Right now, there’s a lot of talk about efficiency in the death care industry. As the cremation rate continues to rise, many funeral homes are max capacity. Crematoriums are expanding their facilities, but that takes time. So the best solution in the interim is to improve processes so that things run more efficiently.
That has brought to light a number of things that cause needless delays in the cremation process. Some of these avoidable delays are on the funeral home while others are the result of third parties or the family. But don’t worry. Our experts are here to point out the most common delays and how to avoid them.
Common Cremation Delays That Can Be Avoided
Cremation is simple compared to other forms of disposition, but there are still a lot of requirements and decisions that need to be made. Each one can end up delaying the process if it isn’t handled efficiently.
Physician or Medical Examiner Paperwork
This is one of the frustrating parts of cremation because it’s largely out of the hands of the funeral home and the family. To get a completed death certificate that is necessary for a cremation to take place, a doctor or medical examiner must sign the death certificate. The body can’t even be released to the funeral home until this happens.
This can prove to be a significant delay even if there isn’t an autopsy. It’s one of those administrative tasks that can be put off for a day or so because it simply isn’t a top priority for the signing medical professional.
The Solution: Use a funeral home that works with a wide network of doctors and will get in contact with the coroner immediately to start facilitating the process of getting the body released.
Incomplete Cremation Authorization Forms
In many jurisdictions, crematories require a cremation authorization form be signed by all legal next of kin before a cremation can be performed. If one family member is unavailable or uncommunicative, the process stalls completely because it simply can’t move forward without the authorization.
The Solution: Get a hold of the legal next of kin that will need to sign the cremation authorization form immediately. The funeral home can help with this process and explain the requirements to everyone who is involved.
Decisional Delays About the Details
This delay sits squarely with the family of the deceased. Indecisiveness on the urn or plans for a memorial can slow down the process. It can even stall things from moving forward from the beginning if the family is having difficulty choosing a funeral home.
Solution: Give yourself a deadline for making decisions that is very short. It can help to really focus on what the deceased would have decided and putting aside any personal preferences that the next of kin may have.
Family Disputes
This avoidable delay goes hand-in-hand with the previous point. Sometimes there are decisional delays because there are family disputes that prevent things from moving forward. In-fighting and disagreements over whether to cremate can result in legal delays that last for weeks or months. This is a serious issue because it will significantly increase the cost.
The Solution: The best way to avoid family disputes is by having a legal, documented and pre-planned directive regarding the deceased’s wishes. Without that, getting past family disputes could be very time-consuming.
Payment Delays
Cremation cannot begin until payment has been made or a payment plan has been arranged. Coming to terms on that could be fairly efficient or drawn out. Fortunately, there are a lot more payment options today.
The Solution: Explore your payment options as you consider death care services. This can include cash payments to crowd funding death care services. However you choose to do it, have payment secured or funds readily available to avoid financial hold-ups.
Transportation Issues and Arrangements
If the death occurred while someone is traveling abroad or in another state, delays can happen right from the start. You have to make arrangements to have the body transported unless you plan to cremate where the person died, which can come with its own delays. Plus, cremation isn’t possible in every country.
The Solution: Work with a funeral home that is experienced making long distance transportation arrangements. They will work with a local service to secure the necessary documents and ensure everything is handled in a timely manner.
Proactive Steps That Help Avoid Delays During the Cremation Process
We’ve noted some specific solutions for avoiding the common delays that slow down the cremation process. There are also several other things you can do to ensure that things go as efficiently as possible.
Consider Pre-Planning the Funeral Services
One of the biggest advantages of pre-planning funeral services is that a lot of the decision making has already been done and there won’t be any disputes to hold up the process. You know who will provide the services, what the services will be and even what urn the cremains will go in. It’s literally just a matter of putting the pre-conceived plan into action.
Choose an Experienced Death Care Provider
More established and experienced funeral homes often have streamlined procedures that they have perfected over time. They have also made a lot of connections in the local areas and are extremely familiar with the procedures of local hospitals and the medical examiner’s office. This can prove to be a huge time-saver in cases where an autopsy or special coordination is needed.
Involve Fewer People in the Decision Making
The fewer family members that are involved the easier and quicker it is to make decisions. Ideally, there will be one person who is in charge of the funeral arrangements, but try to limit it to no more than three.
Cremation.Green is an experienced funeral home in Central Texas that works efficiently without sacrificing customer service. We know how to handle complex situations that involve things like coordinating with medical examiners and out-of-state deaths while keeping the cremation process moving forward.
If you would like to know more about arranging eco-friendly funeral services in Texas, give us a call, text or email at your earliest convenience
