Monthly Archives: September 2020

funeral home in Langhorne, PA

Social Media Accounts After Funeral Homes

You can’t just leave a deceased’s social media or otherwise online life behind. There are a lot of financial and legal steps you need to take when someone you love passes away and has a service at a funeral home in Langhorne, PA, but you can’t forget about their social media and other online accounts.

Use these tips to take care of common online accounts after a death:

  • Google – Start with Google. Thankfully, Google accounts are fairly easy to deal with. If the deceased had any kind or any number of Google accounts, from Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Calendar to Google Photos, Gmail or even YouTube, they had a Google ID. Google has a program called Inactive Account Manager in which someone can preset all data and accounts linked to their Google ID to be wiped after a certain period of inactivity. If the deceased used that program, your work is done. If they didn’t, simply file a request to Google, submit documents proving your relationship to the deceased, and the company will close down the Google ID.
  • Twitter – Twitter will work with a verified immediate family member or an executor of an estate to deactivate a deceased’s account. You must submit a request for a deactivation and removal online, upon which you will be sent an email with instructions for providing proper documentation of your relationship to the deceased and the death.
  • Facebook – Facebook has set up two different methods to handle a deceased’s account: Deletion and Memorialization. If you wish to delete their Facebook page, you have to submit a request to Facebook, provide documentation proving they are deceased and your relationship to them, and wait the 90-day period. Facebook also offers a Memorialization option, which turns the deceased’s page into an online memorial that keeps the original content and allows others to post memories, comments and photos.
  • Instagram – Instagram is similar to Facebook in that it allows the bereaved to delete or memorialize an account. Only immediate family members can file a request to delete an Instagram account, and they are required to submit proof of relationship and proof of death, such as a death certificate. Instagram accounts can be memorialized once the company gets a valid request backed up by death documentation and proof of relationship. A memorialized Instagram account can’t be changed at all, and the posts will only be visible to the audience with which they were first shared. In other words, you can’t make a memorialized account public if it was originally private.

funeral home in Langhorne, PAOur digital footprints will only get bigger the longer our society spends online. You can also make it easier for your family after you’re gone by taking steps now to organize your accounts. If you want to make things easier on your family and loved ones after your death, start making a list of all your accounts, usernames, and passwords now so they have easy access to your information.

J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel is here to help if you want to learn more about dealing with death or Langhorne, PA funeral homes.

cremation services in Washington Crossing, PA

Pre-Need and At-Need Planning

You might have heard the phrases, “at-need services” and “pre-need services” when discussing cremation services in Washington Crossing, PA. However, like many others, there is a good chance that you don’t know what they mean. And that’s ok! This article is here to help clear things up for you.

To begin, both “at-need” and “pre-need” describe when services are offered. At-need funeral or cremation services are offered to families “at the time of need.” In other words, at-need services are for after a death has already occurred. Pre-need funeral or cremation services are offered to individuals who are planning ahead or are making funeral or cremation planning decisions prior to their passing.

At-need funeral services are used in two situations: in the event of a sudden, unexpected death or when a family or individual has decided to wait until the time of death to make funeral plans. In both situations the deceased and the bereaved have not made plans in advance of the death. At-need services are also not selected by the deceased, but instead by the surviving next of kin or family members of the deceased. Pre-need services are selected by an individual before their time of death. Sometimes people choose to preplan far in advance when they are making plans for their will or estate, but in other cases people can preplan closer to their time of death.

While both at-needs and pre-needs cremation services can have benefits and negatives, and sometimes at-needs services are unavoidable if the death was unexpected, many argue that pre-needs services are much better. There are many reasons why pre-need planning is good, such as:

  • Maintaining Self Reliance – Taking charge of your funeral or memorial service allows you to maintain control and independence when you might otherwise lose them. This is good for your mental health at the end of your life and gives you more self-reliance. Funeral and memorial services are an important part of the grieving process, but your loved ones might miss out on the important benefits if they are too busy planning the event. Preplan so they don’t have to.
  • Have the Service You Want – Make sure you get the exact funeral or cremation you want by taking care of the details and clearly laying them out for your friends and family. This way they won’t be able to argue or disagree. You can also plan for how to cover the funeral or cremation costs in advance to make it easier for your family’s bank accounts and stress levels. Look into cremation insurance or funeral trusts to help ensure financial ease
  • Lessen Your Family’s Load – Let your family know exactly what you want for your cremation so they don’t have to guess what to do after you’re gone, or spend time making painful decisions when they should be grieving with loved ones.

cremation services in Washington Crossing, PA

If you want to learn more about Washington Crossing, PA cremation services or at-need and pre-need planning, just get in touch with J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel.

funeral home in Washington Crossing, PA

Millennials and Preplanning

If you’re a millennial or in a similar young age group, you probably haven’t and don’t want to think about funeral planning. We don’t blame you – even people that aren’t as young as you don’t want to think about their passing. But you need to spend time thinking about what you want for a funeral home in Washington Crossing, PA as preplanning is very important.

These tips can help you get started:

  1. Choose a Funeral Home– The very first step is to choose a funeral home, as someone will need to prepare your remains for disposition, handle your service, and even be a place to hold your service. Do some research on local funeral homes to learn about their prices, services, beliefs, and offerings. This way you can find one that has what you need and want.
  2. What About Disposition? – More and more people, especially younger generations, are choosing cremation over burial as, to them, burial is a waste of space, money and time. In fact, the National Funeral Directors Association reports that more than half of the dispositions in the USA these days are cremations. But what do you want? Do you want to be buried? Cremated? You can still have a traditional funeral service if you want to be cremated, or you can have a non-traditional memorial service even if you want to be buried. It’s totally up to you! Your funeral director can help you determine what you want done with your remains before, at, and after the service.
  3. Save Some Money – Millennials are also looking to save money on funeral expenses, like caskets. Yes, some caskets are expensive. But there are tons of other options that are much more budget friendly. Your funeral director can advise you on the best one to choose for your needs and budget.
  4. funeral home in Washington Crossing, PACheck Prices – In addition to using Google, Yelp and other websites to help you find a good funeral home you can also check the funeral home’s actual website to get a good idea of pricing. Funeral homes are required by law to provide clear and accurate prices for all of their services so you can get a good idea of what’s available and how much it will cost before you event step foot into a funeral home.
  5. Consider Religion – Younger generations are also moving away from funeral and memorial services, as many people think that funerals and memorials are strictly religious events. While funerals can certainly be religious, they don’t have to be. You can choose to have a non-traditional memorial service that isn’t religious or hire a funeral celebrant to lead a non-religious funeral. Your funeral service can be anything you want it to. Do you love golf? You can have a celebrant focus on your golf game. Are you a huge flower lover? Cover your funeral in flowers.

J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel, a Washington Crossing, PA funeral home, is here to help if you want to learn more about preplanning and our services.

Newtown, PA cremation

Be Prepared for Cremation Services

Even though no one will ever be fully prepared a loved one’s death and cremation service in Newtown, PA, it’s still important to take steps now to make your passing smoother for your family.

As scary as it is to plan for your death, you need to do whatever you can to make it easier for your loved ones after you’re gone. So, what can you do to prepare for your death right now?

The first step is to leave your last wishes. Make it known how you want your funeral or memorial to be done. Do you want a cremation service? A memorial? Traditional burial? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered when it comes to planning a service, so don’t leave your loved ones to answer all of them when their grieving your loss.

Your family might rely on you for financial support, meaning that when you die, they will not only lose you but will also love the income you provided. Take care of your loved ones by purchasing life insurance. Life insurance can help offset the costs of funeral and cremation services and can also provide additional income for living expenses, remaining debts and other costs.

You also need to make a will. Everyone should have a will, as wills make it easy for the bereaved to know exactly what the deceased wanted. Plus, if you don’t leave a will, the state might end up choosing who gets your asses and who will care for your dependents. Double check that your 401k, life insurance, and IRAs have the correct beneficiaries listed. In other words, make sure that the people or person you want to get the money after your gone are listed on the documents. This is especially important as someone’s beneficiary documents can supersede wills and even divorces.

Newtown, PA cremationWhat about all your documents? You might know where your important documents are, but will your family be able to find them? They might not know to check the top dresser drawer for your will, the bottom drawer for your life insurance policy, and your desk for the bank account information. Make it easier on your loved ones and keep all your important documents in one safe place that is easily found and accessed by a surviving family member. Include your social security card; legal forms for retirement accounts, deeds, and rental agreements; tax returns; and lists of all online and computer passwords. Don’t forget to sort your possessions. Catalog important items of monetary or sentimental value to ensure they are kept and passed to the proper person after you’re gone. Don’t forget to notate why each item is important so no information gets lost.

J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel is here to help if you want to learn more about what you can do for your eventual passing. We can assist with any preplanning or Newtown, PA cremation service questions you may have. Call or visit us today!