Planning ahead
Most families we serve are making these decisions in the first hours after a death. It does not have to be that way, and arranging it in advance costs nothing to start.
Three things, and the money is the least of them. It settles which country and city your family is returning you to, which is a conversation far easier to have now than through tears on a telephone. It settles who is legally authorized to act, so nobody spends a day establishing that while your loved one waits. And it settles the price.
Families who have done this tell us the relief was not financial. It was that on the day, there was nothing to decide.
We will put the shipping service fee in writing at today’s figure and hold it. What we cannot lock is the airfare: the airline sets that at the time of travel, it depends on the destination and the weight of the shipment, and it is calculated then at cost with no mark-up or commission from us.
Anyone who tells you they can guarantee an all-in international shipping price years in advance is either carrying the airline risk themselves or is going to revisit the number later. We would rather tell you which part is fixed and which part is not.
The destination country and, if you know it, the city or town and whether a family plot or receiving funeral home is already chosen. Who you want named as the person authorized to act. Whether you have served in the armed forces, because that opens entitlements your family may not know about. And whether there is a faith or community custom we should be planning around.
None of it is binding on your family. A pre-arrangement is a plan and a held price, not a contract that traps anybody.
A great many of these conversations are a son or daughter planning for a parent who is seriously ill, often with hospice already involved. That is an entirely normal thing to do and we will handle it gently. Knowing the destination and the authorized person in advance routinely takes days off the timeline later, and days matter when relatives abroad are waiting to hold a funeral.
Yes. We will lock the shipping service fee at today’s figure and put it in writing. Airfare cannot be locked because the airline sets it at the time of travel; it is calculated then at cost with no mark-up. Pre-arranging also records the destination and the legally authorized person, which is usually what takes the most time later.
No. It is a plan and a held price, not a contract that binds your family to us. If circumstances change, or the family decides differently on the day, nothing prevents that.
Yes, and it is common, frequently with hospice already involved. We handle those conversations gently and at your pace. Recording the destination and the authorized person in advance routinely removes days from the timeline later.
There is no cost, no deposit and no obligation to begin. A licensed funeral director will talk it through with you at whatever pace suits.
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