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Should you buy a plot ahead of time?

May 20, 2012 4:00 PM

Consumer advocate Josh Slocum and industry spokesman Paul Elvig disagree about the value of so-called "pre-need" packages offered by cemeteries and funeral homes.

Final resting place: Cemeteries lack oversight
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by car0993 August 14, 2012 5:31 PM EDT
My husband died 10 days ago. Our funerals were paid for and planned eight years ago. It was such a relief not to have to plan and grieve at the same time. The amount paid was treated as an insurance policy with a reputable national insurance company. If not used, there was a cash value clause as in any insurance program. I highly recommend this to anyone.
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by maryhsmith70 May 24, 2012 5:14 PM EDT
Anderson thank you for this news segment. I am going to school for Mortuary Science and can only hope to have a voice for the dead as well as the living. I live in a state where there are NO laws governing funerals or cemeteries. I hope to fight this and may one day contact you for more information on this. I cannot believe it but believe it and it makes me sick. May my one voice one day change things here in this state! May what you have done change things or start the change...it must happen! I hope to be a cemetery/funeral home inspector after school, your story really did light a fire for me! THANK YOU!!!
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by juliannws May 22, 2012 3:08 AM EDT
Those that know best know that "it always pays to pre-plan. It rarely pays to pre-pay." Keep up the good fight, Josh!
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by cperrypdx May 21, 2012 1:28 AM EDT
Josh, I have seen problems in the rules and fees while working as an inturn for a funralhome and cemetery. What can I do as a person to help make a chnge in the right direction? I cant tell the things I have seen "still under company non disclosure" (for now) But I really think this needs to be addressed with our aging population.
Any sugestions? I'm In Oregon

Thank you and Anderson for bringing this to light....
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by LamarHankins May 20, 2012 11:31 PM EDT
I have dealt with many families over the years who cannot use their pre-purchased cemetery plots because they have moved from the area and shipping a body back to the cemetery will cost too much, their family circumstances changed because of death of a spouse and remarriage, or they decide on body donation or cremation rather than burial and no longer need the grave. In addition, the cost of using a grave purchased many years ago may far exceed the cost of the gravesite purchased because of exorbitant fees charged by the cemetery for opening and closing the grave, installation of a monument foundation, the cost of the monument, and the cost of an outer burial container (which may not have been required when the plot was purchased). Though it wasn't mentioned, Kiplinger's advised several years ago NOT to buy gravesides in advance for all the reasons that Josh Slocum mentioned.
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