What is a bereavement fare?

When you are facing the loss of a loved one, flying last minute to say goodbye to someone who is dying or to a loved one’s funeral can be a financial hardship. To help alleviate the costs of such a plane ticket, certain airlines offer “bereavement fares”: discounted tickets for those whose immediate family member has passed away.

This discount can make an already difficult time a little easier but, be careful, the discounted fare isn’t often the cheapest fare available for your destination. The discount amount will vary by airline and only applies to the cost of the ticket. The ticket holder must still pay any standard baggage fees. Other airlines or even an airline’s online search may also offer a cheaper ticket without the bereavement fare. It is always a good idea to check around before making your final purchase.

Who qualifies for a bereavement fare?

You qualify for a bereavement fare if someone in your immediate family has passed away or are facing imminent death, including your spouse’s family. (See the list below for the types of qualifying relationships.) Bereavement fares are not for the loss of friends, co-workers, or cousins. If you are wondering if your situation qualifies, call the airline to check if it falls under their policy.

• Spouse: domestic partner, husband, or wife
• Parent: mother, father, step-father, step-mother, legal guardian
• Child: daughter, son, offspring, step-child, step-daughter, step-son
• Sibling: brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister
• Grandparent: grandmother, grandfather
• Grandchild: grandson, granddaughter
• Parents’ siblings: aunt, uncle
• Sibling’s children: niece, nephew, sibling
• In-laws: mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law.

If you have children flying with you, kids under the age of two fly for free and those over two qualify for the same discounted airfare as you.

Which airlines offer a bereavement fare?

There are several major airlines offering bereavement fares. Each airline has a different set of policies around bereavement fares such as the travel window available in relation to the person’s death (see below). For specific information on days of travel, proof of death required, and what kinds of discounts they offer, check their websites or call their customer service lines.

• Delta – Travel must occur within seven days of the person’s death
• Alaska Airlines – Travel must occur within seven days of purchasing the ticket
• Air Canada – Travel must occur within ten days of the person’s death and travel can last no longer than 60 days
• West Jet – Travel must occur within thirty days of purchase for both the outbound and return flights
• Lufthansa – Lufthansa will discount a round trip from the US or Canada to Europe

Not all airlines offer bereavement fares. Over the last decade, some airlines have discontinued their programs and discount airlines such as Southwest and Frontier have never offered bereavement fares. Before calling an airline and purchasing your ticket, make sure you check a variety of airlines for a regular ticket price. Many times, an airline’s regular ticket may be cheaper than another airline’s bereavement fare.

How do I get the airline’s discounted bereavement fare?

To obtain a bereavement fare, you must call the customer service line of the airline you want to fly with to speak with a customer service representative directly. Bereavement fares are never offered online, they are only sold over the phone with proof of your loss.

While bereavement fares are open to the public, some airlines only sell them to members of their reward programs. To sign-up (all programs are free to join), simply login to the airline’s website and sign up for free. You can then call the airline as a qualifying member. Each person flying over age 18 needs to have their own member number.

What should I do before I call the airline?

Before you call an airline to purchase a bereavement fare, there are several steps you need to take to make sure you are getting the best deal:

1. 1. Pick your route: Decide what airports you can fly into and out of to get where you need to go.
   2. Check other fares: Search online on third party websites and a variety of airlines including the one you want to call that are flying that route to know the cost of their tickets. There could be a lower price somewhere else, or the airline might be having a sale to the city you’re going to. Bereavement fares aren’t automatically the lowest price on offer and a few extra minutes of research can pay dividends.
   3. Choose which airline to call: The airlines offering bereavement fares each have different policies and cities they fly to. Evaluate which airline offering these fares would best fit with your travel plans and route and make sure you check their page for their lowest price before you call.
   4. Gather proof of death or imminent death: Gather the required information to relay to the customer service representative so you are ready to make the purchase with as little trouble to yourself as possible. Some airlines require this information upfront while some require the paperwork after your trip. Check the specific airline for details of what their requirements are. Depending on your situation, the needed information may include:
      • The name of the deceased person
      • Your relationship to that person
      • Death certificate
      • The name and phone number of the funeral home, hospital, or hospice service
      • The name of the doctor if the information is available
   5. Join the airline’s rewards program: If you are not already a member of the airline’s reward program and they require membership to purchase a bereavement fare, go online and sign-up for free before calling the airline.

What do I do when I call the airline?

When you call the airline, explain your situation to the representative and they will walk you through what you need to do to qualify. They will then look up the route and time in question and they will be able to tell you the offered cost of the bereavement fare. When deciding if you want to purchase the fare offered, consider fees and taxes associated with the cost of other tickets available. Some fees may be removed for bereavement fares that you’ll have to pay with other purchases. At other times, tickets available on that airline’s website or through other discount airlines will be the better option.

What do I do if I have to cancel a trip?

If you have to cancel airline tickets you’ve already purchased due to someone in your family passing away, it may be worth it to call the airline directly to ask if they would be willing to refund your ticket without any cancellation fees. Some airlines, even if they don’t offer bereavement fares directly, may cancel or change your flights without charging extra fees due to a death in your family. Before you call, be prepared with the same information as you would need in order to apply for a bereavement fare including proof of the family member passing away or of their imminent death. Customer service representatives may have leeway in such cases, and it never hurts to ask.

Check out your options before flying

Traveling due to a bereavement isn’t easy. When you add the unexpected cost of a last-minute trip, the option of obtaining a bereavement fare can help financially during a difficult time. However, bereavement fares may not be the best option for you depending on other available ticket prices. Spending a couple of extra minutes researching your options can help alleviate your stress and financial impact during already emotional days.

Our staff at Bio SoCal are often called to scenes for biohazard cleanup after the police have received a request for a wellness check. These checks often lead to the discovery of an elderly person in distress, the body of someone who has passed away, or a crime scene. They are a vital way to check on our loved ones when we suspect something is amiss.

What is a wellness check?

A wellness check is when one or more police officers go to a person’s location, usually their residence, to check on their mental or physical health. This is most often done when a friend or family member has a reason to be concerned for a friend or loved one or they haven’t been able to get a hold of them for a while.
Examples of why you might call the police for a wellness check include:

• A friend who is having thoughts of suicide
• An acquaintance you believe is being hurt
• An older neighbor you haven’t seen in some time and who doesn’t answer the door or answer their phone
• Family members you haven’t been able to get a hold of

During a wellness check, police are not allowed to collect evidence nor are they allowed to use a wellness check to enter a property to make an arrest.

How do I request a wellness check?

Get in touch with the police department where the wellness check will need to be conducted. You can do this either by calling 9-1-1 if you believe the person is in immediate danger or the non-emergency line of their local police department.

Before you call the police for a wellness check, make sure you have a good reason to suspect the person you are calling about could be in serious danger. It is not an action to be taken lightly. When you call, the police will ask you questions about the person, your relationship with them, why you think a wellness check is warranted, and any recent conversations you had with the person in question. This will help them determine whether a wellness check is needed and if it is an emergency situation.

What happens during a wellness check?

When the police arrive at the location in question, they knock on the door and announce their police identification. If no response is forthcoming, they can force their way into the building. Police are only able to legally enter the premises of a person’s home during a wellness check if they have reasonable grounds to believe someone is in danger. In cases where someone is unconscious or otherwise unable to respond, this action enables police or other first responders to then administer life-saving aid.
What happens after a wellness check is conducted depends on what the police find once they get there.

• If the person is found safe and is doing well, the police will simply notify you of the outcome.
• If the person is found injured, sick, or is found deceased, the police will call you and, if you are in the area, will wait until you arrive at the scene.
• If the person is injured or deceased due to criminal activity, the police will initiate an investigation and will contact you to let you know what is going on.

Bio SoCal is here to help after wellness checks

Our team at Bio SoCal often helps families by cleaning up blood and other bodily fluids found during a wellness check. We recently helped a family work through a difficult time after they received a disturbing letter from an out-of-state family member. Unable to get a hold of their loved ones, they then contacted the police to request a wellness check. When officers arrived, they found the couple in question deceased. Bio SoCal then arrived on scene once the investigation was complete to remove the biohazards and restore the property to safety so family members could enter the property.

Call the police for a needed wellness check

Every day we see how important wellness checks can be in the health of a loved one. Whether a person is in medical distress, in serious danger, or has passed away, the police can be of immeasurable help in discovering how the person is doing.

If you need the police to conduct a wellness check for your friend, neighbor, or family member, call 9-1-1 or locate the non-emergency police phone number for their location.

None of us know how many sunrises and sunsets we have left to enjoy. The end of our lives can come at any moment and though we all hope for years more to enjoy time with family and friends, the end of our stories can come faster than we expect. While we are able to make end of life decisions for ourselves, it’s important to make the choices to ease the burden on our loved ones.

No matter your age, whether you are into your senior years or growing into young adulthood, it is important to have end of life paperwork completed and regularly updated. Without these important legal documents in place at the time of your death, all your accounts and assets will be sent through a process called “probate” which can potentially drag on for years and cause great angst for those left behind.

To save your family members this heartache on top of the grief of losing you, take steps now to keep your estate out of the probate process so the transition of accounts and various assets can take place as quickly as possible so family and friends can focus on grieving you.

What is probate?

Probate is the legal process after a person dies when their will is reviewed and assessed as authentic, and assets are distributed according to a person’s wishes (if legally known). Probate also refers to the process when someone passes without legal paperwork in place and a judge determines how to distribute their assets according to set laws of who inherits. If a person has a will, the court will appoint an executor or if there is no will, an administrator, to collect the assets, pay any debts the deceased has remaining, and distribute the assets as the court dictates.

Keep your assets out of the probate process

Whether a person has a will or not, probate can be extremely costly with all the legal fees and court costs. This amount comes out of a person’s estate leaving less money for those left behind. Going through the probate process can also take months or even years. In the meantime, burial costs and debts left from your estate still need to be paid but can’t be until the funds are released. As this process drags on for your loved ones, all these legal proceedings are held in the public record, potentially exposing information your family would rather keep private as decisions you would have liked to make are made by a judge instead.

Plan your estate to avoid probate

By preplanning what will happen to all your assets and filing the correct legal paperwork, you can make the whole process far easier for your family members. Instead of the angst of dealing with a financial mess, your loved ones can breathe easy and quickly turn over your assets to those you want to obtain them.

Under California law, there are several ways you can handle your assets to avoid probate:

• California probate exemption: The state of California has a simplified process in place for those whose estates fall under a predetermined maximum. For those who pass away after April 1, 2022, the current maximum is $184,500. However, not all assets in an estate are counted toward this maximum so you may still qualify if you have a larger estate. Items that do not count toward the maximum include property held in a living trust or joint tenancy, real estate outside of California, cars, boats, and mobile homes, property that goes to a surviving spouse, life insurance, death benefits, or payable-on death accounts, transfer-on-death deeds, bank accounts owned by more than one person, or unpaid salary up to $18,450. What does count toward the maximum is property you alone own in California, accounts solely under your name with no named beneficiary, and personal effects not inherited by a spouse, among others items.If your estate qualifies for this exemption, then your family will need to determine which paperwork to file based on whether the exemption includes real estate or not and wait the appropriate time to turn in the paperwork after you pass away. Depending on the process your estate qualifies for, your assets will then be distributed to the correct person. While this is still a process, it is far shorter and simpler than going through regular probate.
• Right of survivorship: transfer-on-death, payable-on-death accounts: Some accounts and assets have legal ways of immediately transferring the asset to someone else after you pass away. To do this, you must declare the beneficiary to that account or asset while you’re still alive. Examples of this include life insurance, bank accounts, retirement accounts, and investments. While you are alive, the person named as beneficiary has no right to the account and you retain sole custody of your assets until you pass away and the account is transferred to the person you have selected.
• Place your assets under a trust: A trust is a legal entity that owns any assets placed under its legal protection, held in trust for a beneficiary. All assets under the trust will be kept out of probate. Each trust then has a trustee: a person in charge of managing the trust’s assets. While you are alive, you yourself will usually serve as the trustee and will name a secondary trustee for when you pass away or are debilitated. Whoever is the trustee can then distribute the assets according to the rules set forth in the trust’s legal paperwork. Trusts can also be beneficial in protecting your assets if there is ever a legal judgment against you and can help lower estate taxes. Trusts can be arranged in many different ways to benefit various people and you would need to consult an estate lawyer to determine what kind of trust is right for you. Keep in mind any property not included in the trust is still subject to probate.
• Transfer of Real Property with Retained Life Estate: In California, you can transfer your property to a beneficiary before you pass away with “retained life estate.” This means that while your property belongs to someone else, such as one of your children, you keep your right to the property while you are alive. Upon your death, they obtain sole right to the property while avoiding it going through probate. Before this action is taken, however, thought must be given to tax implications and how property expenses will be handled while you’re living.
• Spousal petition: If you are legally married when you pass away, a spouse can file a “spousal petition” to obtain rights to your assets. A court hearing is then required to authorize the changing of ownership of any titles and accounts to the surviving spouse. While still technically probate, it is a far simpler procedure, takes less time, and the legal fees are usually far less.

Seek legal counsel when estate planning

The above information is not legal advice and is here to provide general information. When planning your estate and filing legal paperwork, always consult the advice of an estate lawyer. They will be able to advise you on what types of accounts, trusts, and beneficiary planning is right for you and your specific situation as well as establishing your end of life wishes for medical care.

Keep your paperwork updated

As we live our lives, who we want as beneficiaries may change over time. Relationships come and go, other people pass away, and children are born you may want to benefit from your estate. Make sure you check your estate planning periodically and make adjustments to beneficiaries or lists of accounts. A good estate lawyer may build regular reviews into your estate planning package.

By planning ahead and keeping your paperwork updated for your current situation, you can help those grieving your loss by keeping your estate out of the probate process and your assets easily distributed. Make sure the person responsible for the final distribution is familiar with your legal wishes and that they know where to find the legal paperwork and how to contact your lawyer.