Final Expense Insurance

The hours and days after a loved one passes can be some of the most challenging of our lives. Contacting relatives, planning ceremonies, coordinating out-of-town arrivals, making sure everyone is on the same page with respect to the will, viewing and funeral — there’s plenty to do without having to worry about money as well. That’s the purpose of final expense insurance.

Also often called burial insurance, final expense insurance is a type of policy that is used to pay for the burial and funeral services when the named beneficiary passes away. The payout from these final expense life insurance packages is not huge, so they are correspondingly less expensive than more comprehensive life insurance plans, but they can be a very useful addition to any senior’s insurance portfolio. Funeral, burial and vault services can often run a family up to $10,000 or even more depending on the arrangements, and having money set aside for this purpose already really simplifies the entire process.

The bounds of the policy are simple enough — as long as monthly or annual premiums are paid, the death benefit is guaranteed to be paid promptly at the end of life. Final expense life insurance companies typically do not require a medical exam for this type of insurance, because of another interesting quirk in the average policy: the so-called funeral insurance does not actually have to be used for funeral expenses. In fact, there are typically no restrictions on what the money must be used for, as it is simply dispensed to the family with no questions asked. This is the beauty of burial insurance plans — they can act as additional income to be used for all potential end-of-life expenses, including potential debts or unforeseen payments. That is why burial insurance for seniors is such a sound investment.