How Cheap can a Funeral Be !

poppy-glos

i haven't read all the posts so i may be duplicating, apologies if i am. in my area the district council will arrange a funeral for someone who dies without the money to bury/cremate themselves. i have looked into it several times (most recently about a year ago) for families of my service users without money, the rule seems to be that when the person dies, you need to go to the district council and say to them you cannot fund the funeral, then they will make arrangements including which undertaker, arrange the funeral, arrange a funeral car for mourners if needed, and listen to songs/readings etc that the family/mourners want. i have never got any further than making the enquiry call as each time i have found out, the family have already arranged the undertaker (their one their family usually uses) and choose to pay rather than hand the arrangements and choice of undertaker over to the district council. this may be different now given the current govt funding problems, but might be worth enquiring if a person dies without the funds for their funeral.

catkins

My father in law died suddenly a couple of months ago and the cheapest funeral that could be arranged with just one car and a hearse was £3,500 which I thought was disgusting. Luckily they were not poor (in fact mother in law paid with money she had laying around the house!).

It has made my poor parents worry now that when they die we will have to pay a fortune as their insurances would not cover.

Mother in law said if people wanted they could give to a certain charity but when me and OH said we would give money she said no, you have to buy flowers. We ended up buying a floral "DAD" which cost £130. I was so angry about this but OH did it to keep the peace. What a rip off! Flowers that the deceased does not appreciate that sit at the crematorium for half a day and then die!

csarina

When my OH goes he has asked to be cremated and his ashes interred in the grave where his parents are buried. We did some investigations and found that his mother had not been buried with his father as she wanted, but in the adjacent lair, its a double plot, so OH has decreed that he goes into his fathers side, so his Father, Grandfather and himself, who all bear the same christian name, will be together. he has also specified the actual plot number in his will to make sure there is no mistake.

He will be creamted in his full dress kilt etc, his son said years ago he did not want it and, as his parents bought his kilt for his 21st, we felt it was appropriate. Cheap coffin, no flowers just a donation to charity in his name, no wake, family only for what ever depending on the time of the funeral.

For me, much the same although I had specified my ashes to be scattered in a garden we were involved with it seems likely that this will not be possible, so it will be up to my eldest daughter to decided what to do with my ashes.

We both took out policies to pay for our funerals, so there should be enough money........

GandolfTheWise

I have been seriously studying the cost of my own death (getting old and can't avoid it) - My criteria is to get the total under the Social Security payment of $255. It is possible in Oregon, and you can probably come close if you ignore your friends and relatives. In Oregon, you can be buried free on a farmer's property as long as he receives no money (then he'd need to be licensed as a cemetery, funeral home, etc.) - the only stipulation is that if he wanted to move you at any time, that is his prerogative. I believe that a simple burial in a canvas bag or if I make my own simple wooden casket, either would allow the body to return to the soil over the years and I would be of benefit to the trees and other plants. If you want a professional casket - just google (scroogle is better) "cheap caskets" and you'll find some very nice ones for around $600 with just a little effort - if you plan ahead, there are plans for caskets that you can use for bookshelves until they are needed for burial. How much cheaper can you get than building your own wooden casket? While waiting you could even do some fancy carving or wood burning for that unique, personal effect. To avoid high funeral costs, find out what your state absolutely demands and try to avoid using professional help for everything. The paperwork costs about $125 here and that can't be avoided, but it can be handled by a friend who can fill in the blanks. I am now looking for a farmer who needs a tree nourished - my alternate plan was to take my inflatable boat out to sea until I could no longer see land and enjoy myself for awhile, and then sink my boat. Can't get cheaper than that!

hjibds

Been arguing with my wife with what will happen when I die, hopefully got a good few years yet though i'm only 29!

She wants me buried with a service etc.

I wan't my body donated to the local university for medial research.
I don't want a service but said if she outlives me if it will hep her thats fiine.

I don't want buried as I don't feel that I want a place people feel they have to gto and visit. I don't want burnt because i'd turn in my grave if I knew how much it was costing and that my body was wasted like that.

[Deleted User]

Helen_from_yorkshire wrote: »

Can this be enforced even though we would have to pay for it?

No it can't, and you don't have to pay for it.

Nobody can be forced, to finance someone else's funeral.

[Deleted User]

Petal wrote: »

My Dad's is gonna be cheap. He's told me "cardboard coffin, cremation, no service, no flowers.....no nothing"

That's pretty close to what I want.

[Deleted User]

Mr_Proctalgia wrote: »

I was also advised that in extemis if the person concerned dies in hospital then if you simply walk away it becomes their problem.

Same applies if they don't die in hospital, except it becomes the Council's problem.

It's called a PHF (Public Health Funeral) and the Hospital/Council are legally obliged to provide a funeral, if nobody else can/will.

jackomdj

Old thread bumped by a new user promoting a website.... I think this is a bit of self promotion! Spam button pressed.

[Deleted User]

The Mods are certainly on the ball today.

That post you reported, disappeared a bit quick.