Funeral in instalments - interest-free, up to six months, no deposit

Terms at a glance

Monthly payments in real figures

Since there is no interest, the payment is easy to work out: the total is divided by the number of months. A few typical examples:

• 2,400 GEL over six months: 400 GEL a month. This might be an economy package plus a refrigerated coffin, gravediggers and pallbearers.
• 3,600 GEL over six months: 600 GEL a month, for example a standard package with a few additions.
• 4,500 GEL over six months: 750 GEL a month, which matches the starting price of the premium package.
• 3,000 GEL over three months: 1,000 GEL a month, if the family prefers a short term.

The exact schedule with dates and amounts is set out in the agreement, and the family receives it from the bank by text message or email.

Services you can spread out

The instalment plan can cover everything the funeral home carries out and invoices in its own name: the coffin and accessories, the hearse, a refrigerated coffin, embalming, dressing the deceased, the hall, gravediggers, pallbearers, the bus, filming and live streaming. It can also cover the headstone, grave tiles and railing, which are usually made in time for the first anniversary and arranged under a separate agreement.

The plan will not include the municipal fee for the cemetery plot, which is paid directly to the state against a receipt, or the church donation, which remains the family's own choice. Wake costs go straight to the restaurant, although some partner restaurants offer their own instalment terms, and the coordinator will mention this in advance.

Applying step by step

1. Estimate: the coordinator draws up an itemised estimate and decides with the family which part will go into the instalment plan.
2. Application: the family member who will sign the agreement gives their ID details and source of income over the phone. As a rule, no certificates need to be brought in.
3. Decision: the bank replies within a few hours. Preparations for the funeral are already under way in the meantime and nothing is put on hold.
4. Signing: the agreement is signed in the bank's app or at our office after the funeral, on a day that suits the family.
5. Payments: the first instalment falls due the following month.

Eligible applicants

Any adult family member with a Georgian ID card or residence permit and a regular income - a salary, a pension or their own business - can apply. If there is no such person in the family, a relative or a friend can make the application. The bank checks the credit history, and with a poor history the plan may not be approved. In that case the coordinator works with the family to find another way forward: reducing costs, changing the package or putting part of the plan in another family member's name.

When a relative abroad is paying

Often the funeral costs are taken on by a son or daughter working in Italy, Greece or the USA. An instalment plan from a Georgian bank is usually not available to them, but they can transfer money in parts to our account or pay with a foreign card, while a family member living here takes out the plan in their own name. Many families do exactly that: the agreement is in a brother's name in Tbilisi, and the monthly amount is sent from abroad.

Instalments for a headstone and grave finishing

A headstone, grave tiles and a railing for the first anniversary together usually cost between two and four thousand lari, and a double or family headstone more still. These bills arrive some months later, and for many families they are heavy too. That is why we offer instalments on the headstone agreement as well, on the same terms: up to six months, no interest. If the headstone is ordered straight after the funeral, both agreements can be planned so that payments on one finish before the other begins.

Three typical situations

A widow on a pension

Her husband has died, she is retired, and the children are still young and without much money. The estimate is 2,800 GEL: a standard package, a refrigerated coffin and gravediggers. One of the sons takes out a six-month plan, and the brothers share the monthly payment of about 467 GEL between them. The family holds the wake at home with help from relatives.

A daughter working in Italy

Her mother died in a village, and the daughter, living in Italy, cannot get there in time. Transport to the village, the coffin, embalming and preparing the grave come to 3,300 GEL. A nephew in Tbilisi signs the agreement and the daughter sends the monthly amount. She watches the funeral through a live stream.

A large family, a large ceremony

The family wants a hall, a solid wood coffin and two buses, and the estimate reaches 6,000 GEL. The money is there, but they would rather not spend their savings all at once: the headstone and the 40th-day memorial (ormotsi) are still ahead. They take a three-month plan and keep their savings for the first anniversary.

If a payment is late

Life is unpredictable, and sometimes an instalment cannot be paid on time. The bank usually allows a grace period of a few days, after which the penalty set out in the agreement applies. If you know a payment will be late, it is better to warn the bank or our coordinator in advance: it is often possible to move the schedule or reduce the payment. When we speak to the bank, we always take the family's personal circumstances into account.

Planning the family budget

An instalment plan spreads the costs but does not reduce them. That is why the coordinator always asks the family to compare the monthly payment with its real income. If the payment is more than half of that income, it is better to extend the term or remove from the estimate things the ceremony can do without and still be dignified. Our aim is for the family not to be left with a heavy debt after the funeral, and we are honest about it.

Instalments or the economy package

Sometimes a family feels the choice is between spending more on instalments or cutting costs down to the economy package. Our advice is simple. If one particular thing matters to the family - a hall because the flat is small, say, or embalming because relatives are travelling from far away - the instalment plan means you do not have to give it up. If what matters most is simply a dignified, peaceful farewell, an economy package with a couple of additions is often enough, and there is no need to take on debt. The coordinator will set out both options side by side so the choice is made on real figures.

The same price as paying at once

Some funeral homes quietly raise the price for instalments: one figure for cash, another for a payment plan. That never happens with us. There is one estimate, and not a single figure in it changes when you switch to instalments. We cover the bank's commission, and the family never even sees it.

Frequently asked questions