The Funeral Process after Death and Other Responsibilities

Most people don’t want to think at all about the processes that they need to go through after a loved one has passed on. Some people say that they feel like the process is a blur for them. This is why it’s important to consider the funeral process after death before you ever reach that point. You should prepare yourself ahead of time so you aren’t too concerned with trying to deal with something like this when you are going through the tenuous process of grieving.

Family First

The first thing to think about is bringing the family together to mourn and be together as they all go through this process. This is the first thing that you must think about when working on the funeral process after death. It is necessary for the emotional healing of everyone that was connected to the deceased individual to bring them together so they can comfort each other and celebrate their loved one. This likely means that you will be spending some time focused on figuring out transportation and the like.

Family that lives some distance away will need to be brought into the process via airline transportation. Thus, you might find that you need to consider the expense of flying everyone in via airplanes when the need arises. Flights, hotels, cars, and even time off work aren’t cheap, and making sure everyone can make it into town is quite a task. Airport transportation services can alleviate the pressure of driving around, there are often shuttles that go between airports and hotels. It takes a lot of work to get everyone where they need to be. A plan should be in place for how to make that happen, especially so it doesn’t get left to one person to organize everything.

Remembrance

One of the things that most families spend a great deal of time thinking about as far as the funeral process after death is concerned is how they will set up the funeral services in the first place. There are often strong feelings one way or the other about how a person will be handled after they have passed on. Disagreements can come easier because people are emotionally strung out, and if the deceased’s wishes are unclear, that opens up the floor to further uncertainty.

Some individuals have specific religious considerations that ought to be followed, and others simply have a preference for one form of post-death handling of their body. Hopefully, that person has expressed their wishes ahead of time, but many do not. It’s something that all families need to think about when they are working on taking care of the body of their loved ones after they have passed on.

Burial, Cremation, and the Rest

Many people are choosing to have a cremation service as their preferred funeral process after death. They may express this feeling to their loved ones, and those loved ones can get that set up for them.

A cremation is often an option that families select for their dearly departed because it is a more affordable option than some of the other choices that one could opt for these days. Therefore, it might be a good idea to consider this among other options and to try to discuss it with your family in an open conversation with them.

That said, some will still prefer a traditional burial that has been performed for hundreds of years. There is no right or wrong answer to how one should decide to express their wishes for what happens to their body after death. It is only a personal matter.

Legal Matters

It is often part of the funeral process after death to get an attorney to help out with the estate of the deceased. This is because there are facts and figures to be discussed after someone has passed on. Their assets need to be distributed among their surviving family, but this process is often more difficult in practice than it is on paper.

Ideally, your loved one will have established a will for themselves ahead of time, but things don’t always play out smoothly like that. Instead, it is sometimes necessary to get an attorney involved to mediate a situation in a manner that works for everyone. You might need to get an attorney to help protect your rights and make sure you get what is duly owed to you as far as the estate is concerned. You don’t want to miss out on the inheritance that should come to you. This is why one of the first things to consider with the funeral process after death is going over the final wishes of the deceased, whatever that takes.

Negotiating Costs

There is some wiggle room for those who need to try to find a discount on the funeral process after death. They might look to a public insurance adjuster to assist with the negotiation process. Such an individual can help you work out the best possible rate for the funeral process after death. They can work with the places that offer these services and let them know what you can reasonably afford to pay them. Hopefully, this should be enough to get the kind of service that you need for your loved one at a rate that you can afford.

Getting a negotiated rate is something that can make a big difference as far as being able to reasonably afford the funeral services that you need to hold for your loved ones.

Residential Planning

Sometimes there are widows left behind who might be quite elderly and unable to take care of themselves without the assistance of their now-deceased spouse. This is yet another thing that must be considered when looking at the funeral process after death. Residential assisted living is one option for those who need some space to work on getting themselves emotionally healed and physically taken care of.

Family members will need to figure out how they can work on getting their loved one into a residential option like this. They can be costly, and it is important to come up with a reasonable plan for how to make this work. Thus, the family needs to figure out how to make the changes that need to be made to take care of their loved one to get them the assistance that they need to take care of their living situation.

Parting with the House

If the family decides that selling a house is the right option for them, there are many steps that they will need to take to make it happen. They will need to stage the house in such a way that it is presentable and desired by people in the public. They will also need to think about this funeral process after death as something that they do when they are ready to divide up the funds among the surviving family.

What this means is that there are a lot of complications to consider to help make it possible to sell the home and have the proceeds divided up in such a way that it is reasonable and fair for everyone involved in this situation.

Don’t forget that there can be a lot of emotions tied up in a family home, and it is a process that should be handled with a delicate touch. That said, it might be necessary to sell off the home as part of the funeral process after death.

Refreshing the Landscape

It is sometimes necessary to get a land clearing business out to the property to bring new life to the landscape. Often, when people are elderly and/or sick, their priority is not to take care of the landscaping. They have other things they’re concerned with, and that is why they might need to have a land clearing business come out and assist them with keeping the property clean and safe.

When one works on the landscaping of the property, they greatly increase the chances that the property will be sold. It is one of the first things that potential homebuyers are likely to notice, and it is something that everyone should be aware of and working on to help bring about the best possible look from their properties. Getting a good price and a faster sale on the property can help everyone involved get what they are looking for out of the transaction.

Cleaning the Home

For some people, a gut-wrenching process is cleaning the house of the deceased out. Dumpster rental companies are a good resource if the house is cluttered with garbage or hoarded items, or if you know you’re going to need to throw out a lot. People produce more garbage than you’d think, and clearing a space of unimportant things is the first step to focusing on important or sentimental items.

Many people say that it is a challenge for them to get rid of items that belonged to their loved ones, and that is understandable, but it is something that has to be done. Getting some of the debris out of one’s home and taken care of is not something that happens without some significant work, and that is why cleaning the home out must be done.

Some people choose to put everything into storage units, but it is important to remember that the rental costs of storage units can be quite expensive. Not only that, but you might never have the time to truly go through everything in that storage unit. You might be paying to store items that aren’t that valuable to you. It’s better to cut down the bulk earlier if you can, and then when you’re sure you want to hang onto things, you can look at storing them.

Repurposing and Repossessing

Getting a jewelry appraisal might be necessary for some of the pieces of jewelry that are left behind by the deceases. Again, it is easy for people to gather up a lot of possessions while they are in their life. However, you might find that you need to get rid of some of those possessions after their death.

Jewelry appraisal is necessary because there are some pieces of jewelry that might have significant value to them. Those pieces of jewelry might be sold if the family can agree to it, and that can increase the value of the estate that is split among everyone who is in the will.

There are some pieces of jewelry that might truly have value to people who are close to the deceased. If that is the case, then you might want to gift them that piece of jewelry. If it has sentimental value, then it should not be sold.

Create a Lasting Memorial

Coming together to create a lasting memorial to the person who has passed on is a great way to honor that individual. It shows that they were cared for in their life, and it is a great way for everyone who cared for that individual to remember the person and express their emotions.

Many people return to the memorial that they have created for their loved one and remember them yet again. It is just another way that they can go through the healing process for themselves. Sometimes, remembering the good times that one had with another person is a great way to still express your love and other emotions for the person who has passed on.

It’s most important to value the traditions and life of the deceased. Names, religions, beliefs, and achievements should be respected. Even if they don’t fit in with the rest of the family, their wishes for ceremony and remembrance should be revered.

Raise Money for a Favored Charity

A great way to honor the deceased is to raise money for a favored charity of that person. You might see the message “In lieu of flowers, please donate to X charity” or something of the sort. This is a common sentiment expressed by families these days as they believe that the deceased would prefer that money be donated to a charity that they believed in. If your loved one was passionate about a cause, it would do well to honor their memory and put some time into this cause in their name.

If you aren’t sure about which charities were favored by the deceased, you can just think about the things in their life that seemed to mean a lot to them. One of the greatest ways for someone to be remembered is through the positive influence they had on others. Amongst everything, a memorialization of death is a celebration of life, a reminder that people never truly die if they’re remembered fondly. And the bonds that people form over love for someone dear.