Funeral Directors

What is a funeral director and do you really need one?

In the state of New York, a funeral director is the only person who is legally empowered to handle any death arrangements. They must be licensed and registered with the state and must be present and personally supervise the burial or cremation as well as the transportation of a body. They must also complete the paperwork to be submitted to the registrar in which district the death occurred.

Not everyone can be a funeral director or a mortician. You need to have a degree in Mortuary Science from an accredited college by the American Board of Funeral Service Education. And in many states, you need to be involved in a continuing education program to ensure that the funeral director are well versed with the latest techniques and regulations. To perform embalming a funeral director need to be licensed to do so.

A Funeral Director handles all aspects of a funeral ceremony including procession

In the US, although individual states have their own regulations pertaining to licensing, generally at least an associate’s degree is required with examinations by the National Board Examination and state board examination and on top of that at least a year’s work as an apprentice.

A funeral director’s basic tasks include transporting the body, custodial care which include dressing, casketing and cosmetizing the body especially if there is going ot an open casket viewing, and may also involve embalming, and presentation of the body for viewing, burial or cremation and transfer of the body elsewhere if necessary. Besides that, a funeral director can advise you on the various services either offered by the funeral home itself or by a third party vendor.

He or she would also be able to help you with regards to cemetery requirements and burial permit, and specific religious rites.

Almost all of the paperwork involve would also be taken care by a funeral director. This would include claims for social security, veterans benefit, insurance and wills. Not forgetting permits, certificates and obituaries. The cemetery deed should be given to you by the funeral director within seven days of burial.

Other services that a funeral director can coordinate include arranging for a clergy, musicians, flowers and donations. A funeral director would also be able to advise you on the suitable burial vessel or container for cremation. However, it is illegal for him to pressure anyone to purchase certain services or goods that isn’t required by law.

A funeral director does not only coordinate the ceremonial arrangements and supervise the logistics of a funeral but they may also provide grief counseling for beloved survivors of the deceased. He is also the person whom you can go to for any advise in almost all aspects pertaining to the death of a loved one.

To engage a funeral director will help lessen the burden when you are at a time consumed with grief and where there seem to be so many decisions to make, procedures to follow and paperwork to fill out. It will also ensure a professional handling of all pertaining matters and you will fell much better knowing you did the best you can for a respectful and dignified final journey of your loved one.

Many times families I meet with are uncertian of what their rights are.  For any funeral director this is opportunity to guide a family properly by disclosing consumer rights if applicable in any given situation.

A funeral homes General Price List is a perfect example how you the consumer can protect yourself.  Every funeral home has to have a general price list.  That price list must be presented to anyone who enters a funeral establishment and has a question regarding funeral arrangements.  The FTC requires certain disclosers that are listed directly on the General Price List, Casket Price List and Outer Interment Price List.  Depending on the goods and services selected or those that are being supplied by a funeral home certain disclosers must be made known at the time of discussing funeral arrangements.  Like in the story I shared in my last post “What do I need a Funeral Director For?” The discourteous gentleman, who by the way I have always believed to be one of my managers hazing me, would have needed a rigid container as required by the crematory.  This is just one example of how laws are in place to protect families as well as the funeral homes.

You may have stumbled on my site accidentally as you can see it is at the top listing on some search engines.  You now may be curious just what else I’ve got to say about anything relative to the deathcare industry.  My current area of expertise is in Advance Funeral Planning.  With over 10 years experience I am a true blue soup to nuts funeral director.  I still love what I do, helping families.

Got a question, idea for a post, want to comment, or share a story be sure to visit the sites comment page.  If you leave me a message I will write you back.  In my next post I’ll delve further into what the law requires a funeral director for.  Happy surfing.

One night I am at home on call and the funeral home I work with contacts me and advises me that a gentleman is curious about cremation and  is waiting for a call back.   Quickly I grab my General Price List so that I my help this gentleman with his inquiry.   You see any time a funeral director is discussing prices for a particular funeral homes services and or merchandise they must take the charges directly from the funeral homes general price list.  When I get the  said gentleman on the phone he advised me that his mother was ill and he needs prices for a cheap cremation (his words not mine).  As I  was quoting the price for our funeral homes direct cremation fee, which is a limited service provided by the funeral home, the gentleman became rather ungentlemanly.  He said to me with a drunken stuper that his mom is old and dying and why can’t he just light the old hag on fire and stick her in a garbage can.  I calmly stated that no you can’t get her out of the convalescent home because you need a New York State Licensed Funeral Director who would be working under a funeral homes registration to take possession of her remains.  I also added that lighting her on fire is a criminal act and punishable by law.  My professional opinion was that he would be much better off using a crematory to do the actual cremation.   I predicted that he might scare his neighbors into calling the fire department as his mothers earthy shell is incinerated in his illegal pyre.  To conclude the conversation I added that if he chose to store his mothers ashes a garbage can well there is no law against that but he may want to get an urn instead.

to be continued…