Save Stress and Money for your Loved Ones through End-of-Life Planning
Mt. Calvary & Gethsemani Catholic Cemetery, Happy Valley, Oregon
Save Stress and Money for your Loved Ones through End-of-Life Planning
Does your family have $10,000 or more set aside to pay for a traditional funeral and cemetery plot? Have you designated who should handle the final arrangements and have you signed the appropriate paperwork so the family won’t be left squabbling about who should do what? The July 7, 2024, edition of the Seattle Times includes a long article explaining how advance planning for end-of-life matters can save money and stress. Here’s the link to the article: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/seattle-area-funerals-are-costly-heres-why-and-how-you-can-plan. I hope the pay wall won’t block you from reading it.
The article quotes Casey Husseman, Executive Director of the co-op funeral home of People’s Memorial, the organization where I was once employed. People’s Memorial, a non-profit, consumer-oriented organization has for many years produced a survey of funeral and cremation costs for funeral homes across the state. PMA publishes the results as a public service for Washington residents. Survey results from 2 years ago showed an average price of $5738 for traditional funeral services, not including cemetery expenses or extras such as flowers, newspaper obituaries, and fees for clergy. The average cost for direct cremation was $1722, not including fancy urns or placement in a cemetery.
One of the most eye-opening things about the price survey is the huge range of costs at different facilities. You can download the 2022 Price Survey for either King County or the entire state at: https://peoplesmemorial.org/education-and-advocacy/price-survey.html. Looking just at the survey results for King County, here’s the price range:
Type of Service and Cost Range (2022 Survey)
Direct Cremation: $597 - $4315
Direct Burial: $1290 - $6690
Complete Funeral (not including cemetery): $2515 - $12,110
Natural organic reduction (compost): $4950 - $7000
Aquamation (a liquifying process): $993 - $3345
People’s Memorial is currently preparing this year’s price survey, expected out in the fall of 2024. The current prices offered to members of People’s Memorial Association for services offered at their Co-op Funeral Home are found at: https://funerals.coop/pricing/gpl.html.
Direct Cremation: $1250 Direct Burial: $2250
Terramation (also known as natural organic reduction): $3960
Aquamation: $1650
PMA members join this non-profit membership organization by paying a one-time membership fee, currently set at $99. This fee entitles members to discounted cremation and funeral services, but also to a variety of educational workshops, planning paperwork, an annual meeting with interesting speakers, and a promise that everyone will be treated with courtesy and no attempt made to sell services or products the family does not want.
Here's the link to join online: https://peoplesmemorial.org/membership/membership_application.html
In case you’d like to review my other blog posts on related topics, here’s a link to a list of articles I’ve written: http://www.commonsensereflections.info/search?q=end+of+life+planning.
Happy planning! Your family will appreciate your efforts. The pictures in this blog post are ones I took at the burial of the cremated remains of my cousin, Cheryl Hayek.
Carolyn Hayek