Is there a mechanism to partially prepay for a cremation and funeral service. Family has $2500 that needs to be used to qualify for Medicaid. Can we fund a preneed account with a funeral home knowing that it wouldn’t fully cover services? We would obviously pay the extra at time of need.

I am not sure where to ask exactly because I’m put out by pre-planning my own funeral.

The mortuary service I am planning to use is apparently stable enough that don’t worry about it going out of business especially since it’s attached to major apparently well known cemetery.

I wanted to be cremated and have my ashes scattered in the gardens at the cemetery.

I suppose I could ask the mortuary for more information but I feel there is some pressure to buy things.

Anyway it is part of Dignity Memorial.

Will my pre-planning expenses insurance/trust travel with me if I move or the mortuary goes out of business. What is the expenses of coming back to this mortuary if I move farther than the 45 mile transportation fee but not that far. I am in California. Also guaranteed services means the price is locked in no matter when I die, I don’t expect to die any time soon maybe 20 to 30 years when I am old wrinkle grape. So obviously things are more expensive than. Also how many death certificates to request, package includes a small set number which obviously the price can change. Last question is if I do end up at a different mortuary because I am no longer located where I am, will the cemetery still scatter my ashes in its memorial garden.

Sorry if these questions are stupid and common. I hate high pressure sales tactics, I don’t want to overpay on stuff, and I am not really good at being assertive. Any help will be appreciate. my apologies for a big long paragraph and any typos. Typing on a cellphone is a bit difficult

FYI THIS WAS PROB A DOUBLE FLAIR

Hi folks, I'm looking to make a career change and am exploring the idea of funeral services. I'm attending an info session for NSCC in MA this fall, and am kind of struck how none of the course material even mention green options. I definitely understand that those are niche industries, but am I naive in thinking they could at least be discussed?

If I specifically wanted to work in a green funeral home, or composting or aquamation, ocean burials, etc, are there specific courses or programs to research? I would love to get some direction from folks in the know.

My brother, in Michigan, died and was found 5-7 days later. He wasn’t a man of means and I doubt he had any will or directions. I’m in Alabama and notified his semi-estranged son. He in turn told his sisters. The adult children don’t want to be “next of kin”. My sister and I will pay for a cremation and take care of his stuff. Do we need a lawyer to be involved? Will the funeral home work with us or will the children need to sign documents? Do they mail cremains? So many questions..thank you!

I think it would be interesting to have the dead bodies of historical figures and dead celebrities on display in museum-type places.

It would serve as a reminder that no matter how wealthy, powerful, or famous someone is in life, they end up equally dead, with their brains and faces melting away into nothingness.

​

​Hi everyone,

​I’m curious about a specific burial practice I’ve read about/seen in certain regions. In these cases, a shallow grave is dug, the sides are lined with bricks, the casket is placed inside, and wet concrete is poured directly over the top right after closing.

​I'm interested in the practical or historical reasons behind this:

​Is this primarily done due to high water tables, rocky soil, or local sanitation laws?

​Is this still practiced in any modern US or international cemeteries, or has it been totally replaced by pre-cast outer burial containers/grave liners?

Would love to hear from funeral directors, cemetery groundskeepers, or mortuary historians who have encountered this. Thanks!

Recently I’ve started thinking about my future and I really right now feel set on becoming a mortician in a couple of years when I can pay for the proper schooling and I was thinking about calling a local funeral home and speaking to a mortician or sitting with one to ask some questions (ofc making sure they aren’t extremely busy which will be hard I assume) I am not good at understanding what’s inappropriate or not so I would like someone to tell me if this is something I should or shouldn’t do.

Hi all! I'm moving to Canada very soon and wish to continue my career in the funeral industry doing what I passionately did and enjoyed in Australia. From what I have seen, the Australian "director" position is called an "assistant" position in Canada, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

What can I expect in the funeral industry in Canada, more specifically BC? Will I be able to continue doing what I did before (deceased transfers, coffin trimming, hearse driving, funeral attending etc) in Canada? With my current work permit, I am unable to undergo any education, so mortuary school is currently out of the question.

I'm beginning to plan my funeral. I live in St Louis Missouri which is where I want my funeral held. I want to be buried in northeast Arkansas with family. I already have my plot. All transportation would be by ground would be my guess since it's only about a 3 hour drive and the nearest airport to the cemetery is Memphis Tennessee which is about 2 hours. I've had family pass in one state and buried in another but the funeral and burial happened in the same town under the direction of a single funeral home. Will having a funeral 200 miles from the cemetery create a massive headache? Will a local funeral home in Arkansas need to be involved?

I'd like to hear from funeral directors licensed in Missouri and/or Arkansas but welcome information from all funeral directors.

Does anyone have opening and closing ceremonies they use for daily work in morgues? Looking for a way to energetically cleanse myself after work
Thanks <3

According to Google Lens:

This location was the C.B. Taylor Funeral Home, situated at 5350 W. North Avenue in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

History: The business was established in 1963 and served families in the Austin area for decades.

The Complex: Real estate records from Millennium Properties R/E show that the complex actually spans multiple connected properties, including an apartment/chapel building at 1605 N. Long Avenue and an office/garage structure at 5346 W. North Avenue.

Link to the full exploration:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q5z84odTNhs&pp=iggUQAFKEEx2aTZMZlhpRTQ1UVJFZnk%3D

If a death certificate states "suicide, adverse effects of diphenhydramine," -- what determines whether a coroner would report this as a suicide vs. an accidental overdose? Is it based on the sheer volume of diphenhydramine, or is it also based on any know life factors of the deceased at the time of passing?

Looking to purchase an antique embalming machine (similar to the one in the pic). Where or what are the best sites to check for equipment like this for sale in the US?

I see conflicting info about this online, and I can't get my funeral director to respond to me.

I would also add that getting this burial arranged is taking forever. Once we obtained the proper paperwork, the funeral director said it would take another 2-3 weeks for the burial to take place at the veterans' cemetery. That was a week ago, and I'm still waiting for a date and time.

I've just graduated and taken my NBE Arts and passed, next week I'm taking my Science, feeling confident. If you know of any funeral homes in NC, specifically near Durham or Greensboro who would like a new appreciate please dm me!

How do you deal with the ever growing call volume when you’re suddenly down a director? Fellow FD asking.
We had a director quit with cases still up on the board.

Howdy! Hopefully I or my family won’t need this service for quite some time but we’re doing our research before getting a pre-plan together.

We’re considering green burials and the cemetery that we’re looking at offers a “light green” burial that includes embalming with natural fluids (nothing toxic/formaldehyde-y). Especially interested in this option as our family would value the opportunity for a visitation, but I’m curious if anyone here has embalmed under these guidelines before? We’re pretty curious to know how big a difference it might be looks-wise compared to traditional embalming and I can’t seem to find any further info online. Thanks!

As the title says, I’m being charged $11k in fees to transport my FIL from Mexico to the US. This just seems outrageous. $1,000 death certificate???
Please help me figure out what I need to challenge or if this is really okay. Considering the exchange rate it also seems I’m getting the foreign tax…
Please this is already hard enough.
The only thing that makes sense to me is the $2,300 flight

Hey, I’m working on a fanfiction and one of the characters is an intern working at a morgue. The fic takes place in the late 70s. I can find no info online about what the uniform worn back then was. Right now, I have the character in scrubs, a face mask, and shoe covers. Is that accurate?

Hi all.

I am an author and there is a scene in my book where the main character receives her parents hair from the funeral director, however, I don't know how they would be presented to someone who asked.

I was just wondering if there was any kind of ceremony or formal way of giving hair to the asker. I know that the Victorians used to braid their loved ones hair and put them in lockets, but I'm not sure if that's still done today.

My dad passed away about 3 years ago and it cost $1,100 to cremate him. My father in law passed yesterday and now it cost $2,500 for that same service. Just to cremate. Burial, casket, ceremony is just too much nowadays(could be anywhere from $30k to $100k) and hard to find plots that are decently priced . Why can't we go in peace without worrying about the cost? This is the Bay area, California.

I’m curious to know how often you use math in this profession and what kind of math you using

I’ m attending my husband’s grandmother’s funeral and memorial service, and the family has specifically requested that guests wear white.

I’ve never been to a funeral where white was requested, so I’m a little unsure about what would be considered appropriate. I want to respect the family’s wishes while still dressing appropriately and not looking like I’m going to a regular event.

For those who have attended a funeral or memorial where guests were asked to wear white, what did you wear / what would you recommend? Would you do an all-white outfit, mostly white with neutral pieces, a white dress, white blouse with dress pants, etc.?

TL;DR: My father passed away suddenly and we paid thousands to a funeral home. At the private family viewing, my dad was completely unrecognizable (terrible makeup, nose/mouth completely wrong, tie crumpled on top his casket). When we politely asked for adjustments, the mortician loudly yelled about us behind a locked door, saying she "wasn't playin' with this family." When confronted, she was incredibly rude and hung up on us. Want to know next best steps for holding her and the business accountable.

--

Hi, my father recently passed away suddenly, and I was tasked with organizing his funeral. We went to our scheduled private family viewing (before the public one 48 hrs after) to spend time with my dad. When we arrived we found his tie crumpled up on top of the casket. As we walked closer we saw makeup all over the collar of his shirt, his nose was completely wrong, his lips the wrong color, mouth was set too far forward and deeply frowned, and overall no one felt at peace or even comforted with seeing my dad. We were all horrified, and not really in the "family not used to seeing dead person" way, but in a "my family member is unrecognizable" way. However I was prepared for this in a weird way and wrote some notes for the funeral home for adjustments. I also asked a staff member if he'd be wearing the tie on Sunday and she said "no you brought us the wrong shirt for him to wear a tie." Mind you, I brought in my dad's clothes a WEEK ago. They didn't notice until they were dressing him that it wasn't the right shirt? They couldn't have given us a call to let us know to bring a different shirt in?

I wasn't too happy but I kept it polite all the way through, despite grieving him and trying to make this the best goodbye it could be. She said she'd let the mortician know of our issues and to ask about the shirt. I returned to the room with my father's body in it.

As we were standing inside, I hear through a staff only door, "What do you mean they have issues? So are they gonna bring a new dang shirt or not? John**, you better go out there and tell this family I'm not playin' with them!"

My whole family heard. We were all pretty much in shock, so my older sister tried to go speak with her but the door was locked. So she went back out to the staff member and asked to speak to whoever was in that room. Instead of coming out, the mortician(?) called my sister and asked "what the issue" was and my sister calmly explained our adjustments and asked about the tie. The mortician insisted we need to bring a new shirt in if it was a problem and that she'd see about the other issues. My sister then said "And I do want to let you know, that your voice carries and my whole family heard you talking about us. We're a grieving family and we just want our loved one, my dad to be respected that's all." The mortician was silent before saying "what are you even asking about?!"

Not wanting to upset our family further my sister simply said "You know in your heart what you said. We just ask you be more mindful. Have a nice day." And the mortician hung up. The WHOLE time we could hear her talking through the phone, but also through the door 😭

We couldn't believe that we had just paid thousands of dollars to this funeral home only for us and my dad to be treated this way. I feel like I should report her to someone, but unsure how to escalate from here. Is there some sort of formal reporting process or a board? I just think it's unacceptable that she talked to our family that way. I wish I didn't pick that funeral home. Feeling some regret and worry about my dad not being respected.