For loved ones left behind, the days after a death can be devastating and overwhelming in equal measure. Hundreds of decisions have to be taken: the funeral director, the service, the choice of cremation or burial, the wake, the catering and so on – and that’s just the immediate stuff. Then there’s the bureaucracy of death: registering the death, certificates, locating the will and beginning to sort out the estate, if there is one. Add to that the time and effort of sorting out the deceased’s possessions, going through all their paperwork and selling their property, and it may seem like an insurmountable task. But there are a few steps you can take to achieve the desired funeral while keeping costs down:
- Set your budget and shop around. You can save hundreds of dollars
- Take charge; don’t pay others to do what you can do yourself.
- A good funeral is what you say and do, not what you spend.
- Do it your way; there are no rules, so follow your heart.
You can legally arrange almost all aspects of a funeral without using the services of a funeral director in most parts of Australia. However, due to the complex regulations and practicalities that come with arranging a funeral during a time of grief, it’s unsurprising that almost all clients opt to offload these tasks onto a funeral director.
What does a funeral director offer?
- A funeral director can handle the legal aspects of the funeral for you, such as the application for burial or cremation – this paperwork can often slow down the process of funeral arrangement and is usually the reason many people choose to engage a funeral director. If you like, they can also place notifications and obituaries in newspapers.
- Funeral directors work closely with the family to plan the funeral service; the funeral director will make every effort to meet the requests of both the deceased and their loved ones as is feasible. They will hire the clergy, celebrant, or another officiating individual (if they are not officiating themselves), determine a date, time, and location, arrange for body transportation and supervise the printing of the order of service.
- Some funeral directors provide additional services. An expert funeral director will have the contacts to organise any ancillary services necessary by the family, such as coffin selection, floral arrangements, catering services, hearse rental, and pallbearer engagement. These are typically optional extras that you can accept or deny, and come with a variety of price tags.
What does Dignified Cremations offer compared to a funeral director?
We offer a way to plan a personlised ceremony, without taking short cuts, getting bogged down in paperwork, or going over-budget. Here’s how:
- When we are asked to transport your loved one from the place of death to our care, we ensure that the task will be completed by our own competent staff. We do not use third-party vendors or contractors.
- We have our own mortuary facilities, and we guarantee that your loved one will be carefully prepared by our own trained professionals. We do not employ third-party contract mortuaries or their employees.
- Because you have chosen not to have a funeral service, your loved one’s final journey to the crematorium should be as dignified as possible. We guarantee to offer a ceremonial hearse for your loved one’s final journey to the crematorium, just as we would for a traditional funeral ceremony. We do not use panel vans, mortuary transfer vehicles, or third-party providers for this critical aspect of our service. For this part of the procedure, several crematoria offer collection services to funeral directors. We do not make use of such services.
- We guarantee that our personnel will transport your loved one to the crematorium within five working days of receiving the essential completed papers and payment into our bank account for your Dignified Cremation.
If you are looking for a more flexible funeral solution and want to be as hands-on as possible, a Dignified Cremation may offer you exactly what you are looking for. With a package that takes care of many of the legal issues, and practical elements of a cremation, you are freed up to plan a private ceremony for family and friends as you wish.
