The Law Gives You The Right To Put Funeral Funds In Trust
It is your loved one's right under the law to set aside personal funds for funeral expenses.
The Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act allows individuals to place funds in trust for funeral expenses. In Illinois, families have placed nearly $500 million in trust for prearranged funerals. The rules of IDHS allow people to place funds in trust for burial expenses and still be eligible to receive assistance.
How Much Can A Person Place In A Funeral Trust And Still Qualify For Public Aid?
The rules of the Illinois Department of Public Aid allow a person to place up to $1,500 in a funeral trust to pay for certain professional charges including all professional fees, clergy fees and newspaper fees or place up to $5,219 in an irrevocable trust in addition to maintaining a $2,000 cash asset disregard. The person may also pay for a casket, vault, grave space, marker, crypt, mausoleum, grave opening and closing charges and sales tax.
By taking advantage of this prearrangement option, a person can set aside personal funds for funeral prearrangement before applying for IDHS assistance. These funds are considered exempt assets. This means that IDHS will not count these funds when they are reviewing an application to see if someone qualifies to receive assistance.
By planning ahead, you guarantee that your loved one may set aside personal funds to provide the type of funeral service he or she wants and you want him or her to have.
What Happens If A Person Spends All His Personal Funds and Then Applies For IDHS Assistance? Will There Be Funds To Pay For The Funeral?
If a person spent all his or her personal funds and then applied for IDHS assistance, he or she would be approved for benefits. At the time of his or her death, the state would pay $1,000 for funeral services and up to $500 for burial expenses. It is not sufficient.
If the same person had established a funeral trust before receiving Public Aid, he or she could have had funeral expenses as outlined above and still have received public assistance for personal care. Prepare and plan now to provide for your loved one's expenses.
How Do I Set Up A Funeral Trust? What Should I Do First?
Make an appointment to meet with your funeral director. Your funeral director is prepared to answer your questions about prearrangements, trust funds, and Illinois Department of Human Services requirements. Helping people set up funeral trusts and preplanning before they apply for assistance is one of the services your funeral director offers.
| 
