Funeral Facts

These are just some questions that I have been asked, and I answer as well as I can – these are by no means the only answers.

There are hundreds of questions and hundreds of answers – just ask!

1. If the death has happened at home there is no urgency to move the deceased. However if the body has been removed by an undertaker, you do not need to use that undertaker for your funeral as long as you have not signed a contract.
2. You need to register the death within five days
3. The funeral is for you too – do not agonise if you cannot carry out every one of the deceased’s wishes – there is no right or wrong way.
4. Direct Cremation is where the body is taken straight from the place they died and cremated without a funeral. This is OK! If you do not feel ready or able to hold a funeral, then later on you can have a memorial or a commemoration, a scattering of the ashes … it’s up to you.
5. Humanist? Religious? Civil Celebrant? They are all different.
   • A Humanist will not offer a prayer or sing a hymn.
   • A Religious Service is based around faith which a lot of people no longer have.
   • A Civil Celebrant will include the elements that you want – Grandma’s hymn and a prayer, but not limited by a structure. There can be participative elements, and the whole ceremony is a personalised celebration of the life of the deceased.