Pre-Plan Trust

May 2009 Net

Consumer Yield is: 3.98%

Preplanning a Funeral with New York State Preplan Trust 

 Preplanning/Prefunding a Funeral

Why and How

Including Important Information for SSI/Medicaid Applicants & Recipients

Introduction

Many New York resid

ents prearrange and prefund their funerals as part of regular estate planning. In fact, many consumer advocates applaud the concept. Reasons for preplanning one’s final expenses include peace of mind, relieving the burden on loved ones, or for purposes of SSI/Medicaid spend down. There are a number of advantages to preplanning and prefunding funeral expenses. The primary advantage is that it allows individuals the opportunity to make personal and specific selections for the funeral service that most closely meets their needs. For many, it is comfor

ting to know that money has been set aside for their final expenses, which will in turn reduce the burden on family members at a difficult time. In addition, loved ones are not left guessing which type of funeral service would have been preferred. Another very important reason to establish a preneed burial trust is that SSI/Medicaid recipients are allowed to set aside money to fully fund the service of their choice before their funds are exhausted down to necessary eligibility levels.

Consumers in New York State benefit from the strictest, most comprehensive funeral preneed laws in the country. In New York State, 100% of the principal and interest must accrue to the benefit of the Trust (less

a third party Trustee administrative fee), which must be deposited in an investment backed by the government of the United States. For this purpose, many New York funeral directors use NYSFDA’s funeral preneed trust program, the PrePlan^SM.

PrePlan^SM is a commingled trust invested solely in FDIC insured certificates of deposit. Five Trustees, who are members of the New York State Funeral Directors Association and are carefully appointed by the NYSFDA Board of Directors, oversee the operations of the trust. PrePlan^SM currently services 60,000 consumer trust accounts for over 500 funeral firms.