Funeral Planning

5108 Lake Isabella Blvd

Lake Isabella, CA 93240

(760) 379-5829

lakeisabellavalleymortuary@gmail.com

FD-1972

Each of our customers comes to Lake Isabella Valley Mortuary  with a unique situation and one-of-a-kind needs. However many of our clients ask the same questions of our funeral arrangers. Whether we are serving a family in Bakersfield or in the Kern River Valley, our clients have many of the same concerns. 

Our most common discussions with families are Pre-need vs At Need,  Cremation vs Burial, and Life /Funeral Insurance. Here we answer your 3 most common funeral planning questions.

Pre-need funeral arrangemets are contracts for funeral services made before the time of death. At need arrangements are made at the time of someone's passing.

 Pre-need funeral contracts are always a better situation for consumers beause they "lock in" the price of a funeral & merchandise. Funeral homes cannot control prices of many of the products they use to serve you (such as fuel, metal or wood caskets etc.) so a pre-need contract allows you to choose your exact items and services at a guaranteed price right now. The funeral home must honor that price by law regardless of the future prices of those same products.

For example, if you select a casket for $1295.00 today, and your funeral doesn't occur for 25 more years, we will still honor the $1295.00 price, even though that same casket may cost $3500.00 25 years from now. 

 NOTE* Pre-need funeral contracts must be signed and funded with a life insurance contract.

Many clients come to the funeral home with this on their mind.

Cremations are more popular than they were 50 years ago. While cost can be a factor, cremation has lost the "super cheap" stigma it once carried. We still offer very affordable basic cremations, but we also offer all of the classic services you probably associate with a traditional burial. Here at Lake Isabella Valley Mortuary we are experts at fulfilling your unique need. 

So if you're thinking "I really want to be cremated, but my family wants a burial, it's our tradition" then we will have your perfect solution. For instance, you can have a full funeral service, followed by a cremation. We even offer a rental casket (with your own single use lining)  to help keep costs down if this is your special situation. 

Ultimately, the cremation vs burial debate deserves an entire web site, if not it's own page. However here are some pros and cons of both to help you decide:

Burials:

Pros-

- allow for visitation by family and friends, helping them wih their grieving process.

- provide layers of record keeping. Future generations may have an easier time researching genealogy.

-required by some religions.

-allow for future scientific research (in the case of foul play, or rare disease etc)

Cons-

-can be costly

-some people who have environmental concerns and feel that human remans burials take up too much "real estate" all ready.

Cremations:

Pros-

-usually less expensive

-you have options for the remains, they can be kept at home, with a relative, or scattered etc.

-no burial plot needed

Cons-

-cremation is permanent, cremated remains can never be "un-cremated" for research

-remains can be lost, misplaced, or simply scattered and forgotten

-some people who have environmental concerns may feel that emissions from cremations are an issue. 

As noted above, pre-need arrangements need to be funded. 

Here in California, consumers cannot pre-pay for a funeral directly unless they are a patient on hospice. 

We find that the simplest, most affordable, most reliable way to fund a funeral contract is via Funeral Insurance. We staff a licensed life insurance agent who can get a life insurance policy issued to you for the exact amount of your funeral contract. Unlike large corporate insurers who only want life insurance policies in the hundreds of thousands, we can write policies for small & specific amounts. 

This way you can pay for your funeral all at once, or make payments over a period of years. 

At Lake Isabella Valley Mortuary we are experts at funeral planning. 

No specific need is too overwhelming, and no funeral plan is too complex. 

Call us for an appointment today! (760) 379-5829

We serve all areas of Kern County including Bakersfield, Kern River Valley, Ridgecrest & more!