As a funeral director in Florida for the past 30 years, let me enlighten you to certain facts. We are allowed to let a family have an ‘identification viewing’ with the remains unembalmed. We are not allowed to place an unembalmed body in public view due to sanitary issues. If the family wants a full funeral with an unembalmed body we will comply as long as it is completed within one day. The remains will be kept in a cooler until the day of service, which trumps a public viewing. Additionally, in Florida, a funeral director is required to get involved with an antatomical donation. The recipient of the donation requires a completed death certificate, a myriad of paper work by the family and that the remains be embalmed in a specific way, in addition the funeral home must provide transportation to the medical facility. Also, I know of only 2 universities that currently accept these donations, and the parameters are very specific as to which remains are acceptable; this depends on age, specific illnesses of the decedent, and a host of other demands including the method of death, i.e. no one who died a traumatic death, which includes accidents, drowning, suicide, homicide or unattended deaths. For this we charge 1295.00 which includes removal from place of death, specific embalming, death certificate, transit permits, family consultation, review with the recipient of remains and transportation to the medical facility. Shipping out of state by unembalmed remains is acceptable as long as though remains are placed in a non leaking sealed metal container,(generally referred to as a Ziegler Case) and covered with dry ice. The airlines are the ones to blame for these precautions, not the funeral home. Anyone expecting to remove a loved one to an airline for transport without a funeral home will probably be arrested at the airport. Burying a decedent in your backyard is allowed as long as you have your property specified as a cemetery by the state. Sorry folks – you’d better be more pragmatic about your loved ones disposition.
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