Is the purchase of a burial plot and headstone separate from a Funeral Trust?

My Mom already had a plot and stone since she was buried next to my Dad. Her 2 sm policies cashed in came to just short of 11k. This was used for a prepaid funeral excepted by Medicaid. Her funeral costs came to $11.4k. We children paid for the luncheon and the flowers.

I just read the average cost for a lot is 200 to 2000 depending on where u live. Some cemeterys require plaques others will allow stones. So, if Medicaid in your state only allows 10k then you will be paying out of pocket for some things. Or, you cremate and then use the remainder of the 10k for a plot, flowers, a service, luncheon, stone ect. What doesn't get used goes back to Medicaid.

I’m not sure if this would answer your question, but when my mother passed, I learned that the “pre-paid” funeral account (through the cemetery) that she had been paying on for decades covered very little of the actual expenses. If I’d had the time and money, I would have asked a lawyer to look over that contract she signed and I’m sure we would have had a lawsuit.

She already had a plot. She had no funeral. She was cremated. It should have been the barest minimum of expense to bury her. But, it still cost my husband and me nearly $7,000 we didn’t have. This was insane. If she’d known what it cost, she would have been incensed. This is why I would never pre-pay for burial or funeral expenses without having an attorney scrutinize the contract first.

You can only have the $10,000 funeral trust and a prepaid burial plot. https://dch.georgia.gov/sites/dch.georgia.gov/files/imported/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/54/2/79819320Burial_MedicaidFY12.pdf

Typically the plot and headstone would be paid for out of the Trust. Otherwise, you are skirting the asset limits as separate transactions. The trust is irrevocable with unused expenses being recovered by Medicaid. You could sell an unused plot later after Medicaid was granted and the marker is not engraved until death and could be resold. But have your legal person clarify for you.