Just like nearly everything, funeral costs naturally rise over time. A service that costs $5,000 today may cost significantly more 10 years from now. Pre-planning helps protect against this by allowing you to secure today’s price and carry that protection forward into the future. That means if your arrangements take place in 5 years, or even 25 years from now, the price remains the same, and your family will not be responsible for paying the difference.
Pre-planning creates a foundation of certainty, protecting your wishes today while helping shelter your loved ones from unexpected financial burdens in the future. Some of our families have learned that pre-planning can create an experience to bond over as well.
One of the most common questions families ask about pre-planning a funeral is, “If I pay for my arrangements today, how can the funeral home honor those prices years from now?” While many people assume pre-planning means paying a funeral home in advance and trusting that those funds will still cover services (sometimes decades later) but in reality, pre-planning is a specialized insurance policy designed to safeguard your investment over time.
When you pre-plan, you select the services and arrangements that align with your values and the cost is secured at the time the policy is created. Your payment, or payments, are placed into an insurance-backed policy designed to protect those funds over time.
Life naturally changes course, and your pre-planning policy can often move with you. If you relocate or need to work with a different funeral provider in the future, policies can often be transferred, allowing your plans to shift alongside life’s changes.
One of the most valuable aspects of pre-planning is knowing exactly what parts of your arrangement are protected, or guaranteed. However, not every expense can be permanently locked in, and this is because some services involve outside providers who operate beyond the funeral home and insurance policy structure. Since these third-party costs are shaped by factors outside our control, pricing cannot always be guaranteed by those providers. Understanding this distinction can help you plan with greater clarity.
Services and merchandise purchased directly through the funeral home are guaranteed. It is important to note that while the value of those items remains protected, specific products may naturally change over time. For example, if a policy is not used for 20 years, a particular urn or memorial item originally selected may no longer be in production. But in that case, a comparable replacement would be provided.
Within a pre-planning policy, LifeSource can guarantee:
The Disposition Services
Whether terramation, aquamation, cremation, burial at sea, or natural burial, the cost of the services to complete these are guaranteed.
Transportation of your body in our care radius
If death occurs outside our service area (25 miles from our care center), additional transportation costs will be incurred, and your loved ones will have to pay the difference. This is why LifeSource offers “Sepio Guard” – a separate “away form home” insurance policy that fully covers additional transport costs if you die greater than 75 miles from your home. Whether you're traveling in-state, out-of-state, or abroad, the cost of transport to bring your remains into our care is fully covered.
Professional funeral services
This includes staff coordination, planning, and administrative support.
Memorial Products
- Jewelry or memorialization items such as Parting Stones or memorial wind chimes
- Urns or other merchandise
- Printed memorial materials
Because these are directly connected to the policy, their cost remains sheltered from inflation.
The costs that involve third-party providers who are not part of the insurance contract may include:
To help prepare for these expenses, many pre-planning policies allow you to set aside additional funds known as cash advances. These funds act as an additional layer of preparation, helping cover anticipated third-party expenses, while also creating flexibility for unexpected costs that may arise.
If you’d like to learn more about pre-planning, or even begin pre-planning, you can schedule a time to meet with Braeden here. You can learn more about what to expect in a pre-planning meeting in this blog.
While the rest of Los Angeles moves at its fast pace, your world may feel like it has come to a halt after the loss of a loved one.
