Arranging a Funeral
Suffering a bereavement is a difficult enough time without the stress of arranging a funeral. It can be an expensive business, though, so it pays to do your research and contact a few different funeral directors before making a decision. Don’t worry – this doesn’t show a lack of respect for you deceased loved one. Of course, you want the best you can get for them, but this shouldn’t have to cost the earth. Here’s a guide that will take some of the stress out of arranging and paying for a funeral.
After you’ve registered the death you’ll receive a death certificate and a certificate authorising a funeral. You’ll need this for the funeral to go ahead.
Decide what you want
The first step is to decide what type of funeral you want. Find out whether your loved one made any arrangements or requests for their funeral before their death. Check their will if they made one, as they may have made special funeral requests in it. They may also have set up a funeral plan, in which they agree arrangements with a funeral director and make pre-payments towards the cost.
If nothing has been arranged in advance, decide for yourself how you would like the funeral to take place. It needn’t be formal, and neither does it have to be religious. You can choose anywhere you want for the service, not just a place of worship. You’ll also have to decide whether your loved one will be buried or cremated.
Get quotes
Make up a specific list of what you want for the funeral before you visit any funeral directors. This will help you to establish the full costs and compare like-for-like between quotes. Many funeral directors don’t declare every expense in their quotes and it can be difficult to get the full price before the funeral takes place, so taking a specific list of requirements will help to ensure you get an accurate quote. Prices can vary enormously from one director to another, so speak to a few.
If the funeral director is a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors, they will be obliged to provide what’s called a ‘basic funeral’ if asked to do so. This should allow for a reasonable funeral for your loved one. Watch out when you’re getting quotes though – the particulars of a basic funeral can differ between funeral directors.
Your list should include the following basic requirements: a funeral director, a coffin, a hearse, family cars, looking after the body, flowers, doctor’s fees for statutory certificates, the cremation or burial fee, a minister or someone to conduct the service, a gravedigger (burial), a plot (burial), a headstone (burial) and a casket/urn (cremation).
There may be several different fees that the funeral director will have to pay to third parties for the arrangement of the funeral – doctors, churches, crematoriums. These are known as disbursements. Check whether these are included in the price.
Don’t be afraid of scrutinising and questioning the costs with the funeral director. You’re entitled to know what you’re paying for and what is included in the price – and you want to make sure you get it right for your loved one.
Burial
Your loved one is entitled to be buried in the parish in which they lived or died, providing there’s a churchyard and enough space. They can also be buried in a different parish, but permission will be required from the local minister and the fee may be more expensive.
You’ll have to pay a fee for a plot and for a gravedigger, or if you have an existing family plot, there will be a fee for opening it up. Check with the church whether your loved one has already paid for a plot in the graveyard.
There are no stipulations as to what the coffin is made of or what you place in it with your loved one. Many environmentally conscious people are now requesting coffins made of cardboard rather than wood. You’re also free to put anything you want in the coffin, such as cherished items that they owned or photographs. You can also have them dressed in their own clothes.
Cremation
Extra authorisation is required before a cremation can take place. The cause of death must be confirmed. If the case has been referred to a coroner, they will issue authorisation without charge If the person died in hospital, only the doctor who last attended them needs to certify. Otherwise, two doctors will be required to see the body and sign an authorisation form, one of whom must be the doctor who last attended the person alive. A fee will be charged by both doctors for doing this. The next of kin must also complete an authorisation form.
Your funeral director will help to organise this.
You may choose to have both the service and the committal in the crematorium – most have a chapel. You can have the service anywhere though, and jus the committal at the crematorium.
Check whether the crematorium fee covers scattering of the ashes in the memorial garden. You may also want to pay for a plaque in memory of your loved one.
DIY funeral
You could opt to arrange and manage the funeral yourself, although it may turn out to be very hard work at such a stressful time. You’ll need to sort out the appropriate statutory forms yourself, buy a coffin and other materials, arrange the service and committal, and hire or find cars and a hearse or suitable vehicle for the coffin.
Paying for the funeral
Banks generally allow funds to be released from the account of the deceased to pay for funeral expenses, so check their account balance to establish whether there’s enough to cover it.
If there aren’t sufficient funds and you have no means of paying for it yourself, you could be eligible for support from the government’s Social Fund. To qualify you or your partner must be receiving means-tested benefits already, such as jobseeker’s allowance, income support, tax credits or council tax or housing benefit. (Your deceased loved one doesn’t have to have been claiming benefits though.)
You’ll also have to be deemed to be responsible for arranging the funeral in order to claim, and the dept will also take into consideration whether there are any other close relatives who can afford to pay.
If you do receive a grant, some or all of it may have to be repaid from the estate of the deceased when these funds are released.
There are other benefits available to people who have suffered bereavement. You may be entitled to a bereavement allowance for up to a year if you have been widowed or your civil partner has died. To qualify you must be under the state pension age, you must not be bringing up children and your partner must have paid National Insurance Contributions (NICs). Find out from your local Jobcentre Plus what you’re entitled to claim.
Benedict
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/arranging-a-funeral-109875.html
Comments
Can you get in trouble for leaving a dead relative, partner at the hospital, and not arranging a funeral?
I have requested to my partner and family, when I die leave me at the hospital/morgue. The crazy expense of a funeral seems pointless, as the money could be spent on better things, and I am not religious at all. Could any of my family etc get in trouble for not making arrangements for a funeral? would the hospital just dispose of me?
If noone claims you.
What will haappen is , you will be buried in a paupers grave.
This means you get buried in the dirt with no headstone.
Usually paupers graves a taken by homeless people with no money, or people with no next of kin and have no money. They are buried on top of each other as well to save space.
So, think of it like this………………………You have your way of thinking because u believe that it is the best for your family. What is your family going to think when u are buried in a paupers grave, with some homeless guy buried on top of you, who u dont know.
Considering u clearly have raised a family and lived a life of respect. Im sure u would want better for them in their way of thinking after u are gone.
They will need to grieve. part of the grieving process and letting u go. Is seeing u buried.
Maybe a headstone so they can visit once a year to commeorate your life and to make them grounded on how they should be in life themselves. To remember the good things u did and believed and ultimately to make them NOT stray in life and life to your expectations.
If u want to save on cost. get cremated. Then they can scatter your ashes in the sea.
It will save on a burial plot at the cemetary and a coffin.
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I don’t think any caring family would leave you in a hospital …
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I don’t know to be honest but I think the government would take care of the body, possibly cremating it. I can’t imagine why they would get in trouble but however you feel and your spiritual beliefs remember funerals are much more for the family and friends and people left behind. If something happened to you untimely prehaps they would like the time to say goodbye to you. you would be gone and whether there is an after life or not. Really n none of us know what happens but there would be some people in morning for you and prehaps they would need to remember you in such a way and be grateful for your time in life with them.
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I don’t actually know. I saw a movie (Little Miss Sunshine) where her Grandfather died and they tried to leave him in the hospital and the hospital basically said that they wouldn’t keep him and the family had to like, sneak him out and stuff. So I don’t know what happens in real life. But I agree about paying for funerals, bloody expensive. I’m gonna write that I don’t want to be buried and that my ashes have to be scattered somewhere. I’m gonna decide where later though.
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you could go a step further if you like. why not donate your body to medical research. medical students will learn their trade and i have a feeling they pay for out at the end for a simple funeral. its probably worth looking into if you really want to do some good when you die.
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What you want is probably not what your family wants! When you die they will want to give you a good send off, not have you buried in an unmarked grave somewhere. A funeral isn’t necessarily a religious occasion – it’s about paying your last respects to someone that you cared about.
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I think you wil find they will be contacted and sent a bill for any funneral that is arrranged by them for you.
why not speak with an under taker tell him you want the cheapest funneral they have, pay for it.That way you know what will happen when you die and family will not have any hassel.
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Who would pay for the cost of keeping your body there though? I mean, hospital morgues are not free…
http://www.answerbag.co.uk/q_view/1927508
On One Hand: The Deceased’s Executor or Estate
If the deceased person has an official will in which a funeral executor is named, then that person will be in charge of organizing and paying for the funeral. If the deceased person does not have a will, then the funeral costs will be paid for by the estate of the deceased.
On the Other: Others Can Help
If the deceased person has neither an official will nor any assets (cash, property or otherwise), then a family member or friend will need to step in and cover the costs. If this is not possible, the police or hospital may arrange a very minimal, no-frills funeral.
Bottom Line
Whoever signs the funeral contract is ultimately responsible for the costs. In most cases, this is one of the beneficiaries of the deceased’s estate. It is the responsibility of that person to collect the money from the estate, gather money from the other beneficiaries or simply pay the costs out-of-pocket.
If the body is left at the hospital then there is something called a National Assistance Funeral http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=598&StyleType=MediumFont&StyleClass=FontSize that can be provided by the state. ( This site is just a typical one from a council web page.) However….they’d be chasing the family up for repayment, else-wise the local tax payers would be paying for it.
http://www.owletthall.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=6
This is interesting,
As to your last question, ‘would the hospital just dispose of you?’
How? Your body can hardly go out with rubbish can it? Think about it…
Black bins? Nah, it would be commercial waste from the hospital and they have to pay business rates for that.
Paper and card? Nooooooo.
Bottles, glass and cans? Not unless you’d had a terrible lot of work done on your body prior to death.
Green waste? Well, can you imagine what would happen if your body was shredded at the recycling plant and turned into a mulch for the councils roundabouts?
Hazardous Waste? Possibly, but the hospitals have to pay for that as wel, they’d be bound to ask for your relatives to pay…that is IF they could find any company willing to arange it. It could hardly be popped into a yellow bin bag and thrown into a metal cage now could it…………
http://www.naturaldeath.org.uk/index.php?page=diy-funerals
I like this lot best…you might too?
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