Marinella Funeral Home hosted a Lunch and Learn event on April 3 at Rocco’s Town House.
Funeral directors Steve Kincaid, Nick LaGuardia and Branon Kincaid answered questions about pre-planning funerals and end of life care.
Steve Kincaid said there are benefits for veterans to help with funeral costs, and LaGuardia said the funeral home makes sure every veteran is cremated with an American flag (if the veteran wishes for cremation).
There was discussion about the importance of prefunding funerals. According to Kincaid, one family ignored their mother’s wishes for a burial and opted for cremation because they didn’t have the funds for a burial.
LaGuardia mentioned a situation where a woman had $50,000 in life insurance, but still opted to preplan her funeral with a check for $10,000.
By opting to preplan her funeral, it removed any financial headaches for her children and allowed them to follow her wishes.
Someone in the audience asked if she would have to pay monthly or everything up front.
LaGuardia said there are options including monthly payments, paying half or paying it all off.
During the event, Steve Kincaid discussed who is responsible in taking care of you.
“When something happens to one of you, who is responsible to taking care of you?” Steve Kincaid said. “Executor takes care of your will. In the State of New Jersey there’s a hierarchy; mortuary code overrides legal law. Mortuary code says your next of kin takes care of your final disposition. If you are married, it’s your spouse. If you’re not married, it’s your adult children. If you don’t have adult children, it goes back to your mom and dad. If you don’t have a mom and dad, it goes back to your siblings. If you don’t have siblings, it goes down to cousins. It keeps going,” he said.
Steve Kincaid said if someone has three children, the majority rules when making decisions. For example, if one person of the three next of kin wishes to cremate their parent, but the other two want to have a burial, there would be a burial because majority rules.
LaGuardia said it’s important for families to start having conversations to express their final wishes.
After answering questions, attendees enjoyed a free lunch.
After lunch, Jennifer Muller of Grief Share at Victory Bible Church, Account Executive Licensed Funeral Director Certified Celebrant of Homesteaders Life Company Angela Clough and Clinical Liaison of NJ Health Hospice and Palliative Care Bridgette Scola gave more information about Grief Share, prefunding funerals and palliative care.
For more information about Marinella Funeral Home, call (609)561-1311, visit their website marinellafuneralhome.com and follow them on Facebook.