Although using third-party services is necessary for most funeral homes, owners and directors must remember that families have entrusted their services and not another company’s. What are the families’ likely expectations?

  The relationships and trust funeral home owners and employees establish with their client-families is a very personal one and should be regarded with the utmost respect and responsibility. Do you ever take cremated human remains to the cemetery and just drop them off at the office for burial or other forms of final memorialization? Is this what the family entrusted you to do?

  This drop-off and run should never happen!

  The funeral home must be present to verify that the burial or inurnment did take place as the family entrusted and expected.

  How do you know that the cremated human remains are not going to sit on a shelf or on the superintendent’s desk for days or even weeks? This practice could result in lost cremated human remains or a damaged urn. This happened a few years ago; the incident cost the funeral home a significant amount of money in the resulting legal settlement.

  If a representative of the funeral home did not witness the cemetery performing the burial or inurnment, how can its employees let the family know it has taken place as they were entrusted?

  A few areas must be verified before taking the cremated human remains to the cemetery: First, verify the correct name is on the urn/container along with the name on the Certificate of Cremation. It is critical that the correct cremated human remains are taken to the cemetery. (Please reference previously printed articles for discussions of proper procedures for temporary storage of cremated human remains at the funeral home.) Second, set a time with the cemetery for the burial or inurnment of the cremated human remains.

  Again, everyone in the death care profession must work together and help each other when needed. But cemeteries should also require that a time is preset when cremated human remains arrive for final memorialization. This helps reduce the risk of something going wrong on their end.

  Just like the funeral home, the cemetery must verify that the correct name is on the urn/container and all paperwork that accompany the cremated human remains for final memorialization. If there is any question regarding the identity of the cremated human remains, a hold should be placed on any further procedures until identity is confirmed.

  Finally, the funeral home should request a receipt from the cemetery, along with documentation regarding the date and time that the burial or inurnment took place, if the family was not present to witness, when control of the cremated human remains is transferred.