After all, it is no more surprising to me to be born twice than it is to be born once.                              Voltaire

Should You Pre-Pay Your Funeral?

There are three kinds of pre-payment plans available in British Columbia: 

    1.  Trust.  By law, your money is placed in a trust account, regulated by the Province of British Columbia; Details.  If you decide to cancel, you will be refunded 80% of the money you have paid.  (This plan is favored by the multi-national funeral corporations.)

    2.  Insurance.  In this plan, your payments purchase an insurance policy especially designed for the funeral business.  If you should die before the policy is paid, the insurance policy will cover the cost of your funeral.  If you decide to cancel at any time, you will be refunded 100% of all monies you have paid.  (This plan is favored by alternative providers.)

    3.  Rebate.  The same as the Trust plan with these exceptions:

• Once your funeral is pre-paid, you receive an annual rebate transferred to you or an heir, and a second rebate will be forwarded monthly to your church or favourite charity.   

• There is a 100% refund of all monies paid in the first year, 90% in subsequent years.  

(This plan is favoured by many independently owned funeral homes in British Columbia.) 

Should you join a Memorial Society?

Over 250,000 British Columbians have chosen memorial societies to arrange their funerals.  Memorial Societies are non-profit organizations whose mission is to provide modestly priced funerals.

There are three societies in B.C:

• Memorial Society of British Columbia, the largest in the world, with over 207,000 members

• People's Memorial Society of British Columbia, and

• Vancouver Island Memorial Society

For a $10 to $25 membership, members can registered their choice of funeral arrangement. Their choices are held in confidence until their deaths.  Pre-payment plans are also available.  For details, see Memorial Societies.

The companies contracted to provide funeral services for memorial society members offer Trust plans for pre-paying members.  

Advantages of Pre-Paying.  

Virtually every funeral provider in our Directory offers prepaid and prearranged funeral plans.  There are several advantage to pre-paying  your funeral arrangements:

• You have time to shop and compare services, and secure the best price and terms;
  

• Certain costs for your funeral do not increase even if the services do not take place for many years;
  

• At the time of your death, emotional strain on your family and loved ones is reduced;
  

• Your personal wishes are clearly known.
  

Disadvantages of pre-paying.

• Should you purchase a Trust plan, you will lose 20% of the pre-paid amount collected if you change your mind or are unable to continue payments;
  

• If your contract is not portable and you move, it may be inconvenient or expensive to ship back your remains.

What's the law about cancellation?

You have 7 days after receiving the contract to cancel for a full refund on Trust accounts.  For the fine print on government regulations, click Details.  You may terminate Insured contracts at any time and receive a full refund.

Pre-Planned Without Pre-Payment.  

Most funeral homes and all memorial societies will meet and discuss arrangements for your funeral with you, and will keep your decisions on file, without pre-payment.  

A copy of these arrangements and the name of the funeral provider should be made known to your executor or other family members.  

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