A Serious Undertaking

No one has mentioned the high cost of a cemetary plot---talk about expensive real estste. There are many national cemetaries around the country where honorablly discharged veterans and their wives can be burried free. This valuable benefit is done as a way of saying thank you for their service to the country. The V.A. takes over at the cemetary gate---all costs before that point are paid by the family of the deceased.

Do all you people really want to bury your dead? It is possible in many states. Not all funeral homes try to squeeze money out of people. My husband is in the business and he finds it a rewarding job to help people get through such a difficult time. Not all deaths are pretty; most people would not be able to handle it. My husband makes $27k a year; I don???t have benefits, so who is making all this money? I am offended by the one sided nature of this article. I know many wonderful and caring people in this industry and this is just not a fair representation of things. These are stereo types that exist, but I???d hate to see this sort of slant on race or gender. Why shouldn???t a funeral home be paid? Maybe the doctor won???t charge me, or maybe Newsweek should give their magazine away and not sale advertisements. Where does it end? Most people in the funeral industry aren???t crazy about the corporations either, so why just pick on the industry? If there is no risk involved, why does my husband need hepatitis shots? Why does he need to wear protective clothing? Do you all want to deal with maggots on your loved one? Did you know that if you die in an accident you have to have an autopsy? Believe me, you???ll need more than a little plastic after that. . .

Third post:

savetheearthog wrote:

"Posted By: savetheearth09 @ 07/05/2008 3:55:23

PM

Comment: Each state is different, but in many

POA is ended at death making the POA unable to

make decisions legally after death unless court

ruled or if the POA is an immediate family

member."

You are correct. But, close to two thirds of

states now have "designated agent for body

disposition" or "personal preference" laws that

basically extend Power of Attorney rights

through death, and allow someone to legally

authorize body disposition. FCA has a list of

states with such laws here:

http://www.funerals.org/your-legal-rights/funer

al-decision-rights/46-your-legal-rights/125-who

-has-the-right-to-make-decisions-about-your-fun

eral

I hope everyone will check on their state's

laws, and fill out the necessary paperwork. It

will save you and your family unnecessary

grief.


Joshua Slocum
Executive Director
Funeral Consumers Alliance

dddd

I agree the family should be in control as what to do with the body

Hi everyone,

I'm Josh Slocum, exec. director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, who was quoted in this article. This is an interesting discussion, and I want to offer some clarifications, and some helpful tips, to those of you who wrote in. I'll break this post up into several so it isn't too long.

jabkr wrote:

"
Posted By: jabkr @ 07/05/2008 4:07:59 PM

Comment: So, is Slocum working to change state laws or just telling people they should have green funerals? It is my understanding that in Illinois, at least, it is state law that you have to have the concrete liner in order to bury someone. Also, Catholics cannot be cremated. Does he think that he will get the Pope to change his mind on that one?"

FCA does not tell people the kind of funerals they "should" have. We only work to expand options for consumers so they can make choices that are right for them, but may be hard to find.

You are incorrect on two things. First, there is no state law anywhere in the country that requires a concrete liner. Many cemeteries do, but no law does. How do I know this? FCA keeps up with state laws around the country (it's our job to give factual information), and I'm writing a forthcoming book on funeral law state by state.

Second, the Catholic Church has not banned cremation since Vatican II in the early 1960s. This is a common misconception, but it's flat wrong. You don't have to take my word for it. See:

http://www.americancatholic.org/newsletters/cu/ac1097.asp

You can't make informed decisions if you don't know the facts - that's why FCA is here. I'd hope you'd see not as an enemy, but as an advocate that can give you the facts you need to make your own choices.

I get so tired of people knocking the funeral industry. When a department store has a sale at 50-75% off and still makes a profit, what is that? When you go to a restaurant and pay $7 for scrambled eggs, what is that? When you pay a $10 "uncorking" fee for a bottle of wine you bring to a restaurant, what is that? Or how about $4 for a glass of that $15 bottle of wine. You do have the right to buy a casket from a source other than the funeral home you may be working with, but did you know they cannot charge you for accepting delivery or uncrating your purchase? As for the "service charge" well what do you think helps pay employee salaries, state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, building maintenance, property maintenance, vehicle upkeep, fuel, utilities, insurances. I am certain that there are a number of less than reputable firms out there, but honorable funeral homes do not try and sell you anything. You only pay for those services you need. Honorable funeral establishments will not force you to spend more than you can afford, nor will they make you feel guilty about not doing so. I do not know of any funeral directors who work comission, but many who work very hard to help their families make sound choices. I am sure most of you price shop for things you need such as cars, large appliances, even groceries. How many would consider price shopping for funeral prices. How many would consider visiting different funeral homes in your area and seeing if you like or dislike the feeling you get when you are shown around? I am sure if you were planning a large event, you would not just pick up the phone, call a catering hall and book it sight unseen. Wake up people! Most funeral directors are reputable caring people who are there only to guide you through some of the hardest decisions you'll ever have to make (if they weren't already made for you.) If you find you are not comfortable with the funeral home you've chosen, go somewhere else! Death is a reality folks, there is no escape.

Sorry but your information on Catholics not being cremated is wrong. They have done creatimation in the south since the 1700's. It is a regional decision as to cremation or not. The south does not have the same ground structure as the south. That's why a lot of catholics have always been cremated. We live in the North, and there is no such law that Catholics can't be cremated that is just another fiction that has been made into fact over the years. We live in the north and a family member just pasted away last month and he was cremated, with a full mass. The priest can do it, some just don't like it.

When I die, I am going to do what haveagoodlife is doing. First I am going to have a rock and roll band send off in a Catholic church and then I am going to be buried on the prairie with a GPS marker and left to go back to nature the way we should be. One only has to find the right opened minded Catholic church.

Do you think the funreal parlor would be intrested in taking your dead body if you didn't have any money or insurance???

We are fortunate enough to live near the Ramsey Creek Preserve in Northwest South Carolina, a beautiful and natural woodland setting. We plan to be buried there 'green' and without the need for casket or headstone, just a GPS marker in the grave and the native wildflowers and trees to shelter us. It is very pleasing to us that future generations will be able to walk, picnic, and otherwise enjoy the area in its undisturbed state.

None of us will ever be given the right for home viewing, besides cutting out the middle person
we will be faced with Bio Harzardous laws.
Check out the book called "The Body Brokers" you will see how many people can and have gotten rich off our loved ones besied us having to pay for services that might have never taken place.
Myself I think I rather hire some one to follow my dead body all the way to the ashes.
So that my body won't be sold .

So, is Slocum working to change state laws or just telling people they should have green funerals? It is my understanding that in Illinois, at least, it is state law that you have to have the concrete liner in order to bury someone. Also, Catholics cannot be cremated. Does he think that he will get the Pope to change his mind on that one?

I will be dead. I do not care if I am in a pine box or a plastic bag.

Recently through a college course on death and dying I came to the conclusion that as a society we had moved dramatically away from our roots. After a long discussion with my husband I told him that I wanted to have a home burial. I believe that having a home burial will assist in the closure process for my children by in a sense making them walk through the natural process of death. Our society wants to put death in the closet, we forget that it is as natural as birth. Each of us is born and each of us dies. I appreciated seeing that others are considering home burials as well. Funeral homes are no different than any other business and must make a profit. They have done so because we have not wanted to deal with the reality of death. I do not condemn funeral homes and realize they provide a service. It is simply that there are alternatives that could be of greater benefit that are often not looked at as it has become so routine to assume that body will go to a funeral home.

pine box is fine for me. I'll be dead. who cares what I'll be in.

Each state is different, but in many POA is ended at death making the POA unable to make decisions legally after death unless court ruled or if the POA is an immediate family member.

A "green" funeral?! Over my dead body!

Wow, to the FCA and the author of this article, DO your research!! Cremation requires 3-5 hours of intense heat at tempertures around 1800 degrees F. Emitting tons of carbon into our atmosphere, not to mention the mercury fillings that are burned in the retort emitting mercury into the air.

Also, the author of The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford was a self described communist!!