Archive for the ‘Funeral Homes’ Category

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Planning a Funeral for an Unborn Child

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013

Planning a Funeral for an Unborn ChildOne of the most difficult things a parent can be asked to do is to plan the funeral or memorial service of a child who has yet to be born. Most experts agree that a formal funeral or service is an important part of the grieving process of giving birth to a child who isn’t meant for this world—and getting started early can help you process some of your emotions in advance.

Most infant funerals in this type of situation occur within a week following your loss. Because you and your family will be undergoing a difficult trial (and possibly recovering from surgery or childbirth), having everything prepared ahead of time can allow you to focus on what really matters during this time.

Plan a Memorial Service Your Way

There is no rule that says you have to hold a traditional funeral for your child, or even that you have to hold one at all. You can call it a memorial service, a commemoration of life, a going home party, or even a birthday celebration. How you set it up is entirely up to you, though you may want to follow a few general guidelines.

  • Contact a Funeral Home You Trust: Funeral homes tend to be familiar with the process of burying a newborn child, and will be able to coordinate services according to your wishes. Look for a home that offers sympathy and a friendly approach, as you’ll be entrusting your child’s legacy to their hands.
  • Determine Your Interment Wishes: The decision of whether to bury or cremate a child can be an agonizing one. Bear in mind your religious preferences, your desire for portability (if you will be moving away at a later date and may want to visit the grave), finances, and personal wishes. Both of burial and cremation are viable options and can be accommodated in a way that is caring and appropriate.
  • Take Your Time Making Decisions: It can be comforting for many families to choose the details of the burial. A special outfit for your child to wear, a hand-knitted blanket to be wrapped up in, the final casket, a burial location and headstone—even the flowers and special memorial tributes you want at the service. As these are one of the few things you’ll be able to do for your child, it’s okay to take your time and savor the process.
  • Set a Date: Because many children in this situation are born via C-section or another planned delivery, you may be able to make advance memorial service plans. By setting a date and confirming location and other services, you allow family members to organize their schedules to join you.

Perhaps the most important thing you can do is locate resources—both online and in person—for individuals in your situation. Support groups, grief counselors, and other parents can help you through the process. In addition to providing you with tips for the memorial service, they can help you begin to understand your loss and what it means for your family’s future.

 

Are There Differences between Male and Female Funeral Directors?

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

Are There Differences between Male and Female Funeral Directors?The funeral planning industry has long been considered a male-dominated profession. From the funeral directors who greet you at the door to the behind-the-scenes morticians who prepare your loved one for a final viewing, men have made up the majority of funeral service workers for quite some time.

Historically, caring for the dead has been the responsibility of women. As caretakers of the home (where most body preparation took place during the pre-Victorian eras), women were responsible for washing and dressing the body, and placing it in a shroud. From there, men took over. Building coffins, carrying the body, and the actual burial was men’s work. In fact, burial was considered such a “male” issue that in many cultures, women weren’t even allowed to attend the funerals or participate in the procession.

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Jewish Funeral Planning Customs: Chevra Kadisha

Friday, August 23rd, 2013

Jewish Funeral Planning Customs: Chevra KadishaJewish funeral customs are some of the most unique and beautiful traditions in the burial industry. With a focus on a strong sense of community and mourning, these customs range from the strict preparation of the body to mourning habits like sitting shiva (a seven-day mourning period observed by the immediate family of the deceased).

In keeping with these religious rites is the chevra kadisha, a holy society (or organization) composed of individuals who oversee the process of preparing the body of the deceased for burial. Central to the concept of chevra kadisha are showing a proper level of respect for the body and ensuring that the ritual cleansing and dressing of the body is in keeping with Jewish standards.

Why Body Preparation is Important

In today’s funeral industry, body preparation tends to be a fairly invasive process. From autopsies and embalming to the thick layers of makeup put on to hold an open casket ceremony, there can be quite a bit of physical manipulation done to what remains of the person you loved.

In the Jewish tradition of chevra kadisha, this aggressive approach is set aside in favor of a more personalized purification rite. Those who are tasked with the body’s preparation are considered to be doing an incredibly good and selfless deed, as their task is one that is done for reasons of kindness.

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Is a Discount Funeral Home a Good Idea?

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

Is a Discount Funeral Home a Good Idea?In an age when everyone is trying to cut back on their expenditures, it might seem like a good idea to reduce funeral costs by choosing a discount funeral home. Traditional funerals can be quite expensive—particularly if no advance funeral arrangements were made—and the stress associated with paying for a burial among the rest of the emotional toll death takes can rapidly push a family over the edge.

Discount funeral homes exist to provide a lower-cost alternative to families who want to save money on planning a funeral. They exist in large part because funeral homes have become so corporatized in the past few decades. Discount funeral homes found a niche market among these corporations, where discounts and great customer service drive sales.

This can be good news for consumers. As is the case with any type of free market like this, funeral homes competing with one another to lower prices, provide better service, and increase your options means that you have more freedom of choice. But how far is too far?

For some families, that answer is when discount funeral homes begin to cut back on some of the more time-honored traditions that bring comfort to grieving families.

Discount Funeral Homes

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Common Cremation Questions

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

Common Cremation QuestionsWhen it comes time to start funeral planning, you may find that you have lingering questions about cremation. Yes, we all know that it provides a lower-cost alternative to traditional burial, and that the outcome—an urn of ashes—can be scattered or kept on the mantelpiece as a kind of memorial to the deceased.

But what about the details? When is cremation not recommended? How personalized is the process of transforming the body into ashes? And where can you go to find more information?

The following list of common questions should help provide a baseline of understanding the cremation process. For additional information, you should always contact a local funeral home or the Cremation Association of North American (CANA).

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Death Certificate FAQs

Tuesday, July 16th, 2013

Death Certificate FAQsAlthough every state handles death certificates differently, there are some universal standards that should help you navigate the process of ordering death certificates, making corrections, and process other record-keeping needs.

For questions about your specific state, we encourage you to contact your state’s vital records office or the National Center for Health Statistics.

Death Certificates: Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need a death certificate for?

A death certificate is needed to settle most financial and legal affairs on behalf of the deceased. As the official legal record of death, the death certificate is needed for most insurance companies, the Social Security Administration, and other agencies that must process paperwork related to the deceased’s affairs.

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What Can a Funeral Home Legally Refuse You?

Thursday, July 11th, 2013

What Can a Funeral Home Legally Refuse You?Oftentimes, when we talk about rights and responsibilities in the funeral planning industry, it’s about what you, the consumer, can legally expect from a funeral home. Several federal laws exist to protect you from predatory burial practices and to ensure that any investment you make in a per-arranged funeral plan is safe for the future.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that funeral homes don’t have rights, too. As businesses like any other, they are just as susceptible to non-payments, customers who change their minds, and other consumer practices that pose a risk to their bottom line. That’s why they have a few legal rights, as well.

Although most laws do rest on the side of the consumer, here are a few things a funeral home is allowed (and not allowed) to do.

  • A funeral home has the right to refuse to accept the deceased’s remains if there is a dispute about the right of disposition. This means that when family members disagree about how to dispose of a loved one’s remains (and when there is no legal document or situation that assigns one person the right to make decisions), the funeral home can opt not to handle the case—even if one person promises to pay for the funeral out-of-pocket. (more…)

What Happens When a Loved One Dies in Prison?

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

What Happens When a Loved One Dies in Prison?Funeral planning isn’t a positive experience in the best of circumstances—so when you add a complicated legal or personal situation, things have a way of becoming even more difficult and emotional.

One scenario that few people anticipate having to navigate is how to take care of the deceased when he or she passes away in a government institution like jail. However, this type of situation can and does happen, and there are options for families who wish to reclaim the deceased’s body for a personalized burial.

The Death Care Industry and Prison

In many cases, inmates who face a long time in prison—or who are otherwise in a situation in which death has a reasonable chance of occurring while they are incarcerated—make a will or other advance plans for death. Because they are already firmly in the legal system and have had contact with a lawyer, they may have been encouraged to draft a will that indicates where and how their body will be interred.

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Why It Makes Sense to Prepay for Cremation

Thursday, July 4th, 2013

Why It Makes Sense to Prepay for CremationPlanning a funeral in advance is often held up as the ideal way in which to approach your financial affairs. After all, when you pre-plan a funeral, you can make all the money decisions and funeral arrangements ahead of time, leaving your family free to deal with their loss without additional strain. From choosing your casket to buying a burial plot, you’ve got it all covered.

Preplanning a cremation is a bit different. Because a cremation doesn’t cost as much as a traditional funeral, and because the process tends to be simpler from start to finish, making advance arrangements for a cremation is not as common. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Here are a few reasons why we think prepaying for a cremation makes good sense.

  • You Want Cremation: Though widely accepted by most religions and families in the United States, cremation is by no means as mainstream as traditional burial. If you feel strongly about your desire to be cremated, it’s a good idea to do all the planning (and prepaying) yourself. This way, there will be no question about your wishes.
  • You Have Specific Plans: The thing about cremation is that it can be just as varied as traditional funerals. Do you want your ashes to be kept in an urn in a columbarium, or scattered out to sea? Do you prefer direct cremation with a minimal fuss? Would you like your ashes to be buried in a coral reef or shot into space? If there’s anything out of the ordinary that you want at your funeral, now is a good time to make sure it’s attended to.
  • You Have Questions: Although you can research cremation options online, there’s nothing quite like sitting down with a funeral director or funeral preplan professional to get all the answers. If you have any worries or concerns about the cremation process, about cremation costs, or about what it means for your family, talk with someone who can put you in touch with a reputable prepaid cremation provider.
  • Your Finances are Unstable: Because cremation typically costs less than regular burial, many people think it’s not as big of a deal to put it off until after death occurs. However, the lower cost of cremation also means that it’s more affordable to prepay. If your finances are in a questionable state, or if you can handle smaller, monthly payments more easily than a lump sum, it might be a good idea to prepay for services now.

Cremation is the right choice for a lot of people. Prepaying for a funeral is the right choice for a lot of people, as well. Combining the two can be a great way to save money, settle your affairs, and relieve your family of much of the pressures that accompany death.

Calling a Funeral Home for Information

Monday, July 1st, 2013

Calling a Funeral Home for InformationOne of the best ways to comparison shop for the best prices when planning a funeral is to call the home ahead of time to determine their rates. According to the Funeral Rule, funeral service providers are required to give consumers who contact them via phone all of the information contained in their General Price List, Casket Price List, and Outer Burial Container Price List. To the best of their ability, they are also required to answer questions that relate to payment options and additional costs.

The reason for all these legal regulations is to prevent funeral homes from taking advantage of customers at what is obviously a difficult time in their lives. While most funeral homes are more than happy to adhere to these laws and will do their best to help you make an informed decision, it is important that you know your rights as a consumer and what you can expect when you call a funeral home.

  • Funeral service providers are prohibited from requiring you to give your name, address, or phone number in exchange for information. This doesn’t mean they can’t ask—it simply means you aren’t obligated to reply. Information regarding prices should be made available to you either way.
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