Supporting Grieving Families
Funerals are a challenging time for the family and friends of the deceased. It is not only emotionally overwhelming, but also financially stressful. With people being under serious mental strain during this period, any amount of support offered to them is an act of kindness. From just staying with the grieving members and lending them an ear to offering monetary assistance, support can be given in various forms. However, in the current day and age, with funerals costing a fortune for people, monetary support can provide the much-needed relief and help families navigate this difficult time more easily.
How Much Money is Appropriate to Offer?
Usually, people tend to offer $100 or more to grieving families as a token of support. However, the amount of money that is appropriate to offer depends on a number of factors.
- Your closeness with the family: Your support to the grieving family should depend on how close you are to the deceased and their family. In case you are just an acquaintance, you can offer up to $100. However, if you are really close to the family, it might be a good idea to support them with more than $100.
- Your financial conditions: Your financial situation should be a very big determinant of how much money you should offer for a funeral. If your financial obligations are such that they don’t allow you to offer any sort of monetary assistance, it is completely fine to simply be at the funeral to mourn and offer emotional support. You can also offer to provide other forms of assistance such as taking care of a child in the family or running errands for them. On the other hand, if your financial conditions provide you the privilege of offering an extra bit of support, going the extra mile will help the family deal better with the exceptional financial burdens that come with arranging a funeral.
If you do not want to offer direct monetary support, you can also offer meaningful gifts to the family. The most common gift is flowers which cost around $50. You can also offer other handmade gifts to the family as a token of remembrance towards the deceased. But if you want to be truly caring and help the family alleviate the exceptional funeral costs, you can also offer to pay for the casket or the funeral home fees or take care of several other aspects of a funeral.
Funeral Pre-planning: The Way Ahead
It is not unknown that funerals cost a lot of money. From the flowers to the cost of the burial plot - all of it is enough to put families under immense financial distress. Hence, one of the most mindful things one can do as a friend is to suggest others around you to do proper funeral pre-planning. Funeral pre-planning involves taking a proactive approach towards one’s end-of-life planning by making decisions with regards to funeral arrangement and estate distribution. Funeral pre-planning allows people to make financial arrangements in advance, such as setting aside funds or purchasing burial or cremation plans. Sharing information about funeral pre-planning can help others become aware of the potential financial benefits, including the ability to lock in current prices and potentially alleviate financial stress for their loved ones in the future.
Funeral pre-planning can be done online, from the comfort of your home. With Titan Casket, you can browse the 1,000+ collection of caskets and choose the one that suits your taste and budget. You can choose a convenient mode of payment - either pay for the entire amount at once or pay in installments. Once you make the payment, we will send you an agreement that needs to be e-signed in order to make your wishes final.
