PLANNING AHEAD

Why Should I Plan Ahead?

Not everyone likes to plan ahead, but pre-planning your funeral arrangements not only gives you peace of mind about your final wishes being honored but alleviates some of the stress and burden your loved ones are going through as they experience the grief associated with the loss.
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The staff of Mueller-Bies Funeral Homes is happy to assist you with your funeral pre-need by helping you make decisions about your funeral service in advance and guiding you in helping eliminate some of the unnecessary stress brought on by a loved one’s death.

Secure Online Preplanning Form

SECURE PREPLANNING FORM

Benefits of Preplanning

Planning Ahead Lets Your Wishes Be Known

The death of a loved one often brings about unwarranted stress and turmoil among families. One family member wants one thing, while another family member wants something different. By planning ahead, you help prevent those disagreements by letting your family know what your wishes are and how you want your funeral service to be carried out and your business handled.

Planning Ahead Offers Peace of Mind

Our staff guarantees we will carry out the arrangements you want, just as you directed. Once the plans have been arranged, you and your family can rest easy knowing at the time of death, those uncomfortable decisions have been made. In a time when a family should be able to easily grieve, preplanning allows for that to happen.

Planning Ahead Offers Flexible Funding Options

When you preplan your funeral arrangements, there are more options when it comes to funding the funeral. A preneed insurance policy, life insurance policy or other payment options can all be arranged before the time of death. At the time of death, services must be paid in full, so having options ahead of time can also reduce other stress related to losing someone.

Planning Ahead Relieves The Burden From Family

Following the death of a loved one, there are more than 150 decisions that have to be made within the first day or two following the death. Those stressful decisions on top of the stress of grieving a loss can be eliminated by arranging your final wishes ahead of time. If those decisions are made, your loved ones aren’t left wondering what you would have wanted and how they should proceed with funeral plans. With those decisions out of the way, your loved one can begin the healing process sooner.

And finally, one of the most important reasons to preplan - answering the question,

 "How Much Does a Funeral Cost?"

 There may be several financial advantages to preplanning funeral services, even without prefunding. For example, simply having an estimated cost of services can allow you and your family to budget accordingly. Also, researching funeral options and costs now may help you make decisions about your final wishes, if cost is a consideration. Visit our step-by-step "How Much does a Funeral Cost?" page to learn more.

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

- Nelson Henderson

Common Questions about Preplanning

  • What is preplanning?

    “Pre-planning”, “advance planning”, and “prearrangement” are all terms used to refer to the process of beginning funeral arrangements prior to a person’s passing. This can mean almost anything – from the simple recording of one’s wishes regarding services, to the filing away of documents such as military discharge papers, authorizations, or obituary text, to the complete planning of funeral services. It can even mean the partial or complete prefunding of those services. It may be done as soon or as late in life as a person desires. In essence, it is as much or as little as you wish it to be.

  • What information do I need to prearrange a funeral?

    You'll need basic information about yourself or the person you are planning for, such as date of birth, marital status, parent's full names, etc. Besides the biological information, you'll need to choose burial or cremation, what type of service you'd like, what cemetery to use, etc. Our caring staff will help you with this process.

  • Do I have to pay in advance?

    Preplanning is merely making your wishes known; however, most families who do this also choose to pre-fund their funeral. Doing so will relieve the financial burden on your family and offer peace of mind to you.

  • If I pay in advance, is it guaranteed?

    At Mueller-Bies, we offer guaranteed funeral prefunding. If you prefund funeral home charges (service charges & merchandise) in full at today’s prices, we absolutely guarantee the chosen arrangements will never cost you or your family another cent out of pocket, regardless of how much prices may increase in the future. In brief, the funding instrument will gain interest over time, which meets our future costs. Excess growth is refunded to the family; any shortfall is written off by us. In this way, we absorb all the risk of the investment. 


    Please note that outside items (e.g. obituaries, cemetery costs, etc.) may also be prefunded, but we cannot guarantee these items, as we don't control their prices. We will, however, guarantee you will have at least the money you put away towards those items available, plus the proportional percentage of the growth.

  • Can I transfer my plans to or from another funeral home?

    If you have plans at another funeral home and would like to move them here, we will help you do that. If you move from the area and would like to transfer your arrangements to another funeral home, we will assist you with that as well.

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