Funerals – Living in an Uncertain World
I understand in the UK that the uptake on funeral plan purchases is quite staggering. I find this quite refreshing as it means that the British are at long last able to discuss their demise in a clear and constructive way. One wonders if this is down to the “baby boomers” coming of age at long last.
I realise that some of the “baby boomers” are living in Spain but there are many others who need to be persuaded that a funeral plan is essential, especially when living in a country and culture different to their own. Why do I say that? I felt the need to start to offer funeral plans after I lost my husband in unexpected circumstances many years ago. Not only was it very expensive but exceedingly stressful. I must admit that I had never heard of funeral plans been available in Spain before his death.
Last year sadly, I lost my partner, and again it was a steep learning curve but a very different one. Philippe wasn´t very interested in a funeral plan, as he was Belge /French and had never heard of them and like many men he didn´t believe it would happen to him ( I hear this often), although I was very close to persuading him. When his two sons arrived in great distress from Belgium, they could do nothing until they had obtained their own NIE´s, not even to request a funeral (even I didn´t know this). Had a funeral plan been in place, the whole procedure would have been very much simpler, far less stressful and they would not have had the additional burden of having to find a large sum of money immediately. They would still have required NIE´s for all the other issues but not for the funeral. Even with my help and others, it took over two weeks before they were able to return home, and they have since had to return to continue the paperwork. This has obviously been very costly and emotional for them both. Without myself and the help of my staff, I dread to think how much longer everything would have taken.
As far as I am concerned, it is the most loving and supportive action that you could do for each other and your entire family. So therefore why not take a moment of your time and ask yourself – have you done all you can to help your partner and your family cope with one of the most dreadful times of their lives – or are you going to ignore the inevitable and leave your family to sort out everything that is required of them?
Having had experience of this and seen the effect it had on my partner’s two sons, who in their grief had to deal with the whole process of a funeral, instead of making one call, to have it all organised and paid for. How much simpler it could have been.
You know it makes sense. Contact one of my offices for more information or go to my website www.jennifercunningham.net.
