Many people prefer to arrange a direct funeral for a recently departed loved one rather than a traditional service. With a direct funeral, all of the legal requirements concerning the body of the deceased will be met under public health guidelines. There are several things to take into account before you start planning a direct funeral.
- No mourners will be able to attend the funeral.
- Lower cost coffins will be used to convey the body.
- The cost of a direct funeral is much less than a traditional one.
- Some people may have already specified in their will or funeral plan they would like a direct funeral.
- Both cremations and burials are possible with direct funerals.
Tips on Planning a Direct Cremation
As mentioned, a direct cremation will not have any service conducted. What happens is that the deceased will be conveyed to the crematorium by the appointed funeral directors. The coffin will be taken into the chapel and placed on the catafalque, and then the funeral director will bow and close the curtains and the deceased goes on to be cremated. This means that there will be no eulogy, hymns, prayers or other funeral rites. No officiant will need to be paid to oversee the service, either, since it won’t be taking place. What you are allowed to do, however, is to collect the cremated remains of the person who has been cremated, perhaps to scatter with friends and family members at a later date. With a direct cremation, a simple container is given for the cremated remains rather than an ornate urn.
Advice For Arranging a Direct Burial
If you would like a direct funeral but do not want a cremation, then you can also arrange a direct burial. In the UK, these are usually conducted in local authority-run cemeteries but they can be staged in private locations, too, usually at a slightly increased cost. Burials require a grave to be dug, so they are more expensive than cremations. Like a direct cremation, however, this type of direct funeral means no service will take place in a church, another place of religious worship or a funeral home. Since this is a lower cost option, a simple grave marker tends to be chosen rather than a gravestone but rules on what is allowed differ from location to location.
Plan Your Own Direct Funeral Today
You can plan your own direct funeral if you like. Many people choose a direct funeral plan whereby they pay for their funeral arrangements in advance. Experts in this sort of planning, like Newrest Funerals, say that monthly payment schemes tend to be the most favoured since they allow people to split the cost of their direct funeral up into manageable instalments. This way, more of your estate will be able to be inherited when you pass on and your loved ones will know exactly what your final wishes were without feeling they are obliged to stage a traditional funeral on your behalf. For some people, this sort of forward thinking is a caring thing they can do for their family that puts their minds at ease.
