Pre-Planning
Each year, millions attempt to navigate the often confusing options for pre-planning a funeral. iMortuary.com has assembled some basic information to help you navigate your way to a lower stress, pre planned funeral.
First of all funerals are quite often very expensive. Funerals might run from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the richness of the services and accoutrements, e.g. flowers, printed obituary notices, limousines. Often thinking ahead, pre-planning a funeral can help you save money and lower the stress level on the day of the funeral.
Type of funeral service
One of the primary duties when pre-planning will be the nature of parting action for the remains. Entombment, burial or scattering ashes are all methods of parting actions, and determining this action will lead to being able to plan the rest of the funeral service. For burial and entombment, iMortuary.com strongly suggests pre-arrangement, as rushing into cemetery plots can lead to misgivings in grave site location. It is in your best interest to pre-plan a burial or entombment.
Another consideration is the type of service that you will want to have performed. Some of the questionsyou should ask are, should this funeral be simple or grandiose, religious or secular, private or public?
If you are pre-planning for yourself, your attorney or a close family member should have a copy of your plan, preferably in a location that can be accessed easily. Often safety deposit boxes will not be adequate as they are unavailable on holidays and weekends.
What to ask for
The Federal Trade Commission enforces "the funeral rules" which is a set of laws that require funeral homes to give you itemized lists of prices in person and if requested, over the phone. We suggest calling the funeral home that you select on iMortuary.com and confirming these prices. In addition, we suggest asking for funeral homes to fax you the descriptions of the available selections, pricing. In addition, the funeral rule states that you do not have to accept any complete packages, but you can request to break the package into options.
The traditional, full-service funeral is defined as a funeral where the family and friends use a hearse to transport the deceased, view the remains, and perform a burial, entombment or cremation of the remains. In contrast a "direct burial" is usually a funeral service with a very simple container, and no viewing or visitation is involved. "Direct cremation" is when the body is cremated immediately after death, with no embalming. There is no viewing or visitation, although often a memorial service is held with or without the ashes of the cremation.
iMortuary.com strongly suggests contacting more than one funeral home. About this the FTC says, "Consumers often select a funeral home or cemetery because it's close to home, has served the family in the past, or has been recommended by someone they trust. But people who limit their search to just one funeral home may risk paying more than necessary for the funeral or narrowing their choice of goods and services."
Caskets may be sold by third-party dealers, and you may have it shipped directly to the funeral home. The Funeral Rule requires the funeral home to allow you to use a casket you have bought elsewhere. Metal caskets are made from steel or bronze–the lower the gauge number the thicker the steel. Wood caskets can be made from pine, oak, cherry, walnut and even mahogany. The least expensive of these are generally the softwood options like pine.
As the general purpose of a casket is to transport the body, often families that opt for a direct cremation without a viewing of the body use wood boxes, pressboard, cardboard or canvas that is cremated with the body.
Burial vaults, also known as grave liners or burial containers are used in traditional funerals. The vault is a box that lines the grave site in which the casket is lowered at the time of the service. A burial vault is more substantial than a grave liner and is usually made of concrete or another strong material.
Regardless of the options you decide upon for the funeral service, iMortuary.com recommends pre-planning as a way to have a lower stress funeral service for your loved ones and family.
