How Much Money Do You Need For A Funeral?

An unexpected funeral brings with it emotional pain and sorrow, so the cost of that funeral may be the furthest thing from your mind. This is understandable, and grief does come first. However, you cannot fully ignore the cost. It’s far more than a lot of people realize, and facing it without a plan in place can be daunting.

For instance, perhaps your spouse was injured in a slip and fall accident in a store. It did not appear serious at first, but it turned out that your spouse had a head injury. That led to bleeding on the brain. He or she passed away a week after the incident.

No one ever thinks it will happen to them, but it does happen and it’s critical to know what to do next. To start with, consider the cost of the average funeral in the United States: $7,000 and $10,000.

How many people have $10,000 that they can just spend at the drop of a hat? While these are rough figures and the real totals could vary from case to case, the costs include things like:

• A funeral director’s fee: $1,500
• The cost of embalming: $500
• A casket: $2,300
• A grave and grave-digging services: $1,600
• The funeral home rental: $500
• A grave liner: $1,000
• A headstone: $1,500

This does not even account for things like medical bills, transportation services, flowers, refreshments at the funeral and much more. The costs can quickly go beyond anything you are prepared to pay. In a case like this, it is very important to know what rights you may have to financial compensation if a loved one passed away due to an accident caused by someone else’s negligence.