parents’ names (including maiden name of mother)
  • Deceased's Marriage Certificate
  • Deceased's Military Discharge papers
  • Deceased's Funeral pre-arrangements documents (if available)
  • Deceased Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
  • Last Will and Testament and any Codicils
  • Revocable Living Trust
  • Life Insurance Documents/Policy
  • Cemetery Deed
If you’ve got questions about the legal documents you should bring with you, please contact us.

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Let us take a moment to say we are so sorry for your loss. We hope that you will find this section of our website helpful in this difficult time. If you are looking for information on what to do now that a death has occurred, you have come to the right place. As always, if you would prefer to speak to someone directly, please contact us.
Online At-Need Funeral Planning
James Funeral Home and Cremation Service understand the difficulties many families are experiencing in today's economically turbulent times. We strive to keep our overhead expenses low and shop suppliers for the best possible pricing in order to pass the savings onto the families we serve. We will do everything possible to assist you in designing a funeral or cremation service that not only honors the life and memory of your loved one, but will also fit within your budget.  A funeral can only be done one time.
Service Pricing

When It's a Question of Money

For families faced with the death of someone dear to them, it quickly becomes clear that funerals rank among the most expensive purchases they may ever make. Because we understand that many families are budget conscious, we have put together 24 all inclusive packages for traditional funerals and cremation services. These packages include everything a family would need for a funeral ceremony or memorial service. Our traditional funeral packages range in price from $5,200.00 to $12,850.00. Our cremation services range in price from $1,895.00 to $7,400.00.       

How Do We Pay?

 At the time of arrangements, you will be asked how you would like to pay for the services you have selected. Payment for the funeral is usually due within a short period of time. For you convenience, we accept Visa, Master Card, American Express and Discover.

We also have partnered with LENDING USA, for those who wish to finance a funeral or cremation or memorial service and make monthly payments. We will help you make the first contact and then you can decide if the terms are appropriate to your financial situation.  There is also a link for LENDING USA on the Front/Home page (at the bottom) of our website.

We also accept Cash, Check, Money Orders, and Life Insurance proceeds.

Another option is an Insurance Assignment. With this option, the funeral home will verify the insurance policy is in full force and the beneficiary then signs an assignment document, asking the insurance company to pay the funeral home (or assign to the funeral home) only the cost of the funeral or cremation service out of the proceeds of the insurance policy. The remaining money in the policy is then released to the beneficiary. Most insurance companies will accept insurance assignments. Usually the only rule is that the policy must be out of the contestability period (usually older than 2-3 years) and that the policy be a whole life or term life policy. The beneficiary will need to be present at the arrangement conference when the call is made to verify the policy and to sign the assignment.

Our General Price List

If you’re currently price-shopping for funeral services and products, we encourage you to stop by our funeral home and discuss with us the type of service you are interested in. We can go over our charges with you and also show you how our all-inclusive funeral and cremation packages work. These packages contain everything included in atypical funeral  and you may substitute items in order to tailor it to your circumstances or needs.

We know it may be well worth taking the time to call around to compare prices before committing to any particular funeral home, product or service. That’s why we make our General Price List and funeral package options available to you. All funeral homes in the United States are required by law to provide you with a copy of their general price list upon request.

We encourage you to research your options, talk it over, and make the best decision for yourself and your loved ones.

Should you need any additional information, please call us. We will explain all your options thoroughly and clearly. We encourage you to ask questions. And if you have special requests, please ask us. We will do everything we can to honor your wishes.
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