Funeral Financing & Planning Details

Financing and Payment

Families who elect to pre-plan for their cemetery needs are afforded a wide range of financing choices that can be set up to meet their current financial circumstances. There are no pre-qualifications for this financing and no credit application is required. All of the plans have an interest-free feature and some have no interest at all.

Our Memorial Counselors are familiar with the available plans and will design a plan that is affordable and convenient for your financial circumstances. Should a family experience an “Economic Hardship” during the payment process, the Association will work with the family to establish a suitable plan which may include suspending normal payments during the economic hardship period.

Our goal is to present Catholic families with the most simple, easy and convenient method to handle this ultimate responsibility.

Funeral Planning

Today, most families want information about all the decisions they will need to make and their cost at the time of death. This includes both cemetery and funeral costs. In Pennsylvania, only a licensed funeral director can arrange for and provide funeral services. While The Catholic Cemeteries Association does not operate a funeral home or provide funeral services, our counseling staff is familiar with the many decisions families must make regarding funeral costs as well as Catholic funeral traditions.

In 1998, the Diocese of Pittsburgh approved the implementation of the Catholic Funeral Plan™. This plan is a faith-based funeral planning alterative available to Catholic families that can be used at any funeral home. Thousands of families, both Catholic and non-Catholic, have chosen the plan as a secure, sensible choice for planning their funeral. Additional information about the Catholic Funeral PlanTM and the benefits are contained elsewhere on this website.

The Catholic Funeral Plan

Please visit www.cfppgh.com for more information.

Planning Guide

The Catholic Cemeteries Association has created a helpful book that will be an invaluable resource to Catholic families at the time of the loss of a loved one. This book entitled, “Catholic Emergency Record File” allows families to record information both personal and financial that will be necessary at the time of a death, and to assure that the deceased ‘s affairs are carried out and finalized in an orderly fashion.

It contains helpful information about Catholic burial and funeral traditions, social security benefits, veterans’ benefits, living wills, powers of attorney, wills and other issues that can cause complications at the time of death. For those individuals wishing to spares their family difficulty at the time of death and serious about pre-planning, this book is a must. The book, along with information about Catholic burial and funeral options, is available free of charge for the asking.

Change of Plans

Sometimes plans for both cemetery and funeral arrangements need to be changed. This may be due to family considerations, retirement, relocation, financial or simply a change in the type of arrangement preferred. The Catholic Cemeteries Association provides families the flexibility to change and adjust their planning choices to suit their current needs. Our Memorial Counselors are trained to explore all the available options with you and assist you in putting a new plan in place.

Cemetery Transfer

The Catholic Cemeteries Association offers Catholic families a number of options should they permanently relocate. If relocation occurs within the Diocese of Pittsburgh or within 75 miles of the diocesan borders, families may transfer all their arrangements to another Catholic cemetery owed by the Association subject to an administrative and processing fee.

If the relocation is more than 75 miles from the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s border, the Association will assist the Catholic family in locating a Catholic cemetery near their new permanent residence, transfer the original purchase price less a cancellation fee and processing charge to the new Catholic cemetery; and if no Catholic cemetery is available, refund the original purchase price less a cancellation fee and processing charge.