For most of us, death is not exactly a subject we need to deal with every day.  For that reason, many people have no idea what their rights are when it comes to handling the body of a deceased loved one, and may just assume that everything typically done is what legally needs to be done, and that they have no say in the matter.  Maybe you’re fine with staying as “hands-off” as possible, but… do you have to?  Let’s find out.  

Home Funerals

Many people assume that a body must go straight from the place of death to a morgue, mortuary, and then burial or cremation site.  But that’s not necessarily true.  If the death is expected, you have the right to have your deceased loved one at home for any kind of viewing that’s right for you, them, and your family (within limits).  There will be certain states that may require the involvement of a funeral director or other mortuary professional in some way or another though, so just make sure to check your local laws and ordinances when it comes to having a funeral at home.  

If you do choose this route, you are free to wash, dress, prepare, and sit with your loved one as you like.  Contrary to popular belief, if a person dies without an infection of a contagious disease, a dead body itself is safe to be around.  

It’s also important to note that, if your loved one’s death is unexpected, you will need to report it to the police, who may report it to the coroner, in the event that an investigation needs to take place. And if you are unsure whether your loved one’s death falls into this category or not, it’s better to report it just to be safe.

…And of course, it’s also important to make sure your loved one has been pronounced legally dead by a qualified professional before going forward with any arrangements.  It may also be easier to hire a funeral home for filing legal paperwork, transportation, professional preparation, etc. 

The Funeral Rule

The Funeral Rule, enforced by the federal trade commission, ensures that you as a family member retain certain rights, such as the right to only buy goods and services you need or want, shop around for the best funeral homes and packages for your needs, and select the funeral arrangements that are right for you.  Some other rights include:

• Getting pricing information from a funeral home up front, even over the phone
• Getting a written, itemized price list from the funeral home of your choice
• Seeing a written casket price list before you see the actual caskets
• Seeing a written burial container list before you see the burial containers
• Receiving an itemized, written list of what you are buying before you pay for it
• Receiving a written explanation of any and all legal requirements of the cemetery or crematorium your loved one is going to
• Allowance for an “alternative container”, such as unfinished wood, pressed wood, fiberboard, or cardboard, to be used for cremation
• Using a casket or urn purchased elsewhere to be used at the funeral home of your choice during services
• Making funeral arrangements that do not include embalming of the body.  

Navigating final expenses and funeral arrangements can be overwhelming and emotional.  Don’t try to do it alone;  you can get help from a friendly expert, free of charge, by filling out a simple online form here.  

If you ever visited a cemetery, particularly an older one, you’ve likely noticed many different symbols and sculptures adorning graves.  What you may not know is that they all have a special meaning, standing as a last message to the world to tell a tale of the person lying beneath it.  

You may decide you want to have a specific symbol yourself, but which one will best tell your story?  Here we go through a list of more common symbols, both so you can have the consideration for your own tombstone and so you can better understand the messages left by those who have come before.  

Symbol	Name	What It Means
	Alpha and Omega	The Greek symbols for A and Z, Alpha and Omega are often used together to represent the totality of the power of Christ.
	American Flag	Patriotic symbol, often chosen for veterans and those involved in government and military.
	Anchor	Ancient symbol of safety, in the Christian religion a symbol of hope and steadfastness.
	Angel	Symbol of spirituality, messenger from God.
	Order of the Elks	Used by members of the Order of the Elks, the largest fraternal organization in the United States.
	Book	Can have multiple meanings, such as the Book of Life, the Bible, or can adorn the grave of scholars, theologians, and authors.
	Calla Lily	A Victorian era symbol of beauty, marriage, and resurrection.
	Celtic Cross	Represents eternity.
	Broken Column	Symbolizes a life cut short.
	Daughters of Rebekah	An auxiliary of the Order of the Oddfellows
	Dove	Represents a soul ascending to heaven
	Draped Urn	The shroud represents the veil between life and death.  The urn itself is said to be a symbol of immortality.
	Eastern Orthodox Cross	The Eastern Orthodox Cross is also referred to as the Russian, Ukraine, Slavic and Byzantine Cross.
	Hands – Pointing Finger	Symbolizes pointing to God if pointing up, or God pointing to the deceased if pointing down.  A symbol of eternal life.
	Horseshoe	Symbolizes protection from evil, but can also be used by someone who spent a lot of their life around horses.
	Ivy & Vines	Represents friendship, fidelity, and immortality
	Knights of Pythias	Symbols of the fraternal organization often include the letters F B C – which stand for friendship, benevolence and charity
	Laurel Wreath	represents victory, distinction, eternity or immortality.
	Lion	A guardian of the tomb from evil spirits, also used as a symbol of God.
	Oak Leaves & Acorns	signifies strength, honor, longevity and steadfastness.
	Olive Branch	Symbolizes that the soul has found peace resting with God.
	Sleeping Child	Like the lamb, this often adorns the graves of children.
	Sphinx	A popular symbol en vogue during the victorian era along with the obelisk.
	Square & Compass	A Masonic symbol of faith and reason. The letter G usually found in the center of the square and compass is said to represent “geometry” or “God.”
	Torch, Inverted	Symbolizes the extinguishing of life.
	Tree Trunk Tombstone	Symbolizes the brevity of life.
	Wheel	Represents the circle of life.
	Woodmen of the World	This symbol signifies membership in the Woodmen of the World fraternal organization.

Navigating final expenses and funeral arrangements can be overwhelming and emotional.  Don’t try to do it alone;  you can get help from a friendly expert, free of charge, by filling out a simple online form here.  

When it comes to embalming, or any post-mortem procedure, there are many rumors, myths, and misunderstandings caused western culture’s tendency to keep anything related to death as far away from the living as possible.  It heightens fear, and cuts important planning.  It shrouds a guaranteed experience in mystery, and most people in our society would rather not have to think about any of it altogether.  However, death is not a matter of “if”, but “when”; and when that time arrives in a society where discussing such things is taboo, it leaves people at a loss when the time eventually comes to properly take care of their passing loved ones.  Here, we will take a deeper look at one of the most common American death traditions: embalming.  

A good reason to choose this method specifically is if there is a desire for a viewing in a funeral home (particularly of the remains of someone who died under more extreme circumstances), or if it will bring more peace of mind to grieving loved ones.  

With that said, embalming comes with its share of environmental hazards.  For example, the process of embalming involves a highly toxic and carcinogenic mixture of various chemicals known as embalming fluid.  In fact, formaldehyde, the main ingredient in embalming fluid, is listed in the top 10% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) most hazardous and damaging chemicals.   If you are looking for greener burial options, you can check them out here.

Fact vs. Fiction:

MYTH: The body isn’t safe unless it has been embalmed.

FACT:  Embalming does not make a body “safer” or “cleaner” to be around.  In fact, while it may not always be pleasant to be around an unembalmed corpse, unless the person died from a communicable disease, a corpse itself is not a threat to public health simply by virtue of being dead.     

MYTH: It is a legal requirement that a body be embalmed

FACT:  There is no law in the United States that requires a body to be embalmed simply because the person died.  However, it may be a requirement from funeral homes in order to hold specific types of ceremonies.

MYTH: If a body is embalmed, it will never decompose.

FACT:  While embalming can temporarily slow down the natural decomposition of the body and give it a more “life-like” appearance, this is primarily for the benefit of loved ones who would like to see their family member or friend one last time as they were in life.  

MYTH: If a body is embalmed, they must remove the organs.

FACT: Organs do not need to be removed from the body in order to embalm it. During the embalming process, the abdomen may be “aspirated”, or have small incisions made into the cavity and its contents, in order to prevent a buildup of gasses.  Unless you are intending to donate your organs, if you are choosing embalming, there is no reason to remove them.   

Navigating final expenses and funeral arrangements can be overwhelming and emotional.  Don’t try to do it alone;  you can get help from a friendly expert, free of charge, by filling out a simple online form here.  

Cryonics, the process of freezing the human body or head at extremely low temperatures for preservation upon death, is a hotly debated and controversial topic.  It is the option of choice for those who may be dying from an incurable illness, dying young, dying from a traumatic injury, or simply from old age, with the hope that someday a cure will be found to “‘fix” the terminal condition they have, and they can be brought back to life to take advantage of it.  

Others may opt for it simply because it gives them a hope that they can achieve literal immortality.  Because of these lofty, sci-fi style possibilities, as well as the heavily involved process and maintenance used by cryogenicists to achieve it, this is by no means the least expensive option post-mortem (regardless of what any website may tell you).  So… does it deliver?  Let’s separate fact from fiction, and find out.  

Does Cryogenic Freezing Keep Me Alive?

Medically and legally speaking… no.  In fact, a person must be considered “legally dead” in order to begin the cryonic process.  However, cryogenecists and believers in the science behind it believe that, as the essential information in the brain remains “in tact”, the body is in a state of “near death”, that resembles a coma, as the body’s metabolic rate is frozen to a near halt.  

Does Cryogenic Freezing Preserve My Body Perfectly Forever?

Cryonics involves freezing a dead body with liquid nitrogen to well below freezing temperatures to the point that decay mostly stops.  But as with any organic matter, there is no way to stop decay 100% for eternity.  

But Wouldn’t This All Cause Some Kind Of Extreme Frostbite?

No.  While normal freezing can do massive amounts of damage to body tissue, Cryogenecists use a process called “vitrification” to prevent the jagged, cell-destroying ice crystals that would otherwise form during the freezing process and cause such damage.  Vitrification is the insertion of (what is essentially) ‘medical grade anti-freeze’, along with other preserving chemicals, into the body (or whatever amount of it is chosen for preservation), to put the body into the glass-like state we typically associate with liquid nitrogen. Once the process is complete, the body’s temperature is slowly lowered with an easing-in to the liquid nitrogen over several days, until it freezes to a temperature of about -300 degrees. It is at this time they are transferred to an insulated container, in the hopes of being revived at a later date. 

Has Anyone Been Brought Back To Life Yet?

This question is at the crux of the controversy surrounding the expensive, resource-consuming process of body preservation via cryonics.  As of the date of this article, no one has ever been “brought back to life” after being cryogenically frozen.  And with such a hefty price tag, the idea that this promise has yet to be delivered on creates a lot of skeptics to rival the numbers of those hoping for a chance at life-extension, and getting to spend that extra time having beers with their robot friends in the year 3000.  
It’s important to have the right conversation and make the right preparations to ensure all arrangements are safe, dignified, and taken care of.  If you are having trouble figuring out where to start, you can speak to a friendly, knowledgeable expert who can guide you every step of the way, absolutely free.   

Considering 2 in 3 American adults struggle with obesity or morbid obesity, it may be quite surprising to see how little the discussion of options in death for them are discussed.  The reality is that for some people, traditional caskets, transportation and even crematoriums simply cannot accommodate their needs.  This can be very distressing for people in this situation, as well as their loved ones, who fear that their body will be treated poorly or have nowhere to go.  

The good news is, there are options.  So what are they? And which option is right for you?

Caskets

While too often the butt of a bad joke, there are times when someone who is larger or taller will require a larger casket.   Fortunately, there are funeral homes that offer a variety of more spacious options, including:

• Enlarged caskets, made specifically for such a purpose
• Customization of a standard sized casket, where the maker can create more space by making the walls thinner.  This can be very beneficial if it’s a viable option as it means the body can be placed in a standard sized casket, which can be placed in a standard sized vault, and a standard sized burial plot, which can save money and stress.

Burial Plots

A standard burial plot will not typically be able to accommodate a larger casket.  This means it’s important to ensure that the cemetery will be willing and able to offer a larger plot, as not all cemeteries can or will due to planning or space limitations.  If you need more room, it may be beneficial to acquire a plot in a more spacious, spread out area, where a burial plot can have more space to spread out, otherwise, you may be required to buy additional plots.  

Vaults

A vault is the traditional “outer shell”, typically made of steel or concrete, that a casket is placed in before burial.  Vaults, like everything else aforementioned, are typically a standard size, and unfortunately due to the materials they are made of, customization of a pre-made vault is basically impossible.  So if you require a larger casket, you may also require a larger vault. 

Cremation

When considering cremation for an obese or mobidly obese individual, it’s worth noting that the process requires more heat for a longer amount of time.  Standard chamber doors may not be able to allow a morbidly obese body through, and a wider-framed retorts (cremation machines) may be required.   Be sure to make sure the crematorium you use has this type of machine however, because not all crematoriums do.   

While it may not be a very comfortable topic to discuss, if you have concerns around weight when it comes to you or your loved ones and what to do after passing, it’s important to have that conversation and make the right preparations to ensure all arrangements are safe, dignified, and taken care of.  If you are having trouble figuring out where to start, you can speak to a friendly, knowledgeable expert who can guide you every step of the way, absolutely free.