The news could not have been worse for Alabamans who'd pre-paid for funeral services years ago but found out recently that the funeral home to which they paid for services is going bankrupt.  It's tragic news for those who had paid for the services and now will not receive them due to the bankruptcy and it's unsettling news for others who may now look at funeral homes with a jaundiced eye.

Bessemer Brown Service Funeral Home and Brown Service West Chapel Funeral Home in Hueytown  Alabama have filed for bankruptcy and the funeral homes have been taken over by Prime Acquisition.  Prime Acquisition doesn't want to honor the pre-paid arrangements because there are no funds to satisfy the pre-paid arrangements.  While the CBS affiliate in Alabama didn't go into details as to what happened to the funds, there is a clear breach of trust.

Hubbell Funeral Home has offered pre-paid funeral plans for many years now, and I can assure my clients that their services are guaranteed because their pre-paid funds have been placed in a guaranteed trust account.  These funds will be available for their funeral services under any and all circumstances.

The funeral business is essentially a business that is based on trust and honor.  No funeral home will stay in business for long if it breaches that trust with families.  We have a duty and a solemn responsibility to those families that come to us in their time of sorrow and grief.  At Hubbell Funeral Home, we've built our business and our reputation on that trust.  We live in the community we serve.  We're not some huge corporation that makes decisions based on some financial bottom line.  We honor our commitments and cherish our good name in the community.  Stories like the one unfolding in Alabama are not good for the funeral home industry.  More importantly, innocent, trusting individuals are hurt by such bad decisions.  If there is any lesson to be learned by this sad story in Alabama it's this:  make sure you know and trust the funeral home with which you've entrusted your final disposition.  It's important for you and your family.