Death and Burial

[peanut]

Why does a funeral cost 10K? Can it be done for less?
Can I be buried in a pine box that I can make before I die? Why not?
Can I be buried on my own property outside of Tulsa county? Why not?

I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want my descendants to pay someone to dump a carcas body in a coffin and charge 10 grand for it.

What's wrong with cremation and is it cheaper? Why or why not?

 

[HMFIC]

I don't have the answers but it's a question that many are asking.

As more baby boomers reach end of life, something will give. The economics of it will dictate so.

Ps. Anyone who wants to get filthy rich, get into the mortuary/funeral home business right now. You'll have a guaranteed uptick in business for the next 20-30 years.

 

[Pulp]

Yes, and yes.

I think there is some legal paperwork involved in setting up a private cemetery, but it can be done.

You do not have to be embalmed, and you do not have to use a mortuary. I knew a feller down here that buried his wife in his front yard, homemade casket, no funeral home involved. He did have to go through some legal stuff, but to him it was worth it.

Check with a lawyer for all the legal details.

Check with a lawyer

 

[VIKING]

Don't know the answer to most of your questions but, most funerals I've had any say in the planning cost around 6k. As far as the casket, my neighbor knew he was dieing and had his grandson build his casket..It was beautiful, made out of cedar and lined with burlap. Had horse shoes for the carrying handles with his cattle brand on all sides. I had the honor of helping carry it in his house a couple of days before he died just so he could see it...

 

[tRidiot]

You can get a cheap coffin... both my grandfather and my step-father were buried in cloth-covered wooden caskets. They were bought through the funeral home and they were NOT happy about it, let me tell you. I think they were in the neighborhood of $300-600? Much much less than the several thousand for the caskets they kept in-house. They had to "order" them in and acted like we were being overly cheap and disrespectful to our loved ones by not spending a million dollars on a funeral.

The embalming portion alone was around $1300-1800? No way to get around that part, if you're going the traditional route.

Most places, I believe you can be buried on your own property. It has to be a registered with the state or county, I believe. I think also we looked into it and you could forego embalming if you could be "in the ground" within 24 hours? Don't quote me on that, it's been a long time since I looked into it...

Cremation is the way I'm going to go, but even that is expensive... I want to say it was around $1200? Plus the cost of your urn or whatever, which can be a few hundred up to thousands, of course.

If you do your research, you can sure save a lot of money and heartache.

 

[NikatKimber]

Both my wife and I want to be cremated.

The catch is, we want our ashes mixed with gunpowder, loaded into live ammo, and "scattered" across gun ranges everywhere.

 

[tRidiot]

I don't know about the lawyer part of it... I think you could probably handle most of the paperwork and legwork yourself if you have the time. I know there are a lot of things that it is "advised" to get a lawyer to handle, and I haven't found them to be overly difficult, if you're of average intelligence or higher and willing to pay attention and do the paperwork yourself. Immigration stuff, for example. We were advised many times over to get a lawyer to handle the green card stuff and I am sure glad we didn't. We managed it all on our own, just by reading the directions and filling it out, saved ourselves a few thousand in legal fees.

I kinda think the home burial thing would be about the same. Go to your county courthouse and talk to the folks there, they would be the ones to direct you, I would think.

And good for you! If I were going the burial route, I sure wouldn't want to be buried in some horrid cemetery where everyone goes to "mourn". How dreary and utterly depressing! My ashes are going to be scattered here someday. The most beautiful spot I've ever been to... and I've been to a lot!

 

[Perplexed]

I've told my family I don't want anything special done - after the hospital has harvested any viable organs, just to toast my remains and at the next convenient intersection in the country, dump my ashes into the ditch. Quick, easy, and cheap. I'm gone, what does it matter?

 

[VIKING]

Cremation may be the cheap way but it's not for me. While I know that God can still put me back together, I don't want to make his job any harder then I already have..

 

[okiemaggie]

If you want to be buried, check your local small-town cemeteries. Some have no restrictions on embalming or caskets. Washington (OK) cemetery allows burial without embalming, home-made coffins, and even hand dug graves and home made grave markers.

Cremation does not have to cost $1000. If you choose no viewing (embalming required) and the standard shipping container (plastic with the ashes in a plastic bag inside) and no obituary, you can get cremated for around $500. These days the most expensive add-on is the death certificate copies. They've gone up to $20 per and every agency the deceased ever dealt with seems to want an original.