Pre-planning
The pre-arrangement of funerals is an important aspect of the funeral business today. Pre-planning provides peace of mind for everyone involved. A carefully preplanned service can be the most comforting to your family, as is spares them from having to face decisions that can be both emotionally and financially difficult at the time of death. It can give them lasting peace of mind to know that they have acted in accordance with your wishes.

Making pre-arrangements can be as simple or as detailed as you wish. You can make the selection of the services, casket, music, etc., or simply record the information that will be needed for legal forms and other paperwork. Arranging a funeral requires many decisions to be made.

Most people preplan for the following reasons:

• their funeral preferences will be known
• survivors are relieved of difficult decisions
• required information that is not readily available to survivors is at the preplanner's fingertips
• there is a spend-down for people applying for SSI/Medicaid and General Assistance

Once someone dies, it is often confusing and stressful for survivors to come to the funeral home to arrange for the services and have the correct information available. Survivors can still be involved in the funeral process at the time of death. Their role would be to make the service memorable by the choice of flowers, spiritual readings, music selections and providing their personal input in the form of pictures, memorabilia or eulogy. However, everything else has been done.

Pre-arranging & Pre-funding

There are two kinds of prepaid arrangements: revocable and irrevocable.

1. Revocable
   Revocable arrangements must be refunded upon demand, including all principal and interest. Trust fund moneys are revocable or 100% refundable on demand and with interest. And you may change the funeral home and the selected funeral services or merchandise at any time without penalty.
   
2. Irrevocable
   In New Jersey, all SSI/Medicaid accounts specifically for the purpose of funding a funeral are irrevocable, meaning NOT REFUNDABLE. Only individuals prepaying their funerals in order to qualify for SSI, Medicaid, or General Assistance may establish irrevocable arrangements, which must be used for funeral and burial purposes. Irrevocable arrangements cannot, by law, be cancelled or refunded (although consumers may change funeral homes).

   Irrevocable Accounts & Any Excess Moneys
   In order to reimburse the state of New Jersey a small portion of the money it spends each year on the SSI/Medicaid program, legislation has been enacted regarding irrevocable funeral trusts and insurance policies specifically purchased to fund a funeral.

   This legislation says that, once all funeral expenses have been paid, any moneys remaining in, A) irrevocable trust accounts opened on or after February 27, 2000, OR, B) newly issued insurance policies that have been purchased on or after February 27, 2000 and that are irrevocably assigned, will be forwarded directly to the state.
   

   
   

Funeral Planning CHOICES™ has put in place procedures to ensure that only irrevocable account holders, who are receiving SSI/Medicaid or General Assistance benefits, at time of death, will have their access proceeds forwarded to the state.

To begin pre-planning now, please fill out the form below and we will contact you to make an appointment, send you more information or keep your information on file. Or click here to request more information on pre-planning.

Information about the person completing the form: I Am Planning for: Choose One Myself Spouse Life Partner Mother Father Child Friend Other Relative Last Name: First Name: Middle Name: Email Address: Street Address: City: State: Select State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico Virgin Island Northern Mariana Islands Guam American Samoa Palau Zip Code: County: Phone: Vital Information about the person for whom you are pre-planning: Last Name: First Name: Middle Name: Sex: Choose One Female Male Marital Status: Choose One Never Married Married Divorced Widow Widower Date of Birth: Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 (ex. 1999) Social Security Number: Place Of Birth: Spouse's Full Name: Spouse's Maiden Name: Place of Marriage: Date of Marriage: Month JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember Day 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 (ex. 1999) Father's Full Name: Mother's Name: Mother's Maiden Name: Work and Education: Education: Primary 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 College 0 1 2 3 4 5+ Usual Occupation: (most of life) Kind of Business: Company (Optional): Military Records: Branch of Service: Choose One Army Navy Air Force Marines Coast Gaurd Other Serial Number: Date Enlisted: Rank At Discharge: Date Discharged Discharge On File At: Copy of Discharge Papers:   YES    NO Name(s) Of  War(s): Funeral Service Information: Place Of Service: Choose One Funeral Home Church Cemetery Name of Funeral Home: Address: Phone: Place of Visitation: I Prefer the Funeral Service to Be: Choose One PublicPrivate Viewing for Family: YesNo Viewing for Friends: YesNo Religious Denomination: Place Of Worship: Lodge / Union: Person with Whom To Finalize Arrangements At Time Of Death: Check here and skip this section if is information is the same as person filling out this form.   Full Name: Street Address: City: County: State: Select State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico Virgin Island Northern Mariana Islands Guam American Samoa Palau Zip Code: Phone: Special Instructions: Flower Preference: Music Preference: Casket Bearers (6): Jewelry: Glasses: Clothing: Other: Disposition Options: I Prefer: Earth Burial Mausoleum Cremation Cemetery: Address: Phone: Section: I have made a last will and testament:   YES     NO     Other Information & Special Instructions Please list any other instruction or information you would like us to have: Memorials & Charities Please list any Memorials or Donations to Charity that you would like: Options Please select one of the options below: Send information about pre-arrangement Contact me to set an appointment Please keep my information on file