This guide, co-written with home funeral educator and advocate Lee Webster, is for any family or official interested in learning about undertaker-free, family-directed funerals at home.
It explains that they are usually legal, and notes the minority of states that make it difficult or impossible. Read more
Kudos to the FCA of South Carolina for helping with this great article in the Columbia Star laying out the plain facts about home and family-directed funerals.
Excerpt:
The FCA-SC explains why some would want to choose this option: Some may wish to do this because it seems more fitting and personal for them to care for their own dead rather than turning the body over to a funeral home. Read more
—Josh Slocum, Executive Director
What would you say if a state agency said you were required to hire a licensed supervisor for your son’s Bar Mitzvah? Or engage a “Certified Celebration Director”* to oversee the events at your daughter’s Quinceañera? You’re probably laughing, but that’s exactly what the state of Pennsylvania tried to do with funerals. Read more
The Family Plot Blog July 12, 2012
At the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) biennial meeting, I met Gail Margush, who arranged the funeral and burial for her husband Tim without the involvement of a funeral home. Her 14-year old daughter Kayla did a very thorough documentation of the process as a project for a speech class. Read more
The Family Plot Blog June 22, 2012
Green burial and home funerals, also known as family-directed funerals, was the hot topic of discussion at last week’s meeting of Doorways of Santa Fe.
In 1800, every burial was a green burial and almost every funeral was a home funeral. Read more
The Dominian Post Wellington, New Zealand February 7, 2012
A Nelson woman whose son was killed in a car crash just hours before his own son was born has been further scarred by her traumatic experience with a natural funeral company.
Dee Stansbury contracted Motueka company Living Legacies to assist with the funeral of her son, Travis Russ, who was killed in a car crash in Main Rd, Stoke, last April, just hours before his son was born. Read more
What is a home funeral? With a home funeral, family or friends take charge of caring for the body after death, either alone or with the help of a funeral professional. They might bring or keep the deceased at home, wash and dress the body, arrange for a casket or shroud, prepare the necessary documents, hold a vigil or ceremony, and/or transport the body to the cemetery or crematory. Read more