Consumer Tips

Funerals

Most people avoid thinking about funerals until faced with the death of a loved one. When you wait until this time of stress and grief, it can be hard to make the necessary decisions.

In Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, funeral services are regulated by the provincial consumer affairs office.

In Ontario, the Board of Funeral Services regulates funeral services. In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are laws governing prepaid funerals.

For more information, please contact your provincial or territorial consumer affairs office.

What Kind of Casket?

The price of a casket can easily account for half the total cost of an average funeral service.

Prices range from about $135 for a plywood casket to several thousand dollars for cloth-covered, metal or hardwood caskets.

Discount casket stores have opened in some cities in Canada and some local companies make and sell caskets. Check with a funeral director to determine the advantages and disadvantages of using them.

You may have to ask to see less expensive caskets — often they are not on display. Plywood caskets can usually be purchased on request.

In some areas, you can save money by renting a decorative casket shell for use during the funeral and graveside service. The shell is then lifted off the plain casket and returned to the funeral home for reuse. A home-made casket can also be used.

Sometimes, people go deeply into debt when they choose a casket because they want to do their best for the deceased.

Think carefully about spending more than you can afford or have budgeted for in advance. Consider asking a trusted friend or relative to accompany you when you decide which casket to buy.

Consider too that a casket is not required when the body is to be cremated (although a container must be supplied).

Embalming: Extra or Essential?

Embalming involves substituting a chemical fluid for blood to temporarily preserve the body. This is usually done for cosmetic and sanitation purposes when the body is to be viewed in an open casket. In most cases, embalming is not legally required.

Consider the benefits of embalming and the wishes of the deceased and next-of-kin.

If you decide against embalming, inform the funeral home immediately. In most cases, except in Ontario, unless you give instructions to the contrary, funeral homes will usually go ahead with this procedure and charge you for it.

Burial or Cremation?

Burial is the traditional way to deal with remains. Cremation, however, is gradually becoming more accepted. This method offers practical advantages in a time of urban sprawl. Cremation usually costs less than burial, and you won't have to spend money on a cemetery plot.

Burial

Bodies must be buried in approved cemeteries. There are two methods of burial.

The first is the traditional earth burial, in which the body is placed in a casket and lowered into the ground.

The second type of burial is relatively uncommon. It involves permanently placing the body and the casket in a mausoleum, or tomb, above or just below the ground.

Cemetery costs vary widely. Before you make an agreement to purchase a plot, ask for a written statement listing all costs.

Cremation

Before you receive permission to have a body cremated, the body must be examined by a medical examiner and a Medical Certificate of Death signed by the attending physician.

Funeral chapels and crematoriums most often request that the body be enclosed in a container that is combustible, of rigid construction and equipped with handles. You may supply your own homemade container.

After a cremation, all that usually remains of the body is two to three kilograms of pulverized bone and ash.

These materials are pure and represent no health risk. You're free to take care of the ashes as you see fit.

Most crematoriums and funeral homes will provide temporary storage until you decide what is to be done with them. The ashes may be disposed of by the crematorium, or returned to the next-of-kin in a container.

Cemetery facilities for receiving ashes vary. Some have an urn garden. Others have a columbarium, an above-ground structure where urns are held. Another option is to scatter or bury the ashes at a family plot.

Conventional Funeral Service

A conventional funeral involves a service in a church or funeral chapel, with the body present, followed by burial. The following is usually included:

• removing the body to the funeral home;
• using funeral home facilities;
• embalming and cosmetic application;
• the price of the casket;
• using a hearse for transportation to the cemetery or crematorium;
• arranging religious services;
• registering the death and obtaining the Burial Permit; and
• preparing newspaper death notices.

Memorial Service

A memorial service is usually held when the body is not present. For example, the body may have been directly buried, cremated or donated for medical research.

A memorial service is most often held within a few days or weeks of the death. Memorial services, as with funeral services, can be large or small, and held in a church, funeral home chapel, hotel, private club or family home.

Arrangements are usually simple. Embalming, viewing and other services associated with a conventional funeral are eliminated, reducing the cost.

Prearranging a Funeral Service

When looking for a prearranged plan, ask yourself the following questions.

• Does the funeral establishment have a good reputation? Ask friends for recommendations. Ask yourself if the funeral home is likely to be in business for many more years.
• Will interest be paid on the money in your prearranged plan? If so, compare rates at various funeral homes. Will you or your estate receive the interest, or will the funeral home?
• If installment payments are to be made, will there be an extra charge for late payment?
• Are all goods and services to be provided described specifically in the contract?
• Does the plan meet your religious needs? Does it allow for a service in your own church, or must you use the funeral chapel?
• Is there any plan to cover the increased cost of the prearranged service due to inflation?

Buying a Cemetery Plot

You can also buy a cemetery plot and a grave marker in advance. Before signing a contract, get answers to the following questions.

• What happens if you move or change your mind for whatever reason? Would you be able to sell the plot or transfer ownership?
• How will payment be made?
• What penalty would be applied if you failed to make the payments?

Donating a Human Body or Organs

Medical science makes valuable use of donated tissues and organs for research, teaching and transplants. The entire body, or just certain parts, may be donated. It is quite easy to make such a donation. Just write out your instructions on a piece of paper and sign it.

Be sure to tell your next-of-kin about your wishes. It's also a good idea to carry a donor card in your wallet. Drivers' licences may have an attached universal donor card, which you must fill out and sign for your wishes to be followed.

Getting Help from Memorial Societies

Memorial societies are voluntary, non-profit organizations dedicated to helping people arrange simple, dignified and inexpensive funerals in advance. They encourage the donation of bodies or body parts for medical science.

Most memorial societies have either a legal contract or an agreement with one or more local funeral homes to provide services for members. These services may not otherwise be offered to the public, although consumers can ask for them.

Memorial societies that are unable to get such an agreement from local funeral homes will give advice to people who want to prearrange their funeral. Members are given a form on which they indicate their desired arrangements. A copy of this form is then kept by the society and/or the cooperating funeral home.

If you should move, your membership file could be transferred to the local memorial society.