Company Offers Gravesite Upkeep Services Nationwide

Seniors who plan to opt for burial (or cremation and burial of ashes) when they die are sometimes concerned that no one will care for their gravesite. Their children may live far away, or they may have no children and no close relatives nearby.

For those with such concerns, there is Westland Remembers, which provides personalized long-term beautification and maintenance services at a family's gravesite anywhere in the U.S. and Canada for 20 years, or longer if desired.

The Massachusetts-based company was founded in 1987 by Philip G. Haddad, Jr., licensed as a funeral director in 1967 and a funeral home owner since 1981. Westland offers four basic plans that can be tailored to a family's specific requests, and Mr. Haddad points out that "very few contracts are the same." Services include plantings around the grave in consultation with an on-staff horticulturalist, regular gravesite inspection and upkeep, color photographs sent twice a year to designated family members, and a winter basket or wreath secured at the gravesite for the holidays.

Prices range from $3,900 to $13,975, based on the frequency of maintenance and the services a family wants at the gravesite. Importantly for those considering applying for Medicaid, Westland's Irrevocable Burial Maintenance Contract is an acceptable spend-down payment that is not counted as an asset when Medicaid eligibility is determined. New customers of Westland whose attorneys are members of ElderLawAnswers receive an extra two years of service at no extra cost, for a total of 22 years of site maintenance.

For more about Westland Remembers, visit its Web site here.