Advance Planning means deciding ahead of time what your wishes are for your funeral or that of a loved one. We are here to make this conversation as easy as possible and, when you meet with us, we will provide you with a personalized Advance Planning Guide with details of your selections, as well as many resources for your family.

Advance planning makes things much easier on your family because they don't have to decide what you would have wanted while they are also grieving. It frees up their time to focus on supporting each other, instead of worrying about making funeral decisions. We have several hundred people a year who come in to meet with us in order to care for their family in this way.

We would recommend that this is exactly the time you should be coming in to have this conversation. Having met with families suffering a sudden loss and are left directionless, we cannot over-emphasize the importance of having honest conversations (with yourself and your family). We have been told many times by people who come in to meet with us that this is a gift they are giving to their children or other family members who may have to care for them.

Some people prefer to come by themselves, but we strongly recommend you include people closest to you, whether that be a spouse, friend, or other family member. Besides the support they can provide to you, it also helps for another person to be aware of your wishes.

By fully pre-paying a funeral, you reduce the financial burden on those closest to you and can be assured that money will be there to help cover future funeral costs. Your family will not have to worry about coming up with the money to pay for a funeral while also readjusting to daily life and handlng your affairs. Levinson’s also has a special guarantee program where the cost of the services we directly provide can be locked in. 

We have many people who come in to pre-pay funerals in order to spend down their assets, and we have all the proper paperwork for protecting those assets. As long as the funds are placed into an account set up as an irrevocable trust or assignment, those funds will not count towards a person's assets for Medicaid purposes. 

We understand that not everyone can afford to pay for a funeral in its entirety, which is another important reason for Advance Planning. We offer several payment options and the Advance Planning Specialist you meet with will review the available options with you. While most people pay all at once if that is possible for them, some people choose to break up payments into several large sums, and others choose to make many smaller payments over a longer period of time. Any amount you pay toward your funeral in advance is that much less that your family will have to take care of when the time comes.

An Advance Planning meeting lasts about an hour. You will meet with one of our funeral directors who specialize in Advance Planning and they will review a series of information – starting with background information like family names and statistical information that we need for filing important paperwork, and then they will review all the options that go into a funeral service. They will also review personalization options with you. Based on your selections, you will be provided with an itemization of funeral services. We encourage you to watch this brief video explaining the process. 

Funds for pre-paid funerals are held in such a way that they can be used by any funeral home in the country. We hope you always feel a connection to the Baltimore area but we understand that sometimes life draws people elsewhere, therefore we make sure there is flexibility in where the funds can be used.

Our Levinson’s Advance Planning Guide is a personalized resource that we provide when people come in and meet with us. We begin filling it out with important information, keep a copy of what we need to have on file here, and give you the Guide to take home and use as a resource for your family. It does not cost anything to meet with us and get your copy.

There are only two things you need to do: set up an appointment and submit some basic information. We will take it from there.