Question 1

What does a Funeral Director do?

Accepted Answer

Pick up the deceased and transport the body to the funeral home (anytime day or night)
Notify proper authorities, family and/or relatives
Arrange and prepare death certificates
Provide certified copies of death certificates for insurance and benefit processing
Work with the insurance agent, Social Security or Veterans Administration to ensure that necessary paperwork is filed for receipt of benefits
Prepare and submit obituary to the newspapers of your choice
Bathe and embalm the deceased body, if necessary
Prepare the body for viewing including dressing and cosmetizing
Assist the family with funeral arrangements and purchase of casket, urn, burial vault and cemetery plot
Schedule the opening and closing of the grave with cemetery personnel, if a burial is to be performed
Coordinate with clergy if a funeral or memorial service is to be held
Arrange a police escort and transportation to the funeral and/or cemetery for the family
Order funeral sprays and other flower arrangements as the family wishes
Provide Aftercare, or grief assistance, to the bereaved

Question 2

What do I do when a death occurs?

Accepted Answer

The funeral home will help coordinate arrangements with the cemetery.

Bring the following information to complete the State vital statistic requirements:
✓ Birthplace
✓ Father's Name
✓ Mother's Name
✓ Social Security Number
✓ Veteran's Discharge or Claim Number
✓ Education
✓ Marital Status

Contact your clergy. Decide on time and place of funeral or memorial service. This can be done at the funeral home.
The funeral home will assist you in determining the number of copies of the death certificates you will be needing and can order them for you.
Make a list of immediate family, close friends and employer or business colleagues. Notify each by phone.
Decide on appropriate memorial to which gifts may be made (church, hospice, library, charity or school).
Gather obituary information you want to include such as age, place of birth, cause of death, occupation, college degrees, memberships held, military service , outstanding work, list of survivors in immediate family. Include time and place of services. The funeral home will normally write article and submit to newspapers (newspaper will accept picture and they will be returned intact).
Arrange for members of family or close friends to take turns answering door or phone, keeping careful record of calls. If Social Security checks are automatic deposit, notify the bank of the death.

Question 3

When I call, will someone come right away?

Accepted Answer

If you request immediate assistance, yes. If the family wishes to spend a short time with the deceased to say good-bye, that’s perfectly acceptable. Your funeral director will come when your time is right.

Question 4

Should I choose Burial or Cremation?

Accepted Answer

Burial in a casket is the most common method of disposing of remains in the United States, although entombment also occurs. Cremation is increasingly selected because it can be less expensive and allows for the memorial service to be held at a more convenient time in the future when relatives and friends can come together.

A funeral service followed by cremation need not be any different from a funeral service followed by a burial. Usually, cremated remains are placed in urn before being committed to a final resting place. The urn may be buried, placed in an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium, or interred in a special urn garden that many cemeteries provide for cremated remains. The remains may also be scattered, according to state law.

Question 5

What is the purpose of embalming?

Accepted Answer

Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.

Question 6

Does a dead body have to be embalmed, according to law?

Accepted Answer

The Federal Trade Commission says, "Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial."

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