Surprise Ending
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2003-06-30 11:09:27
Gladys Bohn of Modesto, Calif., didn't want to leave her family with the burden of an expensive funeral when she died, so in 1989 she arranged and paid for everything—from an elegant casket to flower arrangements—in advance. According to relatives, she even gave the funeral home the dress and shoes she wished to be buried in.
Bohn died 11 years later at 96. Nothing could have prepared her family, however, for what was to come.
The funeral was little more than a simple graveside ceremony. There were no flowers, no elegant casket and, they would later learn, no pretty dress. Bohn's body, clad in a hospital gown, had been put in a body bag and placed in a Styrofoam box for burial.
Bohn's family, which knew of her careful preparations, had the ceremony stopped and later filed suit against the funeral home, alleging breach of contract and fraud. (AARP attorneys have joined the family's lawsuit as co-counsel.)
"You should never buy a prepaid funeral plan," the Rev. Henry Wasielewski of Tempe, Ariz., a Catholic priest who's regarded as an expert on the industry, told the AARP Bulletin. "It's dangerous. You're going to get tricked and cheated."
Nonetheless, surveys show that more and more Americans are signing "preneed" agreements under which they pay in advance for their funeral and burial expenses. But the preneed industry is rife with deceptive sales practices and outright fraud, says Lisa Carlson, executive director of the Vermont-based Funeral Consumers Alliance. Many families find it difficult, she adds, to ensure that the goods and services a loved one paid for were in fact supplied.
The Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule doesn't specifically address the sale of preneed agreements, and state laws vary widely. Some states require specific disclosures, clear language and large-size print; many don't.
"There are instances where fraud occurs, but you can't prevent wrongdoing," says John Fitch of the 14,000-member National Funeral Directors Association. "Those instances are rare."
AARP advises consumers to preplan but not to prepay, largely because preneed contracts can leave so many important questions unanswered.
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