When planning a funeral, you need to think about the following factors:
- Who will be attending the funeral? You need to know how many guests to expect so that you can choose a space that is big enough to accommodate everyone.
- What religious factors do you need to consider? In some religions, the funeral has to take place in a specific time frame. There are also requirements for the service. Think about how you can accommodate these into the funeral planning.
- Will you choose burial or cremation? If you choose cremation, you may also have to pick an urn for the ashes to be delivered in. You may then want to think about whether , bury you will scatter the ashes them or keep them in your home.
- How will you delegate the tasks? Asking for help with organising everything can lighten your load, or it can make things more stressful. For example, if someone isn’t very reliable, you might be hesitant to allow them to take a key role in the planning.
- Will you be having an open casket viewing? With an open casket viewing, the funeral needs to take place in the days following the death rather than weeks after the death. A funeral director will be able to guide you on this aspect.
- Have you informed the correct authorities? When someone dies, you need to register the death with a coroner within 5 days. If the person was in receipt of benefits, or if it will impact your own benefits, you’ll also need to inform the Department for Work and Pensions. You also need to inform the government of the death. You can use the Tell Us Once service to inform all relevant departments.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE DIES
When someone dies, it can be overwhelming and difficult to know what to do. It’s important that you take certain actions to legally register the death.
You need to inform a coroner within 5 days of the death. If the death is declared in a hospital, then this step will be completed for you. If the death occurs at home, you will need to inform their GP or another doctor. Most people will phone an ambulance and attempt resuscitation.
If the death is ruled suspicious, you may need to wait for the results of the autopsy before you can begin planning the funeral. The body will not be released to the family until the police are satisfied with the cause of death.
You will also need to inform the department for work and pensions about the death. This will stop their benefits from being paid. After that, you then need to inform the relevant government departments. You can use a service called Tell Us Once to register the death once and have this information fed to the relevant agencies.
Next, you need to start planning the funeral. It is typically the next of kin that would take responsibility for this. If there is no family, a close friend may volunteer for the role. If no one steps forward, then the local authority will organise a simple funeral.
FUNERAL SERVICES EXPLAINED
There are many different types of funeral services. The right one for you and your loved ones will all depend on how you want to say goodbye. The main types of funerals are outlined below:
CREMATION
77% of all funerals in the UK are cremations. This is a cost-effective and dignified way to say goodbye to your loved one.
Before you can arrange a cremation, you need to get something known as a green form. This is provided when you register a death. You submit this alongside a cremation application to your chosen crematorium. These important steps authorise the cremation to take place.
In addition to this, you’ll also need to provide two medical certificates confirming the cause of death. You will need to have one signed by a doctor who has viewed the deceased and another by an independent doctor that can confirm the cause of death is accurate. If a coroner is involved, you won’t need to complete these steps.
Before the cremation service takes place, a hearse will bring the casket to the crematorium and it will be brought into the chapel for the service. The service can be religious or non-religious. At the end of the service, the casket is either lowered or removed from its place. The cremation usually takes place on the same day as the service.
BURIAL
A burial service can take place in a chapel or by the graveside. Mourners are typically invited to the graveside to see the coffin lowered into the plot.
To organise a burial, you will need a burial certificate and a burial plot application form. You will either need to purchase a grave or apply for permission from the local council to open an existing family plot. If a coroner is involved, you won’t need to provide the burial certificate.
Before the burial takes place, the casket will be brought to the cemetery. You can then decide if you would like the hold a separate service in a place of worship. You could also choose an unconventional location such as a woodland burial site.
After the service, it’s common for mourners to scatter soil on the coffin after it has been lowered and then the ceremony concludes.
RELIGIOUS OR NON-RELIGIOUS
Religious services have unique traditions that must be observed, while a non-traditional funeral will have more flexibility and freedom. Many funeral directors will be accommodating to a wide range of religious requirements, including ritual ashing before the ceremony.
When choosing a religious funeral, it’s important to consider the wishes of the deceased and also of their closest family and friends.
NON-TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES
Many people are opting for less traditional ceremonies to say goodbye to their loved ones. This could be through unusual burial options, such as a woodland burial or eco burials. It could also b non-traditional in the use of bright colours and ignoring funeral trends such as dressing in black.
A funeral should be a reflection of a person’s life and a chance to say goodbye. If this means choosing a less traditional option for your funeral, then you should be supported to make this happen.
AFTER THE FUNERAL
Once the funeral is over, there is still work to be done. Some people hold a wake or memorial on the same day as the funeral, but some people prefer to organise this for a different day. It allows individuals to separate saying goodbye from fondly remembering the person’s life, so it can make the wake a more joyous occasion.
Holding it on a different day may also allow more people to attend. For example, if you have a mid-week funeral, you might consider having the wake at a weekend. You can then give individuals the option to attend one or the other. This can help alleviate any guilt associated with not being able to attend the main funeral.
You might also have to consider what to do with the ashes. There are many options for storing or scattering ashes, including:
- Storing them in your home in an urn
- Turning the ashes into jewellery or artwork
- Burying the ashes in your own garden
- Burying the ashes in a public place
- Scattering the ashes in a park, lake or on the beach
- Planting the ashes in a tree urn
In addition to this, you might also want to think about memorial ideas, such as memorial benches or plaques. In lieu of a graveside to visit it can be nice to have a place that has some significance to you.
If you choose a burial, you will then have to think about how you will mark the grave. A headstone or gravestone takes a long time to order and produce, so you can expect to have a delay between the funeral and the arrival of the headstone.