When someone you care about dies, it doesn’t just end there. Now comes the planning and financial aspects of life after death.
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When Lisa's oldest son died a couple years back, we had him cremated by an outfit down in Franklin.
My buddy Woody was kind enough to build a very nice box to hold his ashes and we held a memorial service at my brother-in-law's place.
Total cost to us was 1200 bucks for the cremation and maybe 10 bucks worth of gas to drive down to Franklin to pick up his ashes.
In many states including the Buckeye Police State it is legal to bury your loved ones on your own property . There also is a "Green Burial" movement afoot of which I am a major player . You dig a hole [$250] in these parts [craigslist mini backhoe add], wrap the departed in a burial shroud[their favorite blanky] just like I do my dogs and throw dirt on their face , heh . I'll have the asshole grandson that ripped me and everyone else in the family off from more than a few bucks given the honor . Then they can tell him Papa said funk you boy . Har,har,har . I'll have to pay a back-up grandson though because this azzhole has never yet done a days work .
ReplyDeletePublic Storage has first month for $1. Let em desiccate and stop payment. When they auction it off, be there for the excitement.
ReplyDeleteInnovative plan. I love it.
DeleteI'm hoping to have enough spit left in me when it's my time to get out into the wild and let the bears and the buzzards at my corpse. I had my ex promising he'd feed me to the chipper and spread my chopped guts out under the redwoods in the rain, but... well... he's my ex and so I can't trust him to keep his word. --nines
ReplyDeleteThe cost difference for cremation can be pretty extreme depending on where you are. My grandson was $1500. A few years later, my sister was, $800. It depends on the state and don't be afraid to shop around.
ReplyDeleteI would like to be composted. Since they're on the opposite side of the country I'll probably go the cheap cremation route: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LJSEZ_pl3Y
ReplyDeleteI totally loved that. Thanks. --nines
DeleteMy wifes mother asked to die at home. Her wish was granted. The cost of the funeral was kept as low as possible. My wife had power of attorney and she and her mother thought they had done everything to prepare for this. Wrong. Little things like the satellite dish were in her mothers name. They required copies of the death certificate and then would not take the dish down. My wife and I took it down and then had to have it ready for pick up in a box. All this time the company was still billing the estate. There were several issues such as this hence the need for several copies of the death certificate.
ReplyDeleteYes. It is surprising how many need an original copy. Banks, savings and loans, etc.
DeleteWhen my grandfather passed, my grandmother took his name off all of the accounts and added my mom's on. When grandma passed, mom did the same and closed the accounts. Much easier with a bit of fore-thought.
I got everything put into a revocable trust. With lawyers, banks, personal reps (old term - executors) etc. all chiming in, it took about 18 months. If that doesn't simplify everything, bury me face down and....
DeleteI'm likely to just come up missing. No expense to anyone.
ReplyDeleteDaryl
My Mom was cremated, and my sisters, brother, and her grandkids spent a weekend in Oceanside, Wa (all paid for by her) to put her ashes on the out-going tide.
ReplyDeleteI kept the container for my own ashes (that's called "recycling").
We saved a small portion of the ashes to bury at our Reunion property, which led to this exchange between me and my busybody cousin when I was looking for a shovel in our conex:
"What you looking for?"
"Looking for a shovel."
"What are you going to do with a shovel?"
"Dig a small hole by Mom's cabin."
"What are you going to put in the hole?"
"Mom."
She had no reply.
RIght on, that sounds like something I'd come up with.
DeletePerfect. No wonder yer mother loved you.
DeleteMy wife died after a nasty and debilitating disease and wanted to donate her body to science which I honored even though her parents wanted me to circumvent. The total cost was zero. Something to consider.
ReplyDeleteAnd at some point in the future, you may receive an urn the ashes. My grandmother came back that way.
DeleteDid the same with my father. Donated to a School of Anatomy. The school would take care of interment if you wanted, or give you the ashes after cremation. Almost free, but the there was paperwork and transport costs. I think Dad will like the burial container we got for him. A big stainless steel Aladin thermos. He was a heavy equipment mechanic in life.
Deletemy very good friend and neighbor passed at home with his dog ,wife and I present. $1200 cremation .I loaded some of his cremains in shot gun shells and spread them over his hay field . Some were scattered at our favorite fishing /camping /wiskey drinkin spot at the back of his farm. still have some in a tobbaco tin on my reloading bench . going into the fertilizer next spring when I reseed his widows horse pasture..
ReplyDeleteI’m a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in Florida for 35 plus years. In my area (central Florida) if a family chooses a burial and hasn’t pre planned the actual cost is gonna run close to 10k (funeral home, casket, vault, grave space, opening/closing of grave, etc, etc,etc). Cremation through a funeral home will run about 2-3 thousand but a direct disposer will cost around 700-800$ depending on area. Donation to Science are getting picky and won’t take all applicants……
ReplyDeleteMy point is, as uncomfortable as it may be…..take the time and discuss what your loved ones want before you are forced to!! Funeral Homes want their $ up front (just like most service industries) and won’t provide services until they are paid…. Hop this sheds some light on the topic👍👍
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAny vets that read this blog should consider internment in a veterans cemetery. I've been to two veterans cemeteries in my area, in two different states. They are very well done. Nice granite markers with carved lettering which is then filled with black paint identifying the grave or block mausoleums for many (200? I didn't count them) to be interred after cremation with a small granite lid identifying the interred. You can even request burial in another state's veterans cemetery from which you died in or enlisted/drafted in.
ReplyDeleteI suggest doing it while you're still on the right side of the grass if that's where you'd like to end up.
The plot, marker and opening/closing the grave are a benefit of service in the armed forces. Transportation to the cemetery, casket/urn are the responsibility of the deceased's estate. Your wife. if you're married at time of death, can also be buried alongside you should you desire. Again, make these arrangements in advance.
Nemo