Planning Ahead

Why Should I Plan Ahead?

Not everyone likes to plan ahead, but pre-planning your funeral arrangements not only gives you peace of mind about your final wishes being honored, but alleviates some of the stress and burden your loved ones are going through as they experience the grief associated with the loss.
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The staff of Joseph J. Stutz, Inc. Funeral Home is happy to assist you with your funeral pre-needs by helping you make decisions about your funeral service in advance and guide you in helping eliminate some of the unnecessary stress brought on by a loved one’s death.

Secure Online Preplanning Form

SECURE PREPLANNING FORM

Benefits of Preplanning

It's Easy

You can take your time creating arrangements that best suit your needs and preferences, and all you have to do is fill out a form or meet with a member of our staff to put your plan in place. Anyone can create a plan, at any stage in their life, and you can make changes at a later date if you wish.

Let's You Decide How You Want To Be Remembered

Creating your own unique life celebration allows you to make sure that your wishes and desires are respected upon your passing. However you decide to be memorialized, pre-planning and preparation gives you control over the personal decisions that must be made when a person moves on from this life. Planning can be meaningful for your family, as well, if you choose to include them in the process. It can help them to feel connected to you both in life and in death, knowing that your arrangements reflect exactly what you envisioned them to be.

Relieves The Burden From Friends & Family

When a loved one passes, the family faces an overwhelming number of tasks and decisions, all while struggling through grief and a range of difficult emotions. By taking care of your arrangements before the time of need, you’re relieving them of that burden and giving them more time and energy to focus on healing and remembrance. They won’t have to ask themselves, “Am I making the right choices?” and can instead focus on what matters: saying goodbye and celebrating your life journey with those who cared about you most.

It Gives You The Ability To Prepay

While pre-funding your funeral is certainly not required in order to pre-plan, pre-payment means that your funds will be set aside and protected against inflation and unforeseen increases in cost. Your family won’t have to worry about payment, and can enjoy peace of mind knowing that everything has been taken care of. We’d be happy to provide you with more information and help you arrange for pre-funding of your services.

With LCBA You Get Benefits You Can Use Now!

Most providers will tell you that when you purchase life insurance you're buying peace of mind: the certainty that if you die unexpectedly and your income goes away, the people who depend on you won't be left without financial resources. That's true and wonderful. It's also the primary benefit LCBA offers.


But wouldn't it be nice to get something you can use TODAY in exchange for the premiums you pay? When you purchase an LCBA insurance certificate or annuity, you do! You become a member of a fraternal benefit society: a not-for-profit organization that operates under the "common bond" of Christianity and returns earnings from the sale of financial service products to our members in the form of discount/value added benefits and support service projects through our member branches in their communities.


Your member benefits include things like scholarships and discounts. Does this add to the cost of your life insurance or annuity? NOT ONE PENNY! It's just what we do with our net proceeds instead of paying shareholders like our for-profit competitors.

Common Questions About Preplanning

  • What if I move?

    Once you create your pre-plan with us, we store it in our files as a record of your final wishes and decisions. Your plan is easily transferable to any funeral home in the United States, so it can be used wherever you might choose to relocate. No matter where you live at the time of your passing, or which funeral home’s services you decide to use, we’ll make sure that your plan follows you there.

  • Where do I start?

    The first step is to review our Pre-Planning Checklist to help you consider all of your possibilities and gather all of the information you’ll need. Then, you can use our Pre-Planning Form to begin creating your personalized arrangements. You can also contact us to schedule a time to meet with a member of our staff to discuss your options and design your plan in person.

  • What information do I need to prearrange a funeral?

    You'll need basic information about yourself or the person you are planning for, such as date of birth, marital status, parent's full names, etc. Besides the biological information, you'll need to choose burial or cremation, what type of service you'd like, what cemetery to use, etc. Our caring staff will help you with this process.

  • Do I have to pay in advance?

    Preplanning is merely making your wishes known; however, most families who do this also choose to pre-fund their funeral. Doing so will relieve the financial burden on your family and offer peace of mind to you.

  • Can I transfer my plans to or from another funeral home?

    If you have plans at another funeral home and would like to move them here, we will help you do that. If you move from the area and would like to transfer your arrangements to another funeral home, we will assist you with that as well.