April 2017

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Page A10 APRI L 2017 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A
Disposing
of Cremated Remains
On February 22, 2017, the Boca Raton Forum sec-
tion of the Ft. Lauderdale Florida Sun Sentinel News-
paper featured an article titled “Ashes to Ashes.” The
subject of the article was stories about people that had
cremated remains of relatives in their houses and they
did not know what to do with them.
The first story was about a discussion between the au-
thor of the article and a fellow employee named Bill.
Bill was telling the author that he did not know what
to do about his mother. The author was confused be-
cause the mother had passed away over 20 years ago.
Bill clarified that the mother’s remains had been cre-
mated and the cremated remains were taken home.
Initially the cremated remains were placed in the linen
closet and then transferred to a guest room. When the
guest room was converted to an office, the cremated
remains disappeared. Bill told the author he expected
the cremated remains would turn up sooner or later.
Bill chastised the author for being judgmental and in-
quired where the author’s mother’s cremated remains
were located. The author responded his mother’s cre-
used on a universal basis has a specific section dealing
with disposition of the cremated remains that out-
lines the alternatives.
Finally, in this author’s opinion, funeral directors
and crematories have an ethical and often legal ob-
ligation to provide information to consumers about
the disposition of the cremated remains. Sadly it ap-
pears that this information was not provided to the
people discussed in the article.
mated remains were at the cemetery where the family had
apparently made arrangements to inurn them.
Subsequently the author was discussing the conversa-
tion with Bill with another friend who said she was not
sure where her dad’s cremated remains were located. The
dad had died in 2006 and she thought her mother had
placed them in a wall unit in her condo because they did
not know what to do with them. The friend commented
it was not like her dad was going anywhere.
Another friend thought her mother’s cremated remains
were at a sister’s house and her dad’s cremated remains
were still at the funeral home. She thought the funeral
home had to keep them. Another friend had 8 cremated
remains of various parents and stepparents. She said they
were downsizing and would have to do something, but
she had not marked the boxes so she did not know who
was in them.
Finally, the author quoted another friend who was ap-
palled by the stories when she heard them. This friend
responded to the author’s question concerning what she
had done with the cremated remains of her parents by in-
dicated she had converted them into jewelry. This friend
then showed the author her earrings.
Frankly, the author of this column was disturbed when
the article ended at that point without any indication
of the requirements for disposition of cremated remains
or any suggestions where the information could be ob-
tained. The following information should, in this au-
thor’s opinion, have been provided:
First, most state laws have provisions dealing with the
cremation process and the disposition of cremated re-
mains.
Second, most state laws have provisions dealing with a
funeral directors obligation regarding abandoned cremat-
ed remains and usually they are allowed to dispose of the
cremated remains after a designated time period.
Third, the standard Cremation Authorization Form
Harvey I. Lapin, P.C., is a member of the Illinois Bar and Florida Bar. He
is a member of the faculty at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago
and is presently teaching the subject of Tax Exempt Organizations. He is
also associated with Florida-based law firm Sachs, Sax & Caplan, leading
the firm’s Funeral, Cemetery and Cremation Practice Group.
He has written numerous articles on the subject of taxation, funeral
and cemetery law.
The subject discussed in this article and future articles resulted from
the questions from readers. The author is licensed to practice law in
Illinois, Florida and Wisconsin. He has been involved with legal mat-
ters related to the industry in almost every state and can be reached by
phone at 847-334-1983 or by email at .
By Atty. Harvey I. Lapin
Legal
Speak
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Dean Lambert Begins Term as
President of Funeral and Memorial
Information Council
WEST DES MOINES,IA—
Homesteaders senior vice
president of marketing and
communications Dean
Lambert recently began his
term as president of the Fu-
neral and Memorial Infor-
mation Council (FAMIC),
representing the Life Insur-
ers Council (LIC) Pre-need
Insurers Group. During his
tenure as president, Lambert
will help promote FAMIC’s
mission while fostering mu-
tually beneficial relation-
ships between funeral pro-
fessionals and consumers.
“I am proud to represent
the LIC Pre-need Insurers
Group as FAMIC presi-
dent,” Lambert affirmed.
“I feel fortunate to work
with a group of talented
individuals who are truly
committed to continuing
FAMIC’s mission to be a
leading provider of memo-
rialization information and
education for consumers
and funeral professionals.”
FAMIC was established in
1991 as a means of educat-
ing consumers about death
care and memorialization
through the collaboration
of various funeral service
associations. The group is
best known for its Have
the Talk of a Lifetime® con-
sumer education campaign,
which seeks to help fami-
lies understand and facili-
tate conversations about
memorialization. “Our or-
ganization currently rep-
resents 10 member asso-
ciations in the death care
industry,” explained FAM-
IC executive director Kath-
ryn Pratscher. “Together,
these associations represent
more than 16,000 funeral
professionals, from funeral
directors and cremationists
to their supplier partners.”
One such organization,
the LIC Pre-need Insurers
Group, provides a means
for pre-need funding pro-
viders like Homesteaders
to contribute their unique
insights to the organiza-
tion. “The LIC’s participa-
tion through our Pre-need
Insurers Group has been
extremely important,” ob-
served LIC executive di-
rector Jeff Shaw. “Consid-
ering how much pre-need
carriers rely on funeral pro-
fessionals for their success,
the LIC’s participation in
FAMIC presents an ideal
opportunity to build bet-
ter partnerships between
the insurance industry and
the funeral industry.”
Lambert has been an ac-
tive participant in the fu-
neral and pre-need pro-
fessions for more than 25
years. In his current role
as senior vice president of
marketing and communi-
cations, he oversees all as-
pects of Homesteaders’
marketing, including re-
search, communication,
corporate events and funer-
al home marketing services.
His tenure as FAMIC pres-
ident will run through the
end of the 2017.
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