In my last blog post on the series Dispelling Myths About Funeral Preplanning, I discussed two more myths about funeral preplanning; that being the costs involved and misconceptions about cremation. In this blog post, we’ll address this myth: my family knows what I want………………..

I have heard this many times and more often than not, the family does not know what you want – either because you have not told them or the funeral directions are recorded in the will.

Sometimes funeral directions are included in the will. Unfortunately the will is generally read after the funeral. One family I know of had cremated their father as none of them recalled him talking about his preference. When they read the will, the funeral directions indicated that he wanted to be buried. What a shock for this family! At another funeral, two brothers were fist fighting at the cemetery – both adamant that dad wanted to be buried in the ground and the other brother equally adamant that dad had told him he wanted to be entombed in a crypt. This is not a good day for anyone.

The point to all of this is to let your family know what type of funeral service you would prefer. One lady I worked with had waited 4 years for her family to make some time to go with her to the funeral home and complete her funeral preplanning wishes. Finally she called me and asked if I would come over to her home and discuss the choices and options with funeral preplanning. I was delighted to do this. In the end she felt very proud of herself that she had her wishes finally recorded and on file with the funeral home. Furthermore, she asked me if I would make 4 copies of her file and mail it to each of her children. I was pleased to do this for her as well. A few months later I saw this lady again and asked her how things went with her family. Well she nearly double over with delight recounting how her family had not wanted to discuss this with her, yet when the envelopes came in the mail, their curiosity overtook them and they all opened the envelopes. They all called her and said how relieved they were that now that they knew what she wanted done. This was a huge sense of relief for her.

There is a Chinese proverb that says: The faded ink is better than the forgotten memory.

It is better to write down your funeral preferences outside of the will. This can be accomplished very easily. You can make an appointment with the funeral home of your choice and have the funeral director outline the choices they offer in funeral preplanning.  As discussed in my last blog post, your personal information will be recorded on file, a decision can be made with respect to cremation or burial and the third area of discussion would be the choice of merchandise. For cremation this can include a cremation container, or a rental/ceremonial casket, or a purchased casket, an urn, or an urn vault. For burial this will include a purchased casket and a vault.

Personalizing a funeral is perhaps the most interesting way to celebrate your unique life.  Your preferences for the type of service, the music, reading, photos, or flowers to be included will be noted on file. The type of reception if desired will also be recorded. Some people even draft out their eulogy and death notice!  These preferences are not carved in stone. It is a great beginning to at least have some of the decisions made ahead of time – this is the loving gift to your family.

To assist you further, the Ontario Board of Funeral Service has a guide to funeral planning. To obtain this guide, contact www.funeralboard.com or info@funeralboard.com.  This is a fantastic start. The next step is to contact your local funeral home and make an appointment to speak with a licensed Funeral Director. Depending on your questions, you will need about 45 minutes to go over the options and make your selections.

This leaves the funeral preplanning entirely up to you. With a little bit of your time, you have the opportunity to leave a loving legacy for your family and loved ones – as your legacy matters.

I’d love your feedback.  And, don’t forget I offer commentluv here on my site. This is a great opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog too!

Until next time,

Kat

In my last blog post, I discussed the fact that there are myths with respect to funeral preplanning and discussed some of the legislation that surrounds it. In this blog post, I’ll dispel 2 more funeral preplanning myths; that of cost and cremation.

Myth #1: It’s expensive to preplan a funeral, right? No, absolutely not.

It’s Free.

Preplanning a funeral does not cost any money. In fact it is a loving gift to let your family know what you would prefer to celebrate your life in the end.

In the Province of Ontario, Funeral Homes and Funeral Directors are self-regulated through the Ontario Board of Funeral Services. Part of the regulations state that upon request, an individual must be provided a consumer guide of services and merchandise offered by the funeral home without cost or obligation. Further, this consumer guide must be dated, the prices included and the offering of a consultation without cost or obligation.

Funeral directions written down ahead of time, is one of the last gifts you can give your family. Yes some deaths are sudden and unexpected, leaving a family in a state of chaos as to what to do to honor that person’s life. However, approximately 70% of deaths are known. For example a person may be terminally ill and the family knows that it is a matter of time before a funeral will be needed. This is a gift of time.

I have worked with families who take advantage of this gift of time and do some preliminary work to understand what has to be done and what can be done to celebrate their loved one’s life. When people take a bit of time to explore what has to be taken care of in funeral arrangements, there is more of a sense of calm and control over what they have to do and can do to celebrate their loved ones live.

Myth #2: I want to be cremated so I don’t need to involve a funeral home.

Somehow this has become a myth in our social fabric and it is not true. Whether a person wants burial or cremation, with or without any type of service or celebration of their life, the deceased is first brought to a licensed funeral home.

When a person dies, a medical doctor or coroner or a nurse practitioner signs a Medical Certificate of Death. Once this document is signed, a licensed Funeral Director will remove the body from the place of death and bring the deceased to the funeral home. This is necessary, as the death must be registered in the Province of Ontario. Along with the Medical Certificate of Death, the Executor signs a Statement of Death. These two documents are not allowed to be photocopied and the funeral home delivers these documents to the local municipality to register the death. In turn these documents are forwarded to the Attorney General’s office and this is how a death is registered under the Vital Statistics act in the Province or Territory.

Another reason a person can not go directly from the place of death to the crematorium, is that the body must be in a rigid, solid bottom, combustible container. Many Funeral Homes call this a cremation container and it may be made of solid wood, particleboard or even heavy cardboard.

Additionally the coroner must sign a Cremation application. The Coroner’s office has the highest authority in the Province and the coroner must view the deceased and determine, with their signature on the Cremation application, that there is no suspicious or harmful manner to the person’s death. If the Coroner has doubts as to the persons cause of death, then the Coroner’s Office may demand that an autopsy be done on the body to determine the cause of death

In summary when a person wants to be cremated, the deceased is sheltered at the funeral home for a short period of time in order to complete the necessary documents and obtain signatures, place the deceased in a cremation container and transfer this to the crematorium.

Are there any surprises here? I’d love your feedback. And don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog via the commentluv feature here on my site.

In my next blog; another myth dispelled – My family knows what I want……

Until next time,

Kat

Really?  Absolutely!  It can cost as little as $50.00 per month or even less to prepay your final funeral arrangements.  The couple I worked with this past weekend started their prepaid funeral arrangements for under $25.00 per month.  We worked within their budget and what they wanted to fund first and that is how the contract was set up.  We will add different items into the prepaid funeral contract over time and they will eventually have their entire funeral pre-funded within a budget that is comfortable to them. In this blog series, we will dispel some of the myths about funeral pre-planning.

Unfortunately, many people are under the impression that funerals are expensive or that they have to prepay funeral arrangements in one lump sum.  This is not the case. The average funeral cost in Ontario is around $8,800.00, and I have organized funerals that were $2,000 to over $15,000.00.  It really does depend on what you want to set up ahead of time and how you want your life to be celebrated.  People often ask me about the cost of a funeral, and that can depend for example on the casket selected.  Caskets are usually made of wood, metal or cloth covered particleboard.  The entry level pricing for a casket is around $600.00 and can go as high as you wish.

When you decide to prepay part or all of your funeral arrangements, there are two things I would strongly encourage you to ask and know the answers to:

1. Are you working with a licensed Funeral Establishment and licensed Funeral Director?
2. Is the future funeral cost guaranteed?

Why is this important?  There are huge advantages to working with qualified individuals and establishments to prepay part or all of your funeral arrangements.

Federally, the Government of Canada has permitted special tax considerations for Eligible Funeral Plans or Arrangements (EFA).  An Eligible Funeral Plan or Arrangement can only be provided by a Licensed Funeral Establishment and Licensed Funeral Director. The Federal rules state that a purchaser of an EFA is allowed to earn tax-exempt interest on the first $15,000.00 within the EFA. Additionally an EFA is insured up to $100,000.00.

When you are considering funding your funeral prearrangement, the first and second questions are again important.  If you elect to pay part or all of your funeral pre-arrangements over time, it is the Funeral Establishments decision to guarantee or not guarantee the future funeral costs.  The self-regulated professional rules through the Board of Funeral Services, state that a funeral home may guarantee or not guarantee the items included in pre-funded funeral prearrangement.

If a funeral home elects to guarantee the prepaid funeral arrangement, they must guarantee all of the items included on the prepaid funeral contract. If a funeral home elects not to guarantee the prepaid funeral arrangement, then you will in essence have funds on deposit to apply toward the funeral contract at the time the funeral is provided.

Guaranteed prepaid funeral arrangements provide you and your family with peace of mind knowing that decisions have been made, items selected and the future cost is guaranteed to your family at the time the funeral is provided.  The Funeral Establishment takes on the risk of inflation and the rising costs of funeral arrangements over time.   For these reasons, many Funeral Establishments do not include third party disbursements on prepaid funeral contracts.  As an example, 14 years ago I would include newspaper notices, or cemetery opening and closing costs on funeral pre-arrangements. These costs have increased tremendously over the years and I do not include them now on guaranteed prepaid funeral contracts.

Over the years, a lot of work has been done to revamp the legislation around the end of life planning sector.  There is pending legislation in the process and it is very likely that the approved legislation will mandate all funeral establishments to guarantee prepaid funeral arrangements.

What do you think? Have you explored funeral pre-planning? I’d love your feedback. And don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog via the commentluv feature here on my site.

Until next time,

Kat

1. Sudden Death

In this scenario, 911 Emergency Services are called and the responding Police, Fire and Medical Emergency personnel will arrive at the home. Very likely the Coroner will be called to the scene as well. The Coroner’s Office has the highest authority in the Province or Territory and it will literally be the Coroner’s decision of whether an autopsy will be performed at the coroner’s office or whether the body will be released through the Coroner’s Office to the attending Funeral Home.

If an autopsy is to be completed, it will be done at the Coroner’s Office and the Autopsy report will not be released to the family. Rather, the Coroner’s Office issues what is called a Coroner’s Warrant to Bury a Body. This is the substitute for a Medical Certificate of Death – however the cause of death is not recorded on the Coroner’s Warrant. This document will accompany the body along with the licensed Funeral Director that transfers the body from the Coroner’s Office to the Funeral Home the family has selected, to fulfill the desired funeral services.

2. Palliative Care

The second scenario that is becoming more common, is that a pallative person is choosing to die at home. This is known as the Planned Death at Home Program (PDAH) and typically, a person is palliative usually due to a cancer-related terminal illness.

The PDAH program is set up from the person’s primary physician in conjunction with the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) – Palliative Care Services. Most major municipalities now have a PDAH program. In this case, the family fills in a few forms to document their intention that the palliative person wishes to die at home.

The following forms are included in the PDAH program:

1. A Vital Statistic Sheet is completed and kept on file at the receiving Funeral Home. The personal information included in order to register the death in the Province or Territory is:

• The person’s full legal name – It is important that the spelling of the names dovetails with their other official documents such as their SIN Card, or Passport
• Place and Date of Birth
• Usual Occupation – This is required to inform the Income Securities Program that the individual has died. The appropriate monthly payments are then stopped in the month following the person’s death.
• Spouse or Partner’s name if applicable
• Father’s Name and Birth Place
• Mother’s Maiden Name and Birth Place
• Social Insurance Number

2. A Do Not Resuscitate Medical Directive – this form outlines that the person has declined further invasive treatments and wishes to receive care that will keep them comfortable and as pain free as possible.

3. A Funeral Home Transfer Form – this authorizes the Funeral Home to transfer the deceased from the home to the Funeral Home at the time of death.

4. Planned Death at Home Service – this form outlines the informed consent of the client and a request to the Physician that they understand their medical condition, health status and prognosis and are willingly choosing to die at home.

5. Pronouncement Information – this is a newer part to the PDAH Program in that now a Nurse Practitioner can pronounce a death at home, and the Coroner does not have to be called. The Nurse will notify the Attending Physician. The Attending Physician or his/her alternate will complete the Medical Certificate of Death and have it available to the Funeral Home to pick up. This form also enables the Funeral Home to transfer the deceased to the Funeral Home and secure the actual Medial Certificate of Death within the subsequent 24 hours.

When the required consent forms, physician and funeral home contact information forms are completed, this information is distributed to the PDAH team including the family, the Funeral Home, the CCAC, the Physician, and all Service Providers such as the Nursing Staff, Person Support Workers, or Rehabilitation staff.

The PDAH program may also be offered through a Hospice. The Hospice community aims to provide the family with a holistic and supportive approach to the end of life experience. Many Hospices have a support system that will travel to the palliative person’s home, or some Hospices also have their own residential type home setting that the family can use throughout their stay.

If you would like to know more about the PDAH program, please ask your primary physician or contact a Hospice organization in your community. Click here for more information.

I’d love your feedback. And don’t forget to leave a link back to your own blog via the commentluv feature here on my blog.

Until next time,

Kat

Inside his mom’s passport an IMM 1000 was stapled.  He immediately declared, “So that’s where it is, I was looking for this.”  I asked him what he needed an IMM 1000 for and he replied that this form is needed to apply for his Old Age Security monthly payment from the Income Securities Program. This document is the proof required that an individual was born outside of Canada and immigrated with his parents.  This is not needed for the Canadian Pension Plan monthly payment, as this is based on contributions made to the CPP throughout one’s working career in Canada.  However, ‘Landing Papers’, or form IMM 1000 is the Canadian Immigrant Identification Card required to apply for and claim the Old Age Security monthly payment.

It was a huge relief for this man to find the IMM 1000 as without this document, he would have had to go through a more arduous process.  Can you imagine that after 55 plus years you might have to find your Public School report cards and then have them notarized to make a claim for your OAS monthly payment?  In this case his school was no longer there – it had burned down years ago.

It was especially gratifying for him to find the IMM 1000 as his mom had suffered from Alzheimer’s for the past 8 years or so.  It was a remarkable gift she gave him by being organized and stapling the Immigration Identification Card into her passport. This made the process of applying for his OAS from Canada’s income securities program so much easier.

When she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s she continued to leave a loving legacy, by organizing her bank accounts and investments, closing her credit cards, selling her home, naming beneficiaries on her life insurance all to make the process or closing her estate as easy as possible for her son.

That’s leaving a loving Legacy!

If you immigrated into Canada with your parents and will be applying for OAS, maybe now is the time to find your Landing Papers so that your application process can be a smooth as possible.

Please send me your questions and feedback. Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.

Until next time,

Kat

I would recommend that you contact the Canadian Pension Plan and see how the changes introduced from 2011 to 2016 may give your more options as you make the transition from work to retirement.  The Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) is administered through Service Canada and you may contact Service Canada or call them at 1-800-277-9914 toll free in Canada and the United States.  If you require assistance for hearing or speech impairments, then call the TTY number at 1-800-255-4786.  If you are calling outside of Canada or the United States, then please call 613-990-2244  and Service Canada will accept collect calls.  Alternatively you could make an appointment and visit a Service Canada Centre.

Here are the 4 things I would encourage you to explore:

1. Your monthly CPP pension and how the changes may impact on your monthly pension.

2. The current amount of your Canadian Pension Death Benefit.

The maximum is $2,500.00. When a person dies, their executor completes and sends in an application for the Canada Pension Plan Death Benefit. The form number is ISP-1200-08-10E.  The Canadian Government will inform you if an application is not accepted The reason is usually because the deceased did not contribute to the CPP that started in 1966.  Conversely if an applicant is eligible, an application must be made to Service Canada. The agency will not automatically send the CPP Death Benefit.  If there is a will, the Death Benefit cheque is payable to the estate of the deceased and usually takes a few months for the application to be processed.

3. The potential amount of any Survivor’s or Child(ren)’s Benefit(s).

This amount is based on the deceased spouse, partner or parents’ contributions to the CPP.  When the deceased spouse, partner, or parent dies, their executor completes and sends in an application for the Canada Pension Plan Survivor’s Pension and Child(ren)’s Benefit(s).  The form number is ISP-1300A-08-10E.  Again, the Canadian Government will inform you if an application is not accepted. It will normally be for the same reasons stated above. Also, as above, if an applicant is eligible, an application must be made to Service Canada. The agency will not automatically send the CPP Survivor’s Pension or Child(ren)’s Benefit(s).  One lady I worked with shared with me that her friend did not know about the Survivor’s Pension and her husband had died 3 years ago!  Service Canada will accept an application at any time, review it, determine the eligibility and the most Service Canada will pay retroactively, is 11 months.  Imagine the money this lady left on the table, not know about the Survivor’s Pension.

4. The Child(ren)’s Benefit(s) are funds payable to children of the deceased spouse or common law partner -  under the ages of 18 years or to children between 18 and 25 years whom are attending school, college or university full-time.  An application must be made annually for children 18 to 25 years, along with the supporting documentation that they are attending post secondary education full time. Again, Service Canada will accept an application at any time, review it, determine the eligibility and the most Service Canada will pay retroactively, is 11 months.  Currently the Child(ren)’s benefit is around$200.00/ month.

Please note, the CPP operates throughout Canada, except in Quebec, where the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) provides benefits.  Changes to the CPP do not apply to the QPP.  If you have inquiries regarding the QPP you may contact them here.

I trust that you can picture the sense of pride and relief you will feel, when you make contact with your funeral home of choice and Service Canada to consider and evaluate the advantages of preplanning and prepaying your eventual funeral arrangements.  Just imagine being able to finally cross this item off your to-do list.

Please let me know if you have any questions, would like the application forms, or require assistance. You can leave a comment right here on the blog, or you can contact me here.

Until next time,

Kat

The overall picture of funeral prelanning involves 5 pieces:

1. Vital Statistics:

This information is recorded on a file at the funeral home and includes:

• Your full name birth date and birthplace
• Your occupation if applicable – this is required to apply for the CPP Death Benefit and Spousal Benefit if applicable
• Your SIN
• Your parents’ names and birthplaces, including your mother’s maiden name if known

2. Type of Service

The type of funeral or memorial service you would appreciate to celebrate your life. Many people start sifting through their wishes and usually it is made sense by determining if it is Burial or Cremation.

3.  Merchandise Required for Internment

By this I mean; a burial would require a casket to be purchased. For a cremation, a casket may be purchased or rented and then a cremation container would be required.

4. Personal Wishes

What are your personal wishes regarding your funeral service?  This may include:

• favorite poems,
• reading
• hymns
• songs
• flowers
• pictures
• a video tribute to show the important accomplishments of your life
• a newspaper notice.

Additionally favorite personal items may be on display at the funeral or set into the casket.

5. Financial Resources

You will require a clear picture of the total funeral value to see if this value is in tune with your budget and financial resources.

When you elect to focus and get a grasp on a prearranged or prepaid funeral plan the first step is to call the funeral home and set an appointment.  I would advise that you ensure your appointment is with a licensed Funeral Director.  Two important questions to ask are:

1. Is the future funeral cost guaranteed and
2. What rate of interest is my money earning?

In my next blog post, I will cover 4 important Service Canada factors to consider with respect to budget when doing funeral pre-planning.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, I would love to hear from you. You can comment directly here on the blog or you can reach me here.

Until next time,

Kat

As far as the Canadian Government is concerned, there are two important dates in our lives:  our birth date and our date of death.  Although we may not want to think about our own mortality – eventually this is going to happen so ensuring your personal papers are in order and readily accessible is highly recommended. Here are 3 Canada Pension Benefits that your executor should know about.

1. Canada Pension Plan Death Benefit

One of the things your executor needs to do is to apply to Service Canada for the Canadian Pension Plan Death benefit.  The current maximum is $2,500.00 and is payable to the estate of the deceased contributor.  To apply for this benefit, your executor must provide the following:

• The deceased’s SIN number
• Date and place of birth
• Date of death, and
• A copy of the funeral director’s death certificate.

The bottom line – create a Gratitude File and include your personal information in this file.  In my next blog post, I will discuss what documentation should be included in the Gratitude File and why.

I’d love your feedback. Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a great opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.

Because your legacy matters…

Kat

I don’t believe that people would knowingly leave things in such as mess.  I choose to believe that people would organize things better.  However life tends to side track us with other things that come up; things that seems more important or are more interesting to do. Besides, there is always tomorrow… or is there?

I wonder what the true cost of our procrastination is when we have not taken the time to ask our Executor if they would act on our behalf when we die.  It also makes the work of the Executor much more difficult if they do not know what we have in assets, where these items are or what we want done with them.

Take a moment today and start.  Organize one drawer or file even, the point is to start and do a little bit each day.  In this way you are working toward leaving a legacy that matters.

Share your thoughts with me. I love getting feedback. Here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a wonderful opportunity to leave a link back to your own blog when you leave a comment.

…Because your legacy matters,

Kat

Recently I was assisting two young men between 21 and 25 years of age.  Their mother died suddenly and unexpectedly and she did not have a will.  These young men are now thrown into the estate area with no idea of what their mother had, what she wanted done with the residue of her estate nor where her important papers were.  What a way to grow up fast!  I choose to believe that she did not knowingly intend to leave this mess for her sons to figure out on their own.

This situation although very sad, could have been made easier for the young men if their mother had even drafted a holographic will.  This is a document written entirely in your handwriting; that outlines what you have, where it is and what you would like done with your assets.

Where there is a will, there is a win – win for life’s no-win situation.  None of us get out alive and death is a given for all of us.  Take a few moments to draft a will.  Consider 3 what-if scenarios.

1. If you predecease your spouse or partner, what would you want done?

2. If you and your spouse or partner die at the same time, what would you like done.

3. Finally and especially, if you have minor children, or adult dependent children, who would you want to be their guardian or trustee?

These are tough questions and ones we need to consider – to leave a loving legacy.

What do you think? I love getting feedback. And here on this blog, you’ll get commentluv. This is a opportunity if you wish, to leave a link back to your own blog.

Because Your Legacy Matters,

Kat