Arranging a cremation can be one of the most emotional things you’ll ever have to do in life. Deciding what to do with your loved one’s ashes so you can honour them and the beautiful life they lived is not an easy task. It can feel like nothing you come up with is special enough to pay tribute to them. A cremation should make you feel connected to your loved one; it should keep their memory alive. Here’s a 7-step guide to arrange a cremation for a lost loved one.
1. Honor Their Wishes
When someone passes away, their cremation can be one of the very few ways in which you can bring them back to life one last time. Think back to whether they had mentioned something, even lightly, about how they’d like to be honoured after their death. Make sure to go through their will or any other important document that may be kept away safely to find out if they had any requests.
2. Financials
Even though you may be willing to do anything for your loved one, you still need to look into the financials associated with the cremation. Cremation costs can vary greatly depending on the area of residence. Make sure to factor in the other costs, such as the urn or any special arrangements that you may be considering.
3. Understand The Process
Before you start preparing for the cremation, you need to familiarize yourself with the process. Cremation is a funerary procedure that humans have been using for thousands of years to say goodbye to their loved ones.
This process typically requires you to transport the person’s body to a cremation facility. These facilities are prepared with furnaces that are specially designed to use flames that generate high temperatures to reduce the organic remains of a dead person’s body to ashes. Once the process is complete, bone fragments will be reduced to fine dust before being placed in a container for the family to receive.
4. Select An Urn
The cremation facility will most likely provide you with a basic container containing your loved one’s ashes. It’s up to you and the rest of the family to find an urn that celebrates their memory. Browse through different urn companies to explore the different options. You can choose an urn in your loved one’s favourite colour or customize one with their favourite quote engraved.
Try to make it as personalized as you can; choose something you know they would’ve loved. When choosing an urn, knowing what to do with it is important too. For instance, if you will be burying it, opt for a biodegradable one. If you plan on displaying it at home, you can choose an ornamental, vase-like urn.
5. Arrange The Cremation
The cremation process should be stress-free and rather simple; you should be able to put your loved one to rest peacefully. Make sure that all the required paperwork and information are ready beforehand. Keep in mind that you may need to fill out some forms at the cremation facility or services. Find out if the facility will obtain the Medical Certificate of Death for you, and if they would be willing to help out with the necessary paperwork.
6. Finalize the Paperwork
When someone close to you passes away, you can lose the sense of time and reality. While it’s important to take your time to grieve and process the situation, you should still keep in consideration that you should register the death with the government within 5 days.
You can discuss the procedure with the cremation services; typically, a family member, or the informant, and the funeral director should complete a Statement of Death that includes information about the deceased.
Afterwards, the funeral director should submit both the Medical Certificate of Death and the Statement of Death to a local municipal clerk’s office. Registering for the death can take up to 12 weeks.
7. Scattering Or Burying The Ashes
Whether you scatter or bury the ashes usually depends on the deceased person’s final wishes. They may have desired to have their ashes scattered or buried in a specific place or scattered around several locations. If they didn’t specify, you can think about the places that meant the most to them. Perhaps they felt free at the beach or safe at a hidden spot around town.
You can feel overwhelmed as you try to come up with a way to show this person your admiration and respect after they have passed on. However, you need to remember that you don’t have to come up with something extraordinary to pay them special homage. Follow through this 7-step guide to find out how you can honour your loved one’s memory.
