Dealing with the death of a loved one is one of the most challenging periods of any individual’s life.
Planning a funeral on top of this emotional turmoil only adds to the stress and overwhelm of the moment, which is why funeral homes have services designed to take on the majority of the work—on short notice and to the best of their ability.
A funeral home will ensure that you have as little to do as possible during the funeral planning process, taking on the majority of the responsibility, and ensuring that your wishes are carried out appropriately.
Streamlining official matters
There are a number of tasks that have to be done when someone passes away. For most of us, this isn’t common knowledge.
This is why the process generally begins with a consultation with the funeral home in order to gather the necessary information for completing paperwork and begin the funeral planning.
A funeral home will formulate, complete, and file all of the necessary paperwork on behalf of the family of the deceased. This includes acquiring certificates of death, other permits (such as the burial permits), and authorizations.
They will also compose the obituary with the information provided by the family, and send it to all the newspapers requested by the family. This obituary often includes service information, biographical information, and family information. This is unless the family would like to take over this responsibility themselves.
The funeral home will also help with any questions that the family may have about veterans’ affairs, social security benefits, insurance claims, and other such inquiries.
Taking care of the body and funeral service
After dealing with official aspects of the funeral arrangement, the funeral home will be able to take responsibility for the body and everything that involves the type of disposition it will require.
With help from the family, a funeral home will implement the burial or cremation plans swiftly.
For a burial, this may include washing, embalming, restorative art, dressing, casketing, hairdressing, and cosmetology.
When it comes to the funeral service itself, a funeral home will supervise most services, bringing together all the elements you will need to properly honor the dead.
This includes providing memorial accessories such as acknowledgment cards, a program for a funeral service, memorial folders, prayer cards, and framed photos.
Coordinating with various parties
Funeral planning involves a lot of coordination with other parties regarding the arrangement of different elements of the funeral service.
Organizing this yourself can very quickly prove to be overwhelming.
For a funeral home, however, this is a lot easier as they have systems and procedures in place, as well as connections with other businesses, to ensure that a funeral service can be planned on short notice.
The funeral home can help with contacting various parties including officiants, musicians, and singers. They can even make arrangements for any other special groups such as military or fraternal groups to attend the service.
When it comes to the place of disposition, the funeral home also has the resources to make the necessary arrangements with the cemetery or crematory directly. They will be able to deal with the regulations and other such requirements of the area prior to the funeral service.
Some of the details that will be covered by your funeral home may include arranging the grave opening and closing, and acquiring monuments or a gravestone.
Making arrangements for transportation
One of the most overlooked aspects of planning a funeral is making arrangements for transportation.
Luckily, a funeral home will be able to take on this responsibility and ensure that there is transport available for the body, as well as for friends and family if required.
This includes the transfer of the deceased from the place of death to the funeral home, and from the funeral home to the gravesite.
It also accounts for the transport and care of the family of the deceased prior to, during, and after the funeral service.
A funeral home can ensure that funeral planning goes as smoothly as possible
When funeral services are entrusted to a funeral home, they make sure everything is conducted smoothly while honoring the legacy of the deceased.
This way, with the majority of arrangements in the care of the funeral home, you can focus on spending time with loved ones during this tough time.
