When someone dies, there are many decisions that need to be made. For a grieving individual or family, this may seem overwhelming. Once the funeral home is selected and the initial contact is made, we will walk through the process, step by step with the family, so it becomes less stressful.
The list of information that we would ask a family member to provide when we meet can be downloaded here.
What will the funeral director need to know?
During the first conversation with the family we will ask a few questions and go through some information.
What is the deceased person’s name? How old are they? Do you know their date of birth? Where did the person pass away? Is the family ready for us to transfer the deceased to the funeral home?
We will also need to know who is the next of kin or point of contact for the family? How is he/she related to the deceased? What is the contact’s phone number?
We will go over the embalming rule, and answer any questions you may have about it, so we know how to proceed once their loved one is in our care.
And finally, we will set up a time, date and location to meet to go over service information, make selections, and obtain the statistical information of the deceased.
If possible, you may bring a photo along. If he/she was in the military, his/her discharge paper, DD-214, will be needed to apply for benefits.
At our meeting with the family, we go through information and selections needed to start the arrangement process. We want to help families make the best selections for services that will honor their loved one’s memory and meet the needs of those left behind.
We will ask for information that is needed to complete the death certificate, such as:
- The person’s full name
- Legal Address
- Date of Birth and Place of Birth
- Social Security Number
- Legal marital status (married, divorced, widowed, never married)
- Father’s name and Mother’s name (including maiden name)
- Level of Education
- Employment Information
- Military Information
We will help the family write an obituary if selected, so we will ask for family information as well. Are there children, grandchildren, sisters or brothers? Are there other family members who have already passed away? Did they have a church membership or religious affiliation? Did the deceased have any achievements or hobbies you would want to share?
We will talk about what services the family will want us to assist with, so we will ask the following:
- Will the person who died be cremated? Will there be a burial?
- Will there be a viewing or services before cremation or burial?
- Do you want the viewing or services to be held at the funeral home, a church, a cemetery or at another location?
- Do you want a clergy person or celebrant to lead the service?
- If there will be a burial, what cemetery is the plot located in?
We will go over selections for a casket, vault, urn, stationary, flowers, and other items.
We will set up times for the services selected.
We will discuss prices and fees associated with all the selections made, as well as payment options.