Are you considering a home funeral? Do you live in Texas? As deathcare becomes more personal and eco-conscious, we’re getting more inquiries about home funerals. Home funerals were once completely normal, then became completely abnormal and are now back to being something of interest.
Over many years we’ve been conditioned to believe that certain elements of funeral services are required to be performed at a funeral home, when in actuality they aren’t at all. Families have never needed a funeral home to have a viewing or funeral service at their home. Is it more convenient for the funeral home to handle the event, yes. But families can coordinate it on their own if they prefer.
If you want to plan a home funeral in Texas here’s what you’ve got to do.
Check on the Local Codes in Your Municipality
Home funerals are legal in Texas, but every municipality has their own regulations. It’s in your best interest to check the local codes regarding deathcare before planning anything. At the very least, talk with a funeral home director who can provide guidance on what the family has to handle for a home funeral.
Decide How You Will Preserve the Body
Probably the biggest consideration right from the start is going to be how the body is preserved. At the morgue, medical examiner’s office or a funeral home they would likely have specialized refrigerated containers where the body would remain until it is embalmed, cremated or buried. At someone’s personal residence that isn’t going to be an option most likely.
At-home body preservation options that are possible include:
- Dry Ice – You can keep the body preserved for days, but the dry ice will need to be refreshed every 24 hours. It freezes on contact, so only handle dry ice while wearing thick gloves.
- Ice packs – Instead of using a freezer, frozen ice packs can be placed on the body to help preserve it for a short period. However, the ice packs need to be changed out frequently.
- Dry Heat – At the opposite end of the spectrum is dry heat. The body must be kept in an area that is very hot with almost no humidity.
- Zinc Sulphate and Sawdust Mixture – Placing the body in a container with sawdust that’s mixed with zinc sulphate (zinc and sulfur mixture). It’s what’s known as the powder method for preserving a body with surface embalming.
The body decomposition process begins almost immediately after the death, so this is something that ideally needs to be figured out in advance.
Make Service Arrangements and Contact Guests
Home funeral services tend to be simple, but they still require a fair amount of work. To keep things easy you may want to consider notifying friends and family about the death and services online. It’s common today for people to announce a death on social media where many friends and family can be notified at once.
Another way to simplify things is to have only a few people at the home service and stream the memorial live so that others can be a part of the event remotely. How large and involved the service ends up being is completely up to the family since there are no funeral home limitations.
Contact a Funeral Home for the Death Certificate
Even if you handled everything else yourself, there’s one thing you will need a funeral home to do. A funeral director is part of the process for obtaining the original death certificate that’s needed for cremation. The funeral director will work with the family and medical professionals to get all the required information and signatures. They then file the death certificate with the state so that certified copies of the death certificate can be ordered from the Vital Statistics office.
Make Arrangements for the Burial or Cremation
Unless you plan to bury a loved one on personal property yourself, you’ll need to make arrangements for burial at a cemetery or to contact a crematorium to arrange a direct cremation. Arranging a cremation shouldn’t be too difficult. Direct cremation providers like Cremation.Green don’t provide funeral services, so the process should be relatively the same even if you’re handling everything else at home.
The biggest issue is timing since the body is being preserved at home. In addition to the death certificate, the crematorium will also need to get a cremation authorization form completed before it can provide services.
Arranging a burial may take more time and effort if you don’t already have a burial plot. You may find that space is limited at some cemeteries, or you may have to ensure certain steps are taken for natural burial at a green cemetery. For example, you’ll need a biodegradable casket or container for a green burial.
Arrange Transport to the Cemetery or Crematorium
Unless the person died at home and you plan to bury them on the property (which should be legal if you own the property) you’ll need to arrange for the body to be transported at some point. The body will either need to eventually be transported to the crematorium or the cemetery.
It’s legal for the family to transport the body themselves. You’ll just need a large vehicle and way of securing the body during transit. Some families that want to handle the transport themselves find it’s easiest to rent a van for this purpose. The crematorium can also provide transport services if you plan to cremate.
If you need help arranging a cremation or getting the death certificate filed give Cremation.Green a call. We support families across Texas that prefer to handle funeral services their own way, and we’re here to help them in any way we can.
Give us a call, text or email at your earliest convenience – we’re available 24 hours a day.
