One of the most important questions we will ask you is whether you want your body to be buried or cremated.
If your body will be buried, you can state your preferences for a burial site. If you choose cremation, you will be asked whether you want your ashes to be scattered, buried or interred or kept with a loved one.
While cremation is becoming increasingly common, most people still choose to be buried. Depending on your wishes, your body may be buried immediately after death or several days later, after a funeral or other memorial service.
A body may be buried in the ground, generally in a cemetery plot, or aboveground in the chamber of a mausoleum or family crypt. Typically, burial includes placing the body in a casket. However, if you want your body to be buried immediately, a casket may not be necessary. (Although required by many individual cemeteries, a casket is not a legal requirement for burials in the United States.)
Burial can be expensive. The national average cost for a traditional funeral, with burial and headstone or monument, is more than $10,000. Depending upon the products and services purchased, the pricing of individual service providers and the array of ceremonies included, burial can cost several times as much as cremation.
How Much Does Burial Cost? |
|
Product or Service |
Cost Estimate |
Basic Fee Services |
|
Funeral director services (nondeclinable) |
$2,200 average |
General Services |
|
Transfer of remains |
$350 average |
Embalming or refrigeration, dressing and shelter of remains |
$900 to $1,200 |
Hearse rental and flower transfer from mortuary to gravesite |
$550 average |
Viewing or visitation, funeral service support, guest register and funeral booklets |
$1,500 average |
Opening and closing grave |
$1,500 average |
Casket or Shroud |
|
Wood or metal |
$2,500 average |
Wood or metal rental |
$950 average |
Fiberboard or cardboard |
$600 average |
Burial shroud—fabric with fabric handles for pallbearers |
$600 average |
Plot, Crypt or Marker |
|
In-ground single plot |
$2,000 average |
In-ground plot with vault (required by some cemeteries to maintain level landscape) |
$1,500 average |
Aboveground mausoleum crypt |
$3,500 or more |
Aboveground individual or family crypt |
$30,000 to $2,000,000 or more |
Monument, headstone or marker |
$500 or more |
If you have decided where you wish to be buried, a record that information. If you have already purchased a burial site and any other related products or services, describe your arrangements—and attach any related documents (for example, your contract with the cemetery) to your final arrangements document when you print it out.
If you haven't bought a burial site, but you know where you'd like to be buried, you can state your preference. There is no guarantee that it will be available when you die, but your survivors will know what you had in mind.
Almost half of the population chooses cremation rather than burial. For some, the relatively low cost makes this choice an easy one. But there are many other reasons why someone might prefer to be cremated—for example, you may want to have your ashes scattered or kept by a loved one at home.
Cremation is the burning of a body at extreme heat, resulting in a fine residue of ash and bone. The cremated remains (sometimes called "cremains," though we'll call them "ashes" here) may be buried, scattered or kept in an urn. A temporary casket is required to contain the body
during cremation. Cremation caskets are generally made of unfinished wood, cardboard, pressboard or canvas. The cremation facility supplies the temporary casket.
Complete cremation arrangements usually include local transportation of the body to the cremation facility, visitation with the body prior to cremation, a temporary container for remains, cremation, a memorial service, preparation of an obituary, ordering the death certificate and the scattering or other disposition of the ashes.
As with burial, cost may play a part in your decision. Here are some cost estimates.
How Much Does Cremation Cost? |
|
Product or Service |
Cost Estimate |
Coordinated by cremation provider |
|
Transfer of remains, cremation with temporary casket, basic urn, recording and requesting death certificate |
$2,000 average |
Scattering service |
$250 or more |
Coordinated by funeral home |
|
Transfer of remains, cremation with temporary casket, basic urn, recording and requesting death certificate |
$3,000 average |
Urn or Niche |
|
Urn |
$50 or more |
Niche in columbarium, including opening, closing and marker |
$750 to $20,000 |
If you choose to have your body cremated, we will ask what you'd like your survivors to do with your ashes. You can state that you'd like your ashes to be:
After you make your initial selection, we'll ask you to provide more details about your wishes. If you want to divide your ashes among two or more of these options, select the one that feels most important to you. When you provide details, you can state exactly what you'd like your survivors to do, including how you want your ashes to be divided.
If you choose to have your ashes scattered or buried, you should be aware of state or local laws that may affect your wishes.
Check state rules about scattering ashes. Some people wish to have their ashes scattered over some area that has special significance for them—such as a garden, a lookout point, or the ocean.
Laws and restrictions on the scattering of ashes vary from state to state.
To find out your state's laws, check with a local cremation facility or your state's health department (see "Finding your state's laws," below).
Check state and local laws about burying ashes. Ashes can be buried in the ground. Local zoning ordinances may restrict where the burial may take place—such as that they must be buried a specified distance from a residence.
Burial and cremation can be hard on the environment. Embalming chemicals, metal caskets, concrete burial vaults and cremation emissions take a surprising toll.
It's not difficult to make green arrangements that use biodegradable materials and avoid toxins. Some choices are remarkably simple—and most are significantly less expensive.
If you wish to have a family member or friend bury your ashes, it is a good idea to first check local zoning ordinances to see whether burial is permitted on the site you have chosen. Ashes can also be buried in a cemetery, either in a special urn garden or in a plot. It is not necessary to place the ashes in an urn before burial, although some places may require a plot liner to prevent the earth from sinking over time.
Laws about caskets, embalming, scattering ashes and other end-of-life issues vary by state. Find information about your state's laws on Nolo.com or by contacting your state's health department or related agency that governs cemetery and funeral activities. To locate this department online, do a search for the name of your state and "health department."