Life-Threatening Illness: Steps to Prepare for the Worst

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(Newswire.net — April 2, 2020) — Facing a life-threatening illness means dealing with a great deal of uncertainty. Preemptively planning a funeral home or selecting a cremation service can take an emotional toll that most don’t consider until it’s right in front of them. This doesn’t even include handling finances or considering how a death certificate will be handled. It’s a small, brief relief that there are ways to prepare for the worst, even if you’re dealing with the fears and frustrations that come with a terminal diagnosis.

Plan a Cremation in Advance

Many cancer patients and others suffering from terminal illness opt-out of traditional funeral services for a variety of reasons, instead electing to proceed with a cremation service. While it’s common for the family members of the deceased to navigate funeral options with a funeral director, there are steps you can take in advance to better prepare for the worst. Many funeral homes will allow you to plan the specifics of a funeral service or cremation service.

This is a discussion that should take place amongst family ahead of time as it’s common that your next-of-kin will need to sign off on your desire for a cremation service. You’ll also have to sign a statement of your intention to be cremated and present this to the funeral director or local funeral home. Sometimes, you can handle several steps with a phone call. Other times, you’ll need to visit in person.

Choosing a cremation service will take a bit of research. You can review a crematory registration and license number through your state funeral boards and the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). The state board and NFDA will have information on specific businesses. You can also review the Better Business Bureau listings to see if there are any warnings against a specific service or a restrictive privacy policy in place.

Some things that don’t appear on a crematory registration may appear on the BBB business profile. Or, you can go with a trusted service such as Heritage Cremation Provider. Heritage Cremation offers low-cost cremation services that are also sensitive to all of your specific needs and wishes. Heritage Cremation knows that navigating this tumultuous time in your life is frightening at best. As a funeral group, Heritage Cremation Provider does its utmost to ease you through the process with compassion and sensitivity.

A Matter of Policy

Another frustrating aspect of navigating a life-threatening or terminal illness is the financial component. For many, it’s time to consider facilitating the sale of a life insurance policy. Businesses like American Life Fund or another limited liability company allow you to sell your life insurance policy to third parties to give you quick access to those funds. This can help both to make payments to a funeral group and to ensure your loved ones are well-off in the event of your passing.

To do so, you’ll need to contact a viatical settlement company, verify the accuracy of information on your policy, and wait for them to broker a sale amongst a variety of third parties. If the company is doing their due diligence, they’ll wait for the best of the offers from the third parties interested in purchasing.

To determine the reputation of any settlement brokerage, reviewing their BBB business profile works here, too. They’ll alert you to any warnings and help you determine if sales made to third parties went through as planned. A BBB business profile can also alert you to third parties or a limited liability company that has hangups with issuing payments in a timely manner. This is why so many choose American Life Fund. American Life is known for its reliability and respectability. They advocate for each individual they represent to help them achieve favorable outcomes.

When dealing with a life-threatening illness, this may all seem incredibly overwhelming. It’s important to take each day one step at a time. Rely on quality assistance from organizations like Heritage Cremation Provider and American Life Fund to make it easier and hold your loved ones close. It’s a tumultuous time and you need to focus on the important things.