I saved this NYT article for a rainy day. Finding Out Your Power of Attorney Is Powerless describes situations where families had a financial institution reject a power of attorney subsequent to the principal becoming incapacitated with dementia or Alzheimer’s. My family had a similar experience recently when my mother-in-law had to be admitted to
funerals
NPR’s Stories on the Funeral Industry: Crossing the Street can save Thousands
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Consumer Advocates, Preplanning
The take away from the recent NPR stories on the funeral industry is that consumers should preplan their funerals to control costs, and if the objective is to compare funeral homes and their prices then plan to visit each prospective funeral home.
The first story reports on a widow who spent more than $7,000 on…
Picking Up The Tab For Death Care: Municipalities and Counties
By Bill Stalter on
Taxpayers, through their local governments, have always borne some of the cost of death care. Taxes go toward the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries and the final disposition of the indigent. But as the New York Times reports, the economy is causing more families to abandon the care of their dead to local governments. While many…