Financing a funeral without the anguish
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Knowing your legal rights
"The first thing we tell people is to know what your legal rights and options are," Slocum says. The law stipulates that funeral homes must give you an itemized price list as soon as you start talking about arrangements.

"Funeral directors will tell you that you get what you pay for," he says. "In many transactions that's true, many times it's not."

For example, the services provided in direct cremation don't vary, Slocum says. "The body is picked up, you complete paperwork including the death certificate, the body is cremated and the ashes are returned to the family. That doesn't vary."

But the charge for that identical service can range from $800 to $3,000, he says. "You need an ability to put your (B.S.) detector on."

The Funeral Consumers Alliance has a pamphlet on its Web site that lists 14 myths about funerals. It includes the following:

Some myths about funerals

• Embalming is required by law. That's never true during the first 24 hours and isn't necessary at all in many states. Refrigeration is a cheaper alternative. • Vaults are required by law. No state has such a law. However, many cemeteries do insist on vaults. That's because vaults keep graves from sinking after the body and casket deteriorate, reducing the need for maintenance. • Cremated remains must be placed in an urn that is then put in a cemetery. You can save money by just leaving the ashes in the cardboard or plastic box provided by the crematory. And you can spread or bury the ashes on private property anywhere in the country, as long as you have permission from the property owner.

Paying for the funeral
You have a variety of choices. "I would say that more than half the time, people charge their funeral on a credit card," says John Horan, president of Horan & McConaty, which owns six funeral homes in the Denver area.

This method of payment works fine as long as enough money is available to pay off the monthly credit card balance in full.

Experts say the best way for the elderly to provide money to their survivors for funeral payment is to create a joint savings account with a beneficiary. The money in the account can be used to finance the funeral.

"You can name anyone you want as beneficiary: whoever you trust to take care of arrangements," Slocum says. "The money doesn't go through probate, and it stays in your name. The interest accrues to you."

Just be sure that your beneficiary knows the money is to go toward your funeral. "Things aren't well communicated sometimes, because people don't want to talk about death," says financial planner Altfest.

Unfortunately, interest rates are low now, but obviously a bank account is much safer than an investment in financial markets.

There are two other payment options.

1. A prepaid funeral (formally known as an irrevocable funeral trust)
Funeral homes receive the trust's interest payments to compensate for the effect of inflation. Many experts criticize this method. "In a lot of cases, consumers end up paying more than if they just paid at the time of death," Slocum says. You're betting that the funeral home won't go out of business, and in some instances you don't get your money back if you move. Also, some states don't have strong rules to protect your funds. "In Florida, for example, a funeral home can skim 30 percent off the top of your payments to keep for itself," Slocum says.

2. Life insurance. You can designate that benefits go to pay for your funeral. But if you live for a long time, your premium payments may surpass the value of your funeral. "We dealt with a couple in Ohio who paid $9,900 in premiums for a funeral that cost about $5,000," says Slocum.

Dan Weil is a freelance writer in West Palm Beach, Fla.