Paying for a Funeral

It is no secret that funeral expenses can be quite high; many individuals and families find themselves unprepared for the realities of paying for funeral services. In order to help you and your family prepare and ensure peace of mind, we have created a list of payment options that has been helpful to our clients in the past:

PAYMENT & CREDIT POLICY Our firm has established a uniform credit policy to serve all families fairly and to alleviate misunderstandings. A sound credit policy enables us to contain our costs to the families we serve. As a small business providing services and merchandise, we are totally dependent upon our clients for prompt payment. Our general credit policy is that the entire amount of the funeral is due and payable prior to services being rendered. We realize that caring for the death of a loved one is often unexpected and unplanned. For your convenience, we offer 12 payment options:

Personal Check • Bank Check • Money Order • Cash • Visa • MasterCard • Discover • American Express • Debit Card • Prearrangement • Insurance Assignment • Paypal

Assignable Life Insurance: Life insurance may be used as a means of full or partial payment for funeral and other related expenses. We work with Beta Capital, a third-party firm, who accepts insurance assignments. A fee of 5% of the assigned amount will be charged and reflected on your statement of goods and services as an “insurance processing fee.”

Cash, Credit Cards or Personal Check

It is our goal to offer you the utmost convenience in making arrangements and as such we accept any standard payment method for services rendered. Please ask about payment plans, which may be available. You can also make a payment on our website here.

Pre-Payment

It is always an option to pre-pay for certain funeral arrangements at a time when you are comfortable making such an investment. Pre-payment guarantees that your wishes for a funeral service are fully carried out and, when the time comes, it will most certainly alleviate some stress from your family.

Life Insurance

You may use an existing life insurance policy to pay for a funeral. Please bring the policy information when you meet with one of our counselors and we will handle all the paperwork to claim this benefit on your behalf. Sometimes, family members may not know if their deceased loved one had existing life insurance. You can contact the New Hampshire Insurance Department to find out. Reach them by phone at (603) 271-2261 or by email at consumerservices@ins.nh.gov.

Funeral Financing Assistance

Phaneuf partners with Memorial Funding to allow our families to finance the cost of a funeral or memorial service. Deaths are often unexpected, and prior arrangements may not have been made. However, you want to honor your loved one with a respectful farewell. Memorial Funding works with about 30 lenders, and you can apply for financing via this link. Phaneuf and Memorial Funding do not receive any compensation and do not have any say in the approval process for loans.

Crowdfunding

There are many sources of crowdfunding out there nowadays. Although some people may have reservations about using this tool, it is important to remember that many family, friends and loved ones wish to help alleviate your pain and suffering after a death occurs, and may not know of a way to do so—a crowdfund may give them just the option for which they were searching.

Phaneuf Family Foundation

The Phaneuf Family Foundation is a non-profit offering financial assistance for funeral and cremation arrangements for New Hampshire and Vermont families and individuals in need. The foundation’s maximum distribution amount to any one request by a family, organization or student will not exceed $1,000. Requests for distributions may be made by a family member, friend, funeral director, social worker, hospice or nursing home employee or other interested party. Learn more.