Encourage Me: Smoking Hot

“Cremation: my last hope for a smoking, hot body.” (Anonymous)

Direct Cremation is when deceased individual’s body is cremated in the days immediately following their death. No funeral service is administered beforehand, which means that you may engage the services of a crematory directly rather than a funeral home. This can potentially save you a significant amount of money.

80% of their cremations are Direct Cremation. Cremation now accounts for 43% of all funerals in the U.S. with some states cremating 65% or higher, and a forecast for the national rate to reach 65% by 2020. There is no viewing, visitation, or wake before the cremation, which eliminates the need for embalming or other body preparations. A memorial service may be held at a later date, which eliminates the need for an expensive casket and funeral arrangements.

The body is cremated in a simple cardboard container called a cremation container’. This obviously eliminates a large cost factor to a traditional funeral. a Direct Cremation cannot proceed until certain paperwork is in order, and in many states there is a mandatory waiting period after the death of 24-48 hours. A Cremation Authorization Form must county.

The cremation process takes approximately 3 hours, after which the remains are filtered and ground to form the powdered ‘ash’ we commonly consider to be cremated remains. The cremated remains are ready for the family to collect (or have delivered) within about 5-10 days.

Once a Direct Cremation has been conducted and you have the cremated remains returned, you can of course arrange your own memorial service. This can be done with, or without, the cremation urn present, or can take the form of an ash scattering ceremony. Being able to have the cremation handled in an efficient and economical manner by a licensed cremation professional at a low cost means the family can save money on funeral costs, and arrange a memorial ceremony that is befitting for the deceased.

A Direct Cremation can cost anywhere between $500 and $3,000. If you are planning on burying the cremated remains in a cemetery plot or interring them in a columbarium, you will also need to take into consideration any cemetery costs. This would include the plot or columbarium niche, the cost of a headstone or grave marker, and any cemetery fees such as opening and closing of the grave, headstone installation fees, and endowment care, or perpetual care fees, among others.

“Just before i die. i am going to swallow a bag of popcorn kernels. My cremation is going to be epic.” (Anonymous)[i]