Is Cremation Right For My End-of-Life Plan?

Is Cremation For Me?

People that plan ahead and make tough decisions early on in order to keep their family from making such decisions in times of grief often pre-plan their funerals.

That could mean anything from telling your family members where you’d like to be buried, whether during informal discussions or in their legal will, but preplanning your funeral could also mean paying for it ahead of time and choosing what happens to your body after you’re deceased.

Cremation is the process in which a deceased body is burned, breaking down the bones and vaporizing soft tissues at high temperatures, leaving just the ashes of the body to be buried or placed in an urn.

End-of-Life Plan: Discussion About Cremation

One of the major questions people ask themselves when preplanning their funeral is if cremation is right for them? What are the advantages of cremation, and what are some of the disadvantages?

Cremation is Less Expensive Than A Traditional Burial

Choosing cremation over traditional burial will save your family a lot of money because they don’t necessarily have to buy certain things. For instance, a traditional casket is not necessary for them to be cremated in, even though a funeral home might try to sell you one.

Also, you might not choose to be buried, instead choosing to have your ashes placed in an urn or spread somewhere. This means you won’t have to pay for a grave site or a tombstone.

You will, however, have to pay for the cremation process, which is much less than traditional burial, but it’s a cost others don’t have to pay.

Not All Religions Approve of Cremation

Death is certainly an accepted event in all religions, but many religions differ on how the body is treated afterward. For the most part, many religions are fine with cremating the remains and either burying the ashes, storing them in a columbarium, or other methods of storing the ashes.

The Ashes Can Be Placed In Several Areas

Urns full of ashes are mobile and shareable. In other words, the family of a deceased person might choose to share the urn, taking turns with it on their mantles or shelves through the years.

Another option is having the ashes of the deceased family member or friend spread someplace that is beautiful and meaningful to the person. But in many states, a permit is required to spread the ashes in certain places, like state and national parks.

An urn of ashes could also be buried in a special place on a family member’s property, where a memorial bench or memorial tablet is placed to remember them by.

Statistics from the National Funeral Directors Association and Cremation Association of North America reports that cremation is becoming so popular that more than half of all funerals will include creation before 2020.

If you’re thinking about cremation instead of a traditional burial in South Florida, call the people at The Gardens of Boca Raton Cemetery and Funeral Services at (561) 989-9190. They’ll be able to answer any other questions you have.