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I am going to make final arrangements Monday and prepay my cremation charges. Pretty interesting dynamics in making final arrangements. This is actually fun, because I can be as cheap as Bob spending the night in a Hotel Parking lot and showering at the local Truck Stop.
The first advantage I have is that I will execute the very necessary paperwork of who will get possession of my body after death. Many smaller counties like the one I now live in have funeral home directors as the coroner. Now if you are going to die at home this can be a real problem because the coroner will take possession of the body and will prepare the death certificate. If I am at the Hospital or Hospice, this is not a problem because they can issue the death certificate and my wife will have the executed cremation papers which are called the authorization for cremation and disposition. Those papers will allow the hospital to store the body until the cremation company comes to pick up the same.
Now even in a simple cremation there are all kinds of up charges which should be discussed before making your choice. First, many people are not aware that the body should be transported in a cremation box. This becomes important because many cremation plans up charge a transport box. Simple solution. Order your box ahead of time and keep it in or near your location of last illness. So If you are in the hospital, have the next of kin agent give the staff your authorization for cremation and disposition form and then ask if they could put the dead guy in the box for pick up. This will save $200 and Bob would be proud. Now none of us know where we will die so we never can pin down transport costs, but typically it is about $2.50 a mile, so factor in where your medical treatment is, where you have chosen hospice, and where you live before choosing a company which might gouge on transport. Some have a flat fee within a geographic area.
Transport timing and storage are very important, and there can be an upcharge for both refridgerator storage or embalming. This becomes critical in a small county where the Coroner will try to embalm or claim they do not have the storage......most counties have the storage while waiting for transport and it is important to have your spouse not allow the embalming and demand timely transport to the freezer.
People get very uncomfortable talking about these things in the grips of grief and it helps if each person can take the guilt off survivors and make this as smooth and efficient as it can be. I would much rather have my wife take a Hawaii vacation with her new boyfriend, than waste resources on grief.
I am doing much better health wise from three weeks ago, but I want to make these decisions now so I can take the burden off my family, and we are beginning to work on two power point presentations for the memorial, and I am insisting that the table with my Urn be tilted with books under two of the tables legs......my daughter is aghast....but she will understand that a smile and a celebration of life does not end in death.
The first advantage I have is that I will execute the very necessary paperwork of who will get possession of my body after death. Many smaller counties like the one I now live in have funeral home directors as the coroner. Now if you are going to die at home this can be a real problem because the coroner will take possession of the body and will prepare the death certificate. If I am at the Hospital or Hospice, this is not a problem because they can issue the death certificate and my wife will have the executed cremation papers which are called the authorization for cremation and disposition. Those papers will allow the hospital to store the body until the cremation company comes to pick up the same.
Now even in a simple cremation there are all kinds of up charges which should be discussed before making your choice. First, many people are not aware that the body should be transported in a cremation box. This becomes important because many cremation plans up charge a transport box. Simple solution. Order your box ahead of time and keep it in or near your location of last illness. So If you are in the hospital, have the next of kin agent give the staff your authorization for cremation and disposition form and then ask if they could put the dead guy in the box for pick up. This will save $200 and Bob would be proud. Now none of us know where we will die so we never can pin down transport costs, but typically it is about $2.50 a mile, so factor in where your medical treatment is, where you have chosen hospice, and where you live before choosing a company which might gouge on transport. Some have a flat fee within a geographic area.
Transport timing and storage are very important, and there can be an upcharge for both refridgerator storage or embalming. This becomes critical in a small county where the Coroner will try to embalm or claim they do not have the storage......most counties have the storage while waiting for transport and it is important to have your spouse not allow the embalming and demand timely transport to the freezer.
People get very uncomfortable talking about these things in the grips of grief and it helps if each person can take the guilt off survivors and make this as smooth and efficient as it can be. I would much rather have my wife take a Hawaii vacation with her new boyfriend, than waste resources on grief.
I am doing much better health wise from three weeks ago, but I want to make these decisions now so I can take the burden off my family, and we are beginning to work on two power point presentations for the memorial, and I am insisting that the table with my Urn be tilted with books under two of the tables legs......my daughter is aghast....but she will understand that a smile and a celebration of life does not end in death.
