The use of the services of a funeral director for arranging a funeral has no legal requirements attached to it. Research has shown that majority of the people find is easier to use an experienced professional to launch the basic requirements.
Funeral Directors have so many functions to perform in the funeral of a loved one. The following are the few important roles they have to perform amongst many other ones.
• Offering graveside service or crematorium
• Removing the body of the deceased from the hospital and caring for the body as well
• Supplying the coffin
• Providing a hearse
• Collecting and submitting legal documents
• Buying a burial plot, arranging for its opening and subsequent closing
• Making arrangements for cremation
• Provide funeral chapel for service
• Provision of flowers, mourner’s car and newspaper advertisements.
Some individuals can choose to perform some of these functions on their own. The amount of money charged for these services varies as it depends on the amount of work done and the type of services being offered. In most cases, many funeral directors work for 24 hours while they charge extra money for after work hours.
The Basic Funeral
This is the lowest cost funeral package which the funeral director is able to provide and it is made up of a single service which is performed at the funeral director’s premises or cremation location. It includes the following:
• The least expensive coffin in the market
• Burial or cremation of the body
• Storage of the body at mortuary
• Arrangement and conducting of the funeral
• Important medical certificates
• Transportation of the body to the funeral director’s premises, mortuary and burial or cremation site.
• Preparation of the body for burial or cremation
Why Funeral And What Are The Benefits
Funerals being the first step in the healing process is an important role for those mourning the death of a loved one. It helps to provide family members and friends with a caring and supportive avenue in which to share thoughts and feelings about the death a cherished one.
Attending a funeral offers many benefits among which are:
• Offering the time and opportunity to say good-bye
• Integrating the bereaved and grieved family back into the community
• Enabling the bereaved to understand that death is part of life although it is final
• Consolidating one’s relationship with the one who is dead
• Providing support socially to the bereaved family
• Providing a social gathering to help the bereaved begin the healing process.
Arranging With The Funeral Director
All the funeral arrangements are usually discussed at the funeral home or, if specifically requested, at the family’s residence. The family should talk to more than one Funeral Director and ask any questions bordering then about the funeral without feeling pressured by them. They need to decide about the kind of funeral they want before contacting the funeral director.
It may be a good idea for a close friend or relative who is less emotionally involved to go with the family when making such arrangements. Remember that the person agreeing to the funeral arrangements is entering into a contract and is responsible for paying the account.
The funeral directors on their own will have to provide the following to the customers:
• Information about their ‘basic funeral’ option if they have one, its cost and what it covers, by giving a ‘basic funeral notice’
• An itemised quote before entering into any funeral arrangement
• An itemised statement of the goods and services provided and their costs before accepting final payment
Lastly, all you have to do is to make enough underground research before committing to hire any Funeral Director, this will pay you on at the long run.
