As more states legalize the form of disposition known as natural organic reduction (NOR), a growing number of people are seriously considering it as their preference. The process is very innovative, resulting in nutrient-rich soil that gives back to nature rather than taking from it. Many people are drawn to NOR because they want to minimize the impact their funeral services have on the environment, even if it isn’t the least expensive type of disposition.
While natural organic reduction isn’t as expensive as a traditional burial or even traditional cremation with funeral services, it does come at a cost. We offer some of the most competitive rates for natural organic reduction with prices starting at $6,499. For many people, that’s a large out-of-pocket expense.
There are different ways to cover the cost of funeral services, and life insurance is one of the most common options. A life insurance policy is established with the purpose of covering expenses that occur upon the policyholder’s death. The beneficiaries will receive benefits from the insurance company, but can they be used to pay for natural organic reduction? Let’s find out by taking a closer look at how life insurance benefits work, if you can use them for NOR services and what to do to make sure you have adequate life insurance coverage for whatever type of disposition you choose.
A Brief Breakdown of Life Insurance Benefits
To understand if a life insurance policy will cover the cost of natural organic reduction, it first helps to understand how life insurance benefits work in general. The general process goes a little something like this:
- An individual selects and applies for a life insurance policy.
- The individual signs a contract with the life insurance company that specifies the monthly premium that must be paid and the amount paid out in death benefits, also known as coverage.
- The policyholder chooses a beneficiary or beneficiaries who receive the death benefits.
- When the policyholder dies the life insurance company pays out the death benefits to the beneficiary/beneficiaries.
- The beneficiary/beneficiaries receive the funds and the life insurance policy is closed.
As you can see, there’s no limitations on how the death benefits are used. Once the life insurance company releases the funds to the beneficiaries they’ve served their role. They aren’t going to monitor what the funds are used for or require verification that the benefits were used to pay for funeral services.
However, one thing to be aware of is that the life insurance company does carefully track whether the premium is paid for a policy. It’s extremely important to make sure the policy is always in good standing, because if it isn’t at the time of the policyholder’s death the beneficiaries may receive nothing.
Can Life Insurance Benefits Be Used to Pay for Natural Organic Reduction?
With all that said, the family should be able to pay for natural organic reduction using life insurance benefits. There shouldn’t be a stipulation limiting the type of disposition that the funds can be used for.
However, how the benefits are used actually depends on the beneficiary and if there’s a last will and testament. Why? Because unless you specify that all or a portion of the life insurance benefits should be used to cover the cost of natural organic reduction, they don’t have to be. It’s completely up to the beneficiary or beneficiaries to spend the funds how they see fit.
The only way to guarantee that the life insurance will cover the cost of natural organic reduction is to create a will after the policy has been established. In the will you can state that the beneficiary of the policy should use a portion of the life insurance death benefits to pay for natural organic reduction services. This is the only way to guarantee that the proceeds go toward your funeral services, no matter what type of disposition you choose.
Getting Natural Organic Reduction Quotes for Life Insurance Coverage
Is your life insurance coverage enough to cover the cost of natural organic reduction? That’s the real question. Because if it isn’t, someone will be paying the difference out of pocket.
Something you can do that will help you answer the question above is to call funeral homes that provide natural organic reduction to get quotes. It will give you a much better idea of the true costs for your unique situation.
Most funeral homes that offer natural organic reduction will have a base rate for the service. This covers all of the essentials for NOR. However, there could be extra or ancillary costs that have to be factored into the total amount. For example, the base rate for natural organic reduction may include a certain number of miles for transporting the body. If the funeral home is traveling a farther distance, then there will be an additional charge based on the number of extra miles traveled.
The more customized you can get with the funeral service quotes the better. If you find that the death benefits cover the funeral services, then great. From there you just need to make sure to document your last wishes for the disposition and how to pay for it. If the death benefits don’t cover the expenses, consider whether it makes more financial sense to pay the difference out of pocket or update the insurance policy for more coverage.
We’re happy to provide customized quotes for our natural organic reduction services and answer any questions that you may have about the process. If you prefer, you can get a funeral service quote online for a better idea of the basic pricing.
For those that are interested, we also have an online pre-planning funeral guide that walks you through the steps as well as prepaid funeral service laws, funeral contracts and much more.
