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1.
Embalming is required by law.
Embalming is NEVER required for the first 24 hours. In
many states, it's not required at all under any circumstances.
Refrigeration is almost always an alternative to embalming
if there will be a delay before final disposition.
2.
Embalming protects the public health.
There is NO public health purpose served by embalming.
In fact, the embalming process may create a health hazard
by exposing embalmers to disease and toxic chemicals.
In many cases, disease can still be found in an embalmed
body. A dead body is less of a threat to public health
than a live one that is still coughing and breathing.
3.
An embalmed body will last like the
"beautiful memory picture" forever.
Mortuary-type embalming is meant to hold the body
only for a week or so. Ultimately, the body will decompose,
even if it has been embalmed. Temperature and climate
are more influential factors affecting the rate of decomposition.
4.
Viewing is necessary for "closure"
after a death.
When the death has been anticipated, family members have
already started their "good-byes." There is
relatively little need to see the body to accept the reality
of death. In fact, according to a 1990 Wirthlin study
commissioned by the funeral industry, 32% of those interviewed
found the viewing experience an unpleasant one for various
reasons.
5.
"Protective" caskets help to preserve the body.
While gasketed caskets may keep out air, water, and other
outside elements for a while, the body will decompose
regardless. In fact, a gasketed or "sealer"
casket interferes with the natural dehydration that would
otherwise occur. Fluids are released from the body as
it begins to decompose, and the casket is likely to rust
out from the inside.
6.
"Protective" or sealed vaults
help to preserve the body.
Nothing the traditional funeral industry sells will preserve
the body forever. If there is a flood, however, such vaults
have popped out of the ground and floated away. (Mass
graves after the plague in England were ultimately found
to be without health problems, according to the 1995 British
health journal Communicable Disease Report. Burial in
containers, however, often kept the disease "encapsulated.")
7.
Coffin vaults are required by law.
NO state has a law requiring burial vaults. Most cemeteries,
however, do have such regulations because the vault keeps
the grave from sinking in after decomposition of the body
and casket, reducing maintenance for the cemetery workers.
Grave liners are usually less expensive than vaults. New
York state forbids cemeteries from requiring vaults or
liners, in deference to religious traditions that require
burial directly in the earth. Those who have started "green"
burial grounds do not permit vaults or metal caskets.
8.
Vaults are required for the interment
of cremated remains.
Alas, with the increasing cremation rate, many cemeteries
are making this claim, no doubt to generate more income.
There is no similar safety reason as claimed for using
a casket vault. Any cemetery trying to force such a purchase
should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission for
unfair marketing practices: 877-FTC-HELP.
9.
What is left after the cremation process
are ashes.
When people think of "ashes" they envision what
you'd find in the fireplace or what's left over after
a campfire. However, what remains after the cremation
process are bone fragments, like broken seashells. These
are pulverized to a small dimension, not unlike aquarium
gravel.
10.
Cremated remains must be placed in an
urn and interred in a cemetery lot or niche.
There is no reason you can't keep the cremated remains
in the cardboard or plastic box that comes from the crematory.
In ALL states it is legal to scatter or bury cremated
remains on private property (with the land-owner's permission).
Cremation is considered "final disposition"
because there is no longer any health hazard. There are
no "cremains police" checking on what you do
with cremated remains.
11.
It is a good idea to prepay for a funeral,
to lock in prices.
Funeral directors selling preneed funerals expect the
interest on your money to pay for any increase in prices.
They wouldn't let you prepay unless there was some benefit
for the funeral home, such as capturing more market share
or being allowed to pocket some of your money now. Prepaid
funeral money is NOT well-protected against embezzlement
in most states.
Furthermore,
if you were to move, die while traveling, or simply change
your mind—from body burial to cremation, perhaps—you
may not get all your money back or transferred to a new
funeral home. The interest on your money, in a pay-on-death
account at your own bank, should keep up with inflation
and will let you stay in control. Please note: We're seeing
more low-cost, low-overhead funeral operations opening
up, so prices may go down in the future in areas with
open price competition.
12.
With a preneed contract, I took care
of everything.
There are over 20 items found on many final funeral bills
that cannot be included in a preneed contract because
these items are purchased from third parties and cannot
be calculated prior to death. Extra charges after an autopsy,
clergy honoraria, obituary notices, flowers, the crematory
fee or grave opening are typical examples. All such items
will be paid for by the decedent's estate or family, in
addition to what has already been paid for in the preneed
contract.
13.
Insurance is a good way to pay for a
funeral.
Interest accrued by an insurance policy may be outpaced
by funeral inflation and is generally less than what is
earned by money in a trust. When a funeral is paid for
with funeral insurance, either the funeral director will
absorb the loss (and many reluctantly do)—OR figure
out a way for your survivors to pay a little more: "The
casket your mother picked out is no longer available.
You'll have to pick out a new one, and the price has gone
up."
If
what you have is life insurance, not funeral insurance,
it may be considered an asset when applying for Medicaid.
In that case, you'll have to cash it in, getting pennies
on the dollar. The same may be true if you're making time
payments on your funeral insurance, and, in hard times,
you decide to stop making payments. In fact, the company
may be able to keep everything you paid, as "liquidated
damages."
14.
If you have a Living Will you won't
linger on with a lot of feeding tubes and extraordinary
measures.
One of the findings from a major study supported by the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was that hospitals often
fail to comply with Living Wills. The Living Will is more
likely to be honored when there is an aggressive family
member to intercede, especially if that person also has
a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.
©
Funeral Consumer Alliance (FCA)
33 Patchen Road
South Burlington, VT 05403
www.funerals.org
1-800-765-0107
A
PDF copy of this article is available for easy printing.
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