When it comes to your final arrangements, shouldn’t you make the decisions? The arrangements you make will reflect your exact wishes and desires. Pre-arranging your own funeral or cremation service will help to ease the burden of your loved ones. It will also alleviate any pre-planning questions, problems or differences, which can occur among family members.
Planning a funeral can be a difficult and stressful process, normally accompanied by grief and the overwhelming sense of loss that follows the death of a loved one. The funeral directors at Rausch Funeral Home have the experience and training to guide families through the process of planning a funeral and help your loved ones plan an appropriate service for you.
As an alternative to passing this burden to your survivors, wouldn’t it be nice if you had a say in how your funeral was conducted – if your wishes could be met; if you could assist your loved ones in planning an appropriate, meaningful and personalized funeral or memorial service?
Pre-planning is the avenue to make all of the necessary arrangements for your funeral before death, you can plan the services, let your family know your wishes; even select a casket that matches your style instead of leaving such decisions to your family. Pre-planned funerals can be simply a directive, indicating service details and merchandise selections, or they can be pre-funded as well – securing the services you desire at today’s prices, protecting your assets from inflation and guaranteeing the services and merchandise you select at the current cost.
Maryland state law requires that funeral homes deposit of minimum of 80% of preneed Merchandise and 100% of preneed Service funds into a federally insured banking institution. We, as a practice, deposit 100% of all monies for preneed accounts.
Rausch Funeral Home funeral directors are also licensed life insurance agents, who work with National Guardian Life Insurance Company to pre-fund arrangements using life insurance policies. This options reduces the financial reporting responsibilities of the insured as the interest generated on these policies is not considered a taxable asset by the IRS. For more information about using life insurance to fund pre-arrangements, contact us.
When an Irrevocable Trust Agreement or Revocable Trust is established between the funeral home and the purchaser, the monies are escrowed in an account under the purchaser’s Social Security Number in Trust for Rausch Funeral Home, P.A. These funds are considered an asset to the purchaser regarding government benefits and taxation. Rausch Funeral Home mails IRS 1099 forms to each account holder annually for use in preparing tax returns. This form is a statement of interest earned during the previous year on pre-need accounts held in trust.
All monies in an Irrevocable Trust belong to the purchaser and are intended for their burial purposes only. These monies cannot be refunded to the person at the time of death, but are portable and therefore transferable to another funeral provider, who is not obligated to honor the terms of the original contract.
When a fully funded pre-planned funeral contract has been signed, no further monies will be required to cover items listed on the Statement of Goods and Services Selected. If at the time of death the family wishes to add merchandise or services not included on the original agreement, they will be added at the current prices as detailed on the active General Price List for Rausch Funeral Home.
Any person wishing to transfer their preneed funds to another funeral home, in or out of state, is entitled to 100% refund of their initial funds and any interest the account has earned.
Please bring the following with you to the arrangement conference scheduled with Rausch Funeral Home.
Rausch Funeral Home, P.A. funds pre-need funerals with life insurance through National Guardian Life Insurance Company
To pre-plan and/or pre-fund your funeral service or one for a close family member, please Contact Us for an appointment.
A useful tool in discussing your desire to pre-plan your funeral is the Pre-Need Planning document. Using this form, you can identify music, scripture, poetry, and people you feel should play an important role in your services.
We provide funeral home & cremation services to all of Calvert, St Mary’s, Anne Arundel & Prince George’s County, including Upper Marlboro, Bristol, Lothian, Deale, Galesville, North Beach, Dunkirk, Sunderland, Huntingtown, Hughesville, Prince Frederick, Broomes Island, Leonardtown, Hollywood, St Mary’s City and all other surrounding communities.
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