My parents are against cremation. I know this because they were very disturbed when my grandmother died and was cremated and they were talking about making sure to put in their will that they did not want this.
A comment from the former dairy farmer now working at a funeral home ...
The term "will" is sometimes used generically to include "final wishes", but the docuмent "last will and testament" is almost never read or referenced until several days, or even weeks, after the funeral. It is not the place to record one's funeral wishes.
The best way to be sure that one's death care wishes are properly carried out is to preplan your arrangements at the funeral home of one's choice and pay for it. Most funeral homes have a means (typically a life insurance policy or a trust account) to accept preneed payments over time (interest free). Once the arrangements one has selected (service package, casket, incidentals) have been fully paid for usually their cost is frozen at that point in time. The same should be done for cemetery property, the opening and closing, and the marker. These set aside assets are shielded from the spend down requirement if one has to use medicaid (not to be confused with medicare) in their final years.
If one's final care is not prearranged, then state law (of which there can be 50 different variations) determines who gets to make the decisions, because these things need to be dealt with in a timely manner. Often a "power of attorney" docuмent or guardianship expires on the death of the person who granted the "power of attorney" to someone. In WA where I live it is possible sign a docuмent designating a specific individual or individuals to have the authority to make someone's final arrangements which supersedes the authority of relatives designated by state law. That person needs to agree to accept the responsibility, and the matter of funding needs to be determined.
A final matter to consider: People sometimes die while traveling, or an elderly parent may move to be closer to one of their adult children but when the time comes they want to be taken "back home" to be buried next to their spouse. Flying casketed remains across the country is expensive, and this is when cremation is sometimes chosen, though that would not have been the preferred choice. I believe that there are insurance policies that can cover the extra cost of transporting someone back home if they die while traveling, the funeral home where the pre-arrangements are made would know. Otherwise, if someone moves away from where they wish to be buried when the time comes, that extra cost needs to be provided for. We had a case once where a gentleman died back east (Virginia I think) and his funeral and burial were to be in eastern WA. He was embalmed but no final prep and dressing yet, and in a combo air tray (a cardboard shipping container for human remains not in a casket). His daughter and son-in-law drove him cross country nonstop in a u-haul van. The daughter had been a deputy coroner, so she was comfortable with it all and knew what to do. An important aspect is to have the proper paperwork completed and traveling with the deceased, it is usually frowned upon to be driving around with a dead body and not have paperwork.
Topic: SSPX Referrals for novus ordo priests (Read 12173 times)