Cost of Cremation

[GravitySucks]

+1 Absolutely. I agree.

Now I'm wondering, what does local government do if some homeless person dies and nobody claims the body? I have no idea (none!) but who knows, maybe they'd cremate the body and bury the ashes in some sort of mass paupers' grave. For $0.00 .

My county would cremate and Inter the ashes in a mass columbaria.

Central NY. Just had my Uncle cremated this week.
$1,280 for transporting the body to the crematorium, cremation, ashes in a plastic bag in a cardboard box, 3 death certificates.
We will probably have him buried in his parents plot, that will cost about another $1,600

First funeral home quoted $4k for the cremation.

 

[SecondCor521]

That's probably a general rule. My dad was an organ donor, and when he died I asked about donation and I was told "Oh, no, not at his age." He was 76.

Right, that's what I meant.

I asked them for an age guideline because I wanted to take the judgment call out of my executor's hands to make it easy for them to deal with my body.

It's not a rule or requirement (at least not with the organizations I'm dealing with). It was just the age when they said that - on average - organs start to be less appealing for donation and whole body donation makes more sense.

 

[skipro33]

We signed up and prepaid with Trident Society in 2016. I also signed up my parents. I guess you could say they were the test run.
Total cost each was $2500. Included everything. And they take care of everything. When my mother died in the home, we called Trident. They took care of everything, had 2 men in black suits show up within the hour and took her to the mortuary for cremation. Since all known wishes were already documented, no tough questions like organ donation, etc. A very nice display cherrywood memorial box with a smaller inner box for the ashes.
My dad was a vet, so Mom was buried for free in the VA cemetery. When Dad died, same as Mom; one phone call and they were there to take him away and other than stopping in to pick up the death certificates, we didn't have to do a thing. We did pay for extra copies of the death certificates as some insurance and banks will require them. Otherwise, all fees prepaid, nothing on the back end.
We've informed our kids in case we both go at the same time and they were quite put off by the whole idea. I told them to check the red plastic pocket on the microwave which contains our POLST, a credit card sized card from Trident with our names and account numbers and the phone number to call, copies of our insurance and Medicare cards and our COVID shot records.
They really hooted when I showed them the boxes to leave out when they do call. But both sons got to witness their grandfather's vet funeral and they had to agree it did take the stress and decision making out of the equation during what could be a stressful time.
I want to add this price included international travel for the body back home. That was $500. Neither Mom or Dad needed it but we might.

 

[skipro33]

My dad was able to donate cartilage from joints, skin for skin grafts and I think a whole elbow for a transplant. Not just the regular soft organs we normally think of are able to be donated.

 

[nwsteve]

I've heard that 10 copies is a good number. We needed several for our parents (SS, insurance policies, bank accounts, property sales, etc.) Better 4 too many than one too few. YMMV

FIL passed recently and we went with 10 but ended up needing 4 more. The wild card is how many different entities hold assets. Computershare was the Registered agent for a very small number of stocks which have TODs on them. Computershare required an original for each different stock.
Another good reason to consolidate assets. We have done a lot of consolidation of ours but even with one broker and a couple of banks, you have 3 possible needs right now. If you can deliver in person, the banks we worked with were okay with you handing an original to them and they made the copy.

 

[ncbill]

FIL passed recently and we went with 10 but ended up needing 4 more. The wild card is how many different entities hold assets. Computershare was the Registered agent for a very small number of stocks which have TODs on them. Computershare required an original for each different stock.
Another good reason to consolidate assets. We have done a lot of consolidation of ours but even with one broker and a couple of banks, you have 3 possible needs right now. If you can deliver in person, the banks we worked with were okay with you handing an original to them and they made the copy.

Good reason to find another custodian other than Computershare.

Via gifts over the decades I had several stocks with DRIPs held through them (the companies picked them as custodian) and after years worth of mistakes on their part was happy to go to my local Fidelity office, setup a new account, and transfer everything from Computershare to Fidelity.

 

[nwsteve]

Good reason to find another custodian other than Computershare.

Via gifts over the decades I had several stocks with DRIPs held through them (the companies picked them as custodian) and after years worth of mistakes on their part was happy to go to my local Fidelity office, setup a new account, and transfer everything from Computershare to Fidelity.

As a postscript to my earlier post, Computershare also now wants a $50 fee for transferring inherited shares. First step is making the TOD claim which opens a Computershare account in the beneficiary's name. Computershare now graciously allows you send them a check for $50 for the death claim to waive its requirement for a Medallion signature if claim is less than 10K. THEN, if you want to transfer your shares to another broker account, another $50 per broker (think of sibs with different brokers).
We let Fidelity initiate the claim and there was no additional fee.

 

[Dash man]

Embalming usually is not required. Unfortunately, many funeral homes will suggest that it is. Especially if there is to be a viewing.

It depends on state/local laws. If there is a viewing where I am, they have to be embalmed. If it’s a direct cremation then it doesn’t. My MIL died just before Christmas and was cremated, but things are so backed up it took two weeks to cremate her.

 

[Texas Proud]

Wow... ripoff...


I paid $895 for my mom in 2019 plus a few hundred (or less, not sure) for death certificates as I ordered a bunch...


They put her ashes in a nice box... I then bought a small urn from Amazon as we take her ashes to the various places she wanted to end up... two down and two more to go...


The last will be her urn buried in a plot where her mother and 3 siblings are located.

 

[subwayhamster]

Last year, my FIL was cremated in TX and it cost $3k for the cremation and a metal box for the ashes. It was not the cheapest option; it was the right price point for the services provided.

 

[athena53]

My dad was able to donate cartilage from joints, skin for skin grafts and I think a whole elbow for a transplant. Not just the regular soft organs we normally think of are able to be donated.

I'm the recipient of bone grafts every time I get a dental implant.

We looked into donating DH's body to a medical school but they didn't want "emaciated" bodies. By the end, poor DH certainly fit that description.

 

[JohnRM]

I'm going for a swim

I arranged cremation in advance for myself, There is a card in my wallet, they will get my body wherever it is, cremate, and spread ashes at sea, with
however many other cheap bastards didn't come down for breakfast between boats.

Trying to make it easy as I can on my family, they don't need my corpse to drink to my memory. I think my wife plans to do this also, as soon as she stops being in denial about our eventual demise.

This costs $600 if purchased in advance.

 

[isisdave]

Both my parents had "direct cremations" at their request.
That means taken straight from the deathbed to the crematorium (I think they require some sort of cardboard casket), then the ashes were given to me in a plastic bag inside a small simple cardboard box, along with a few death certificates. They wanted me to scatter their ashes in a particular place, so that's all I needed -- no urn required.

Both were handled by reputable local funeral homes.

My father in 1996 cost a bit over $1,700 and the VA reimbursed $760.

My mother in 2012 cost a bit over $2,300.

Here in Evansville, the "starts at" price for direct cremation is $1295. There is a menu of options here. But I have no direct experience recently.

 

[Murph]

Don’t go to a funeral home!

That is outrageous! It costs $1500-2K for cremation. But she may also have had a special urn and a memorial service at the facility.
When my wife passed away here on the West Coast, I called the cemetery back East where she had a family plot. I asked what the cost would be to inter her ashes with her parents.
By the time they added up the urn, the vault, digging the site and covering it, it was well over $2K! And that did not include the cost of me flying back there.

Funeral homes want $8K to $10K for handling a cremation. $14K to $16K for a traditional burial. They want $2000 just to be involved.

Go through a cremation company. Much much cheaper.

 

[KarenF]

In 2017 it cost me about $5k to have my Mom cremated and it included a small memorial service in the Funeral Home's chapel. I did not buy a fancy urn (no display of the ashes) and they made a nice slide show of my pictures, handled the obituaries and got me copies of the death certificate.

 

[financemups]

My sister died in 2011 and had a basic cremation that was in the $700 ballpark (I forget the exact price) in Gig Harbor, WA. Her "urn" was a Harley Davidson cookie jar (don't remember price, but I think like $45) and my nephew spread her ashes in San Francisco. I think at the time, the absolute rock-bottom price around was about $650.

 

[Koolau]

Funeral homes want $8K to $10K for handling a cremation. $14K to $16K for a traditional burial. They want $2000 just to be involved.

Go through a cremation company. Much much cheaper.

I don't even see a reason that cremation should cost more than a few hundred dollars. Shovel a few old tires into the chamber. Throw me on top. Big squirt of unleaded. Light a match. What? $50 bucks! Oh yeah, the urn. I love the scene in "Bucket List" where they use a Chock Full Of Nuts can.

I'm sure the best "excuse" for high cost of cremation is gummint regulation. I had to get a gummint document to transport my sister's ashes across state lines. So crematoria must surely have some costs to meet the gummint's requirements. After all, you are dealing with bio hazardous waste.

Still, I'm saying $100 for gas. $100 for wear and tear. $100 for gummint regs. $8.95 for Chock Full O Nuts (sneak the contents into the break room.) YMMV

 

[MissMolly]

I don't even see a reason that cremation should cost more than a few hundred dollars. Shovel a few old tires into the chamber. Throw me on top. Big squirt of unleaded. Light a match. What? $50 bucks! Oh yeah, the urn. I love the scene in "Bucket List" where they use a Chock Full Of Nuts can.

I'm sure the best "excuse" for high cost of cremation is gummint regulation. I had to get a gummint document to transport my sister's ashes across state lines. So crematoria must surely have some costs to meet the gummint's requirements. After all, you are dealing with bio hazardous waste.

Still, I'm saying $100 for gas. $100 for wear and tear. $100 for gummint regs. $8.95 for Chock Full O Nuts (sneak the contents into the break room.) YMMV

Human cremains are not considered a biohazard. They are considered a natural sanitary substance.

 

[Koolau]

Human cremains are not considered a biohazard. They are considered a natural sanitary substance.

Yeah, I have no idea about that but I can assure you I had to have state board of health permit to transfer the ashes. I would say for certain, crematoria are licensed because of the pre-ash materials they deal with. (I certainly wouldn't worry about ashes, myself, but someone obviously does worry about them.) Too long ago to recall, but perhaps the document was to certify exactly what you said - non-hazardous. I just don't recall. BUT without it, the ashes would not be released to me. YMMV

 

[SecondCor521]

I don't even see a reason that cremation should cost more than a few hundred dollars. Shovel a few old tires into the chamber. Throw me on top. Big squirt of unleaded. Light a match. What? $50 bucks! Oh yeah, the urn. I love the scene in "Bucket List" where they use a Chock Full Of Nuts can.

I'm sure the best "excuse" for high cost of cremation is gummint regulation. I had to get a gummint document to transport my sister's ashes across state lines. So crematoria must surely have some costs to meet the gummint's requirements. After all, you are dealing with bio hazardous waste.

Still, I'm saying $100 for gas. $100 for wear and tear. $100 for gummint regs. $8.95 for Chock Full O Nuts (sneak the contents into the break room.) YMMV

It has been a while since I read the details, but I think that a cremation requires high heat for a fairly long period of time.

I did see a cremation on the riverbank in Varanasi, India. Even there, I think the families buy wood from the wood vendors. There are stacks and stacks of it. It can be a DIY thing there, and the job falls to the eldest son IIRC.

 

[Cerys]

Lost my husband three years ago in California. Are used a direct cremation company called Tulip. It was inexpensive, like $699. Soon after I think they upped it 100 bucks.

I did over purchase death certificates. Most every place took a copy and handed back the original. It’s my understanding a death certificate is a cost to the government. Like I think I paid like $12 per certificate, and there was no up charge because I didn’t think they were allowed to do that. But I got 20 death certificates because I remember my sister going through that and having to go get another death certificate for something else with my mom. I think I still have 15.

I have not scattered my husband because I don’t want that. I do intend to find a place that has double niches so I can be cremated and placed with him. I just haven’t had a chance to do that yet. Dad of course we’ll make the end cost go up, but there you go. I want what I want. Doing genealogy, to me it’s very important to have a place to go with facts and figures and things for other people in the future to find when they’re looking for me.

 

[EastWest Gal]

3 copies may not be enough. It is cheaper to get them at the funeral than to request them later. Depending on how many accounts there are, you may need one for each account.

My dad’s lawyer recommended 12 copies. I used eight to settle his estate.

 

[Scuba]

Mom and Dad signed up with Science Care thinking they were donating their bodies to science. It's a for-profit tissue harvesting company that sells parts (Dad got really PO'd when I called it a chop shop).


When Mom died in hospice, a call to Science Care and a (1) guy shows up a couple hours later at the hospice to haul the body away. There is a checkbox on the form if you want cremains back. An envelope arrived with a couple of death certs. A couple of weeks later I got a cardboard box labeled "cremains" in the mail. $0 cost except for whatever I paid the church for a memorial service (food from Costco, tips for the music, etc.).

Who knows if they cremated her alone and if the box contained just her cremains or sand from the parking lot. "At this point what difference does it make?".

Science Care is what we have planned. Zero cost and our remains might benefit someone still living. Neither of us feels it is important that any remaining ashes are purely ours, or that our ashes are scattered in a specific place or even at all. If when we go there are people who wish to celebrate our lives, they can do that with or without ashes.

 

[blueskyk]

I’m reading All the Living and the Dead (Halley Campbell) which is a wide ranging exploration of all things death and well written. The intro notes we are born not knowing we will die and we expend a lot of energy (individually and socially) avoiding this stubborn fact once we realize that, at some point, mostly for others, it will be so.

She interviews someone who manages body donations for the Mayo Clinic. One of the fascinating stories is that of a face transplant - teams of surgeons practiced using 100 bodies (50 face transplants). Bodies are regularly parted out for surgical practice or medical device development. Once all parts are returned the body is cremated and ashes returned (if requested) - a process that usually takes a couple of years.

I was struck by how many of those who care for a body after death consider is a calling and the last opportunity to respect and honor the life that was. Like a star that was once brilliant but has now burned out.

Great read and lots to think about - current chapter is on death masks…

 

[Librarian]

Mom passed in February

I don't recall the itemized cost but cremation with a funeral (no burial) was $5K.
We purchased an urn off Amazon for under $100.