Service Charges
To help you understand funeral costs we have prepared an outline of the categories that make up funeral expenses. There are basically three sections : Professional services, merchandise, and cash disbursements.
To help consumers, Federal Trade Commission legislation has required since 1984 that all funeral homes must provide an itemized price list of all of their related professional service charges as well as casket and merchandise charges. This list must be available at the consumers' request without cost or obligation. This list is available at the funeral home.
We pride ourselves on being a full service funeral home, where our basic service include all the coordinating of details, arranging with third parties, obituary notices, Social Security notification, Veterans Administration paperwork, and "attention to the little things" that contribute to our level of professionalism, the quality of our facilities, and our ethical standards. Consumers and families finally can learn first hand that there is a difference in the service we provide and that of a direct cremation or direct burial business. We trust that this service will give you one more reason to give the Holmes Funeral Home and the Watkins Funeral Home serious consideration when seeking a funeral home that is pro-actively working towards providing you the highest standards of services and facilities while offering affordable solutions.
As mentioned above, the Federal Trade Commission requires funeral homes have an itemized price list available at the funeral home. Because of all the itemized price combinations possible based upon what type of funeral arrangements a family can have, our range of professional services can be from $3,300.00 to $6,200.00. A direct cremation provider's advertised cost will be for what is minimally necessary and needed to carry out the cremation. Any additional services (help with and submit obituary notice, contact the Veterans Administration for any possible benefits, coordinate with any third parties for services or burial of the ashes,etc.) will most like incur additional expenses.
Casket & Merchandise Selections
This section is specific to the casket that a family selects. All of our caskets and merchandise are priced separately - meaning the price you see for the casket is for the casket itself with no other items included. Many years ago, when most all funerals involved the purchase of a casket, the funeral home's professional service charge was included in the cost listed on the casket, which is one reason why many people perceive caskets as overly expensive. Caskets today, and their prices, are like any other commodity, there are different levels of quality, detail, and appearance that determines the cost. A well built wood or metal casket requires the same amount of craftsmanship as a well built piece of furniture or a well built automobile. Besides caskets, some other types of merchandise are: grave liner/burial vaults, stationery packages, cremation containers, cremation urns, cremation jewelry, scattering urns, mini urns, flag cases, and grave markers. Again, each cost is itemized based on your selection. Our caskets prices range from $1,175.00 to $7,000.00, outer burial containers from $1,280.00 to $3,095, cremation containers from $60.00 to $1,025.00, and urns starting at $260.00.
Cash Disbursements
Cash disbursements are designed to aid the families we serve and to offer a convenience. We will pay the third parties and place their charges on our billing, this eliminates multiple paperwork to record expenses related to the funeral, burial, cremation, etc.
State of Connecticut regulation ensures that these items are not marked up (unless disclosed) and only the exact "cost" is included on the funeral account. Typical cash disbursements might include:
- Newspaper Obituary Notices
- Clergy/Church/Celebrant Honorariums
- Cemetery Charges
- Crematory Charges
- Medical Examiner's cremation fee
- Certified copies of death certificate
- Tent and/or chairs at Cemetery
- Vault Company Cemetery Equipment and or Overtime
- Sales Tax
Payment Policy
Our payment policy offers three options : A down payment (all third party charges and 25% of the funeral home's charges) with the balance due in 30 days. This choice is helpful for those that need to process insurance policies or open an estate at a Probate court. (Any expenses paid by a family member should be eligable to be reimbursed by the estate). We offer a immediate payment discount off our services and merchandise (5% if paid by cash or check, or 2.5% if paid by MasterCard or Visa credit card). A third option is an assignment of a insurance policy to the funeral home provided the policy is fully paid up and will cover the cost of the expenses.
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