Monthly Archives: July 2022

When Will You Get a Loved One’s Remains Back?

You and your family might be under the impression that you’ll be able to get a loved one’s cremated remains back immediately after their cremation services in Sarasota, FL. But more often than not, this isn’t the case. You might have to wait a week or more to get your hands on your loved one’s remains. There are several different factors that will have an impact on how quickly you’ll be able to collect their remains. Learn more about these factors below.

Processing your loved one’s remains

Right after your loved one’s Sarasota, FL cremation is complete, a funeral home will have to take their remains and process them. Otherwise, your family will end up with a pile of your loved one’s bone fragments. While processing your loved one’s remains, a funeral home will make them all small and uniform in size. It’ll ensure that your loved one’s remains look just like the cremated remains that you’re imagining in your head right now.

Placing your loved one’s remains into an urn

After a funeral home has processed your loved one’s remains, they’ll need to take them and put them into an urn. Hopefully, they’ll be able to do this without a problem. But if you haven’t been able to secure an urn just yet, this could delay your plans. A funeral home might have to wait around for you to select the urn that you want. They might also have to wait for this urn to arrive if you choose to buy it from somewhere else. Ideally, you should start shopping for an urn for a loved one’s urn ASAP so that you don’t slow things down at all.

Filling out the proper paperwork for your loved one’s remains

There is a mountain of paperwork that a funeral home will have to fill out before, during, and after a loved one’s cremation. You will need to give them the necessary amount of time to go through this paperwork and fill it out accordingly. If they don’t do all the right paperwork, it could get them into trouble. You should help speed things along by filling out any forms that they need you to complete. This could go a long way towards helping them to complete the cremation process so that you can get your loved one’s remains back sooner.

Finding a good time to give you your loved one’s remains

Many funeral homes are busier than ever these days. And that alone might prevent them from being able to give you your loved one’s remains back as quickly as you might like. With this in mind, you should try to work with a funeral home to find a good time for you to come and gather your loved one’s remains. The more flexible you are as far as your schedule is concerned, the sooner you should be able to get your loved one’s remains back into your hands.

When families plan Sarasota, FL cremations through our funeral home, we do our best to get them their loved one’s remains back fast. We can talk to you more about how our cremation process works when you trust us to cremate a loved one for you. Give us a call now to set up a meeting with a funeral director.

What Is a Burial Vault? What You Need to Know

Is your family on the verge of burying a loved one through one of the local funeral homes in Sarasota, FL? If you are, you’re probably well aware of the fact that you’re going to need to invest in a casket to bury them in a cemetery. But did you know that you might also need to purchase a burial vault? If you didn’t know this, you should take some time to learn more about what a burial vault is, what it does, and how much it’ll cost. Here is just about everything you need to know about burial vaults.

What is a burial vault?

A burial vault is a heavy-duty container that a casket is placed inside of during a person’s burial services. This container is usually made out of metal, and it’s designed to provide a casket with the protection that it needs once it’s in the ground. Most burial vaults are lined and sealed so that things like soil and moisture won’t be able to get into them. They’re not typically as decorative as caskets are, but they’re very functional and serve their purpose when they’re used in the right way.

What is the purpose of a burial vault?

As we just mentioned, a burial vault is going to set a casket up with all the protection that it needs when it’s in the ground. But despite what you might think, burial vaults are going to do more than just protect caskets. They’re also utilized to protect the cemeteries that caskets are buried in. When a burial vault isn’t used during a burial, there is a chance that the soil that sits on top of a casket could collapse. This could potentially lead to a hole forming in the middle of a cemetery. A burial vault prevents this from happening. People can walk on top of burial plots and lawn equipment can pass over the top of them without the risk of the soil sitting on top of caskets caving in.

Is a burial vault required?

For many years, cemeteries allowed families to bury their loved ones in caskets without relying on burial vaults. But these days, most cemeteries now require families to use burial vaults when burying their loved ones once their Sarasota, FL funeral services are complete. You and your family will need to check with your preferred cemetery to see where they stand on burial vaults. You might be required to use one, or you might be able to get away with not using one in certain cases.

How much does a burial vault cost?

If you’re going to be required to buy a burial vault, you may be concerned about how much it’s going to cost your family. It really all depends on which burial vault you decide to go with. Some burial vaults will cost a pretty penny, but others shouldn’t break the bank. And since you’re only going to be using one for burial purposes, you don’t have to splurge on one if you don’t want to. Let your funeral home know that you want to invest in the most affordable burial vault possible.

Are you interested in getting more information on burial vaults? Our Sarasota, FL funeral home can talk to you about them and show you some options that you’ll have if you need to buy one. Reach out to us today for all your burial needs.

Forms to Fill Out When Planning Cremation Services

Once a person has been cremated, there is obviously no way to reverse the process. For this reason, funeral homes will usually have to fill out a whole bunch of paperwork prior to a person’s cremation services in Longboat Key, FL. It’ll ensure that everything goes according to plan throughout the cremation process. Your family might also be asked to fill out some forms related to your loved one’s cremation services. Check out some of the forms that you will usually be expected to fill out below.

Cremation services form

All cremation services are not created equal. You and your family will have the option to hold a funeral for your loved one and then cremate them. You’ll also have the option to cremate your loved one and then have a memorial service for them. You can even do away with any kind of service and simply cremate your loved one if you would like. Whatever the case, you’ll need to fill out a form to clearly state your intentions before a funeral home will start the Longboat Key, FL cremation process.

Cremation authorization form

A funeral home is legally obligated to get your authorization before they begin cremating your loved one. So there will be a very important cremation authorization form that they’ll have to get you to sign. You should make sure that you’re 100 percent committed to cremating your loved one before you sign this form. You should also make sure that you’ve properly identified your loved one right before their cremation is set to begin.

Cremation financial form

The good news for those planning cremations is that they’ll cost a lot less than burials. But even still, there will be some expenses associated with cremating a loved one. You and your family will need to decide how you plan on paying for cremation services and let your funeral home of choice know about it. They’ll typically have some kind of cremation financial form for you to fill out so that you’re on the same page as far as how you’ll cover your loved one’s cremation-related costs.

Cremation remains form

What would you like a funeral home to do with your loved one’s remains at the conclusion of their cremation? Do you want them to get put into a cardboard box, or would you prefer for them to be placed into an urn? Regardless of what you’re going to do with the remains, you should inform a funeral home about it. They should have a form that you can fill out advising them on what to do with your loved one’s remains.

Our funeral home can provide families with all the necessary forms when they’re planning Longboat Key, FL cremations for their loved ones. We can also assist them with all the different aspects of the cremation planning process. It’ll make this process go so smoothly from beginning to end and ensure that there aren’t any mistakes made during it. Contact us now to get the process underway.

Reasons to Stage a Private Funeral for a Loved One

Did you know that you don’t have to hold a public funeral for a loved one at one of the funeral homes in Longboat Key, FL? You’re also more than welcome to make it a private affair if you would like. Most families choose not to stage private funerals for their loved ones because they want to have as many people in attendance as possible. But there are some reasons why you might want to have a private funeral for a loved one. Take a look at several of these reasons below.

To mourn the loss of your loved one in peace

It can be challenging for some families to mourn the losses of their loved ones when they’re surrounded by so many people at Longboat Key, FL funerals. They don’t always feel comfortable shedding tears in front of others and letting their true feelings out. If you’re concerned about not being able to mourn a loved one’s loss in peace, you might want to hold a private funeral for them. It’ll give you and your family a chance to grieve more effectively in many cases.

To steer clear of having family drama spill into your loved one’s funeral

Many families have at least a few family members who don’t always get along. If you feel like these family members aren’t going to cause any trouble at a funeral for your loved one, you can keep the funeral public. But if you’re concerned about family drama causing issues at a loved one’s funeral, you might want to make it private. You should just make sure that you let the family members who aren’t welcome at a loved one’s funeral know about it in advance.

To surround yourself with your closest family members

Unfortunately, many families don’t get to spend much time together at funerals for their loved ones because they’re too busy mingling with other guests. If you’re worried about not being able to spend enough time with your closest family members at a loved one’s funeral, that might be reason enough to keep their funeral private. You’ll be able to focus on spending time with your immediate family as opposed to catering to other guests at a funeral home.

To avoid high funeral costs for your loved one

At the end of the day, holding a private funeral for a loved one will often cost less than a public funeral. This is because your family will be able to get away with staging a funeral for your loved one in a much smaller space than you would have to otherwise. It’s one more reason to think about possibly holding a private funeral for your loved one. You can duck and dodge high funeral costs when you keep things on the simpler side with a private funeral.

Would your family be interested in holding a private funeral for a loved one? Our Longboat Key, FL funeral home can help you do this. Call us now to get more information on the benefits of staging a private funeral at our funeral home.