Relatives run the mortuary in my home town and did exactly what my parents had written in their trust. Ours is crystal clear as well.
Dad had prepayed and left instructions with his chosen funeral home almost thirty years ago. But, it was not really prepayed. The money was deposited into CDs payable at the time of his death, in an amount suitable to pay for the services requested.
30 years later (6 months ago) the CDs had grown to a bit over $3000. But the cost of service had grown faster. One, the $300 fiberglass coffin was no longer in production. The least expensive replacement was aluminum at $1000. The price of the backhoe had increased from $50 to $500. ETC.
So the most basic, minimal service (as Dad requested) was about $2000 more than Dad had available in his accounts.
