Monthly Archives: December 2021

Pre planning for Your Passing

If you are thinking about meeting with funeral homes in Michigan City, IN about pre planning your funeral, you are doing your family a great service. While it may be difficult to think about your own passing, making sure your affairs are organized and your wishes are clearly stated is a true gift to your loved ones. Here are steps to take now to relieve some of the burden off your family later:

Make a Will

By creating a will, you will be saving your family a lot of stress after your passing. With your will stating your wishes and appointing where -and who- your assets go to, your family will not have to worry or argue over what they think is best way to handle assets or accounts.

In your will, you will address topics such as:

How your property and assets are divided
Provide a beneficiary for any pets you have so they can be taken care of
Assign a guardian for any minor children you have
Leave instructions for your social media and other digital accounts
Letting your funeral arrangement wishes known

Having a will that outlines all these issues will save your family from arguments with one another and having to wonder what you would have wanted.

Bank Accounts / Credit Cards / Other Accounts

Many banks allow you to add a payable on death (POD) individual on the account. This will be the person who receives the funds after your passing. Check with your local bank and see if this applies or if they have other requirements/options for appointing a beneficiary.

It is also a good idea to list your credit cards and contact information of each company. If you have any payments attached to these cards that come out automatically each month, list those as well. This will make it much easier for your family to manage these accounts later.

The same is true with any other accounts you have. If you have an auto loan, school loans, utilities, etc, create a complete list with all needed information so that your family can easily know what to take care of.

Funeral Arrangements

Planning your funeral ahead of time not only helps to ensure your last wishes are followed but helps take the burden off your family at such a difficult time. Creating a plan is easy. Some things you could include are:

What funeral services will be included? Will it be a traditional service with a visitation? Do you want a graveside service or just a memorial service?
Any specific things you would like to add – or exclude- from your services
Is there anything you would like to be buried with?
Are there any specific songs you would like played? Any specific flowers you would like used?

Planning this all now and sharing it with your family will be such a nice relief later in their time of grief.

While planning your funeral may seem morbid or strange to some, it truly is a loving gift to your family. The stress and burden it takes away will be so appreciated in their time of mourning.

When talking to funeral homes in Michigan City, IN., let them know what you already have planned and see what other things you may need to consider. The professionals at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center are here to help. Call and talk one-on-one with a funeral director to ensure you have everything taken care of.

Accounts to Manage After a Loved One’s Passing

After your cremation services in South Bend, IN., for your loved one, there will most likely be a long list of things that need to be taken care of. Loans, bills, credit cards and other accounts will need to be notified and handled.

While this can seem overwhelming, if you make a list and take it one account at a time, it can be a little less hectic and easier to manage.

While every person has various accounts and companies to approach, here is a list of the most common and tips to manage them.

Social Security

Most funeral homes will notify social security for you if you give them the social security number of your loved one. If, for some reason, the funeral home does not handle this, you will need to contact he social security office yourself. You can reach them by calling 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). This is also the number to call to check if you qualify for survivor benefits.

If your loved one was receiving checks in the mail from social security and receives a new one, you will want to return it. If the funds were delivered by direct deposit, the social security office will withdraw the funds electorally. Because of this, it is important to keep the bank open at least forty-five days to ensure this process can be completed.

Medicare and Medicaid

You should not have to contact Medicaid or Medicare. Once the Social Security office has been notified of your loved one’s passing, Medicare and Medicaid should automatically be notified.

Bank Accounts

Each bank is different, but most, if not all, will require you to provide either a certified copy of, or just a copy, of the death certificate. It is important to note not to close any bank accounts too quickly. There may be bills that haven’t cleared yet or other outstanding debts that will be paid from the account.

Credit Cards / Credit Agencies

Credit card accounts should be notified and closed as soon as possible. This will help prevent any new finance charges and interest from being added. However, you will first want to check if any of the cards have reoccurring subscriptions or any automatic bill pays connected to them. If so, make sure to cancel or transfer those accounts.

It is important to notify the credit card agencies as well. This will help freeze the accounts to prevent any identity theft in the future. The three credit agencies are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion and can be reached by phone at the following numbers:

Experian 888-397-3742
Equifax 888-548-7878
TransUninon 800-916-8800

While these are some of the important accounts to contact after a loved one’s passing, there are most likely going to be more that you will need to manage.

If you are feeling overwhelmed after cremation services in South Bend, IN., don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. The professional and caring staff at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center is here to help. Call and speak to the staff to have you questions answered or to help find additional resources.

How to Write a Eulogy

When attending services from funeral homes in South Bend, IN., you may be asked to deliver a eulogy for the deceased. If you have never had to do this before, or if you are not comfortable with speaking publicly, you may feel anxious or unsure of what to say.

How long should you speak for?. What is appropriate? Should it be funny, or serious and solemn? While every eulogy is as unique as the person it is given for, when you follow a few basic rules and outlines, it will be much easier to present your eulogy with confidence.

What is Eulogy?

A eulogy is simply a speech that is given by a friend or family member talking about, and celebrating the life of, the deceased. It is normally given at either the memorial or funeral service.

How Long is a Eulogy?

Eulogies typically last anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on how much you would like to say. That may not sound like a long time, but once you start writing, you will find it is most likely plenty of time.

What Should I Say?

What you should say depends on the person. This is a celebration of their life and who they were as a person. If they had certain hobbies or passions, talk about those. Perhaps they made a lasting impression on you because of their kindness or quick wit; share that.

To help you organize your thoughts, here is a simple outline to follow:

Introduction Here you will start the eulogy and set the tone. You could do this by reading a poem, a passage from a book, or scripture. You could also begin with a special memory or story of the deceased. You can then continue the introduction by sharing your relationship with the deceased.

Middle The middle section is where you dive deeper into who they were, what they loved, and what made them special. You can share things like their life accomplishments, travel adventures, childhood, how they affected other people, or hobbies. This section is the longest so you have plenty of time to share what you’d like.

End Section This is the shortest section and typically includes a quote, poem, or a takeaway of how you would like your loved one to be remembered. You can also thank the guests for attending the services.

Ask for Help

It is okay to ask for help with writing the eulogy. Reaching out to a friend or family member can be a great resource to help make this process easier. Also, you can search online for eulogy templates and examples. Having a reference such as this can be truly helpful.

If you are attending services from funeral homes in South Bend, IN., and delivering a eulogy, just take a deep breath. While you may be nervous, if you follow an outline or template, and speak from your heart, you will do great.

If you need more ideas, help, or resources, contact Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center and let their professional and caring staff answer any questions you may have.

Healthy Ways to Handle Grief

After using cremation services in Rolling Prairie, IN, you will be feeling the loss of your loved one and grieving their passing. This will be a difficult time and you may feel like closing the world off and shutting down.

Grieving a loss is a process that takes time to go through. However, there are ways to grieve in a healthy way. While nothing will take the pain completely away, there are things you can do to help work thought this pain until time has a chance to help heal your heart.

Give Yourself Permission

Fist and foremost, give yourself permission to grieve. Accept what has happened and accept the pain it has caused. Allow yourself to feel sad or angry or any other feelings that come up. Coping with grief is an individual process so don’t compare yourself to others and how they are dealing with it. You focus and do what feels right for you.

Don’t be afraid to cry, scream, or get emotional if you need to. Recognizing and accepting these feelings helps in learning how to release them.

Seek Support

You may find yourself wanting to keep everything bottled up and not talk about the loss. Facing the grief and talking about isn’t easy. Finding help and support in this difficult time is crucial in helping with this. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to reach out and ask for help.

There are several ways to find the support you need. You could talk with your friends or family or seek out professional help and meet and talk with a grief counselor. Another great option is to join a grief support group. If you are religious you could talk with a church official. You can also find help online if you prefer not to meet face-to-face.

Get Involved

It may sound difficult to imagine, but when you feel ready, joining in something that brings you joy will help you focus on the good and happy feelings it brings. This is a nice distraction and can help ease some of the pain. Give yourself permission to join in something that will make you smile.

Begin Journaling

Journaling has been proven again and again to help people work though thoughts and feelings of pain and grief. The best thing is it doesn’t require anything more than a pen or pencil and some paper.

If you are not sure what to write, just draw or doodle and the words may come later. There are nor ules here. No format to follow or way it should be written; just go with your heart.

These are just a few ideas you can take part in to help work through your grief after your cremation services in Rolling Prairie, IN. The thing to remember is to make sure you are doing what you can to deal with the loss in a healthy way. The caring staff at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center can help you with providing resources to help you navigate through this difficult time. Call and talk to their compassionate staff today.