Issues and FAQs

What's the difference between a traditional funeral and a cremation service? Why would someone choose one over the other?

There are many reasons why more and more people over the last 30 years have elected cremation at the time of death rather than a traditional funeral. These include practical, spiritual, economic, environmental, and other reasons, but the important thing to remember is that but for the actual procedure of cremation itself, there doesn't have to be any difference between one service and the other. That said, many families have found that a cremation service introduces other possibilities that might not have been considered with a traditional funeral, including special gathering arrangements, ash scatterings, and a range of memorial options. The bottom line is that today's funeral professional can help you make a funeral or cremation service as traditional or as creative as you wish.

How do you/I go about deciding where to hold a funeral service or cremation?

There are many reasons why a family could choose one funeral home over another in a community, including awareness, reputation, proximity, previous experience, a “word of mouth” personal referral, plus many very practical considerations such as services, pricing, and so forth. Of course, not all funeral homes serve as crematories, so this is a key consideration when you begin to explore cremation. It's generally advisable that when choosing a funeral home that offers cremation that you make sure the funeral home is registered with the Cremation Association of North America (CANA). CANA maintains a database of registered members (see http://www.cremationassociation.org/html/search-dir.php) as well as other helpful information. Some questions you'll want to ask when considering a cremation provider include:

• Does the provider adhere to a particular code of cremation ethics? Is this posted clearly in the organization or made readily available to you upon inquiry?

• Are the cremations performed by this provider done onsite? If so, can you take a tour of the actual cremation facility? If not, then who performs the cremations for this provider and where?

• Does the provider or municipality where the provider is located require identification of the body before cremation? What is the procedure to track identification through the entire cremation process, including verification of the cremated remains?

• Typically, how much time elapses between the provider's receiving of the deceased and the actual cremation of that deceased? Does the provider provide onsite refrigeration facilities prior to cremation?

• Who certifies the provider's crematory operators and equipment? Is there evidence of this certification readily available? How up-to-date is the certification?

• Does the provider allow a designated family member or other individual to witness the cremation? How are the cremated remains handled after the cremation, especially if an urn has not been provided or purchased prior to the procedure?

• How does the provider dispose of prosthetics and other artificial elements in the course of the cremation process?

• Does the provider have a list of recent references for its services?

• Has the provider ever had a complaint recorded by the local Better Business Bureau or governing health agency or other legal entity?

Obviously, there are many items to consider in evaluating the right cremation provider for your family. We encourage you to learn more about organizations currently offering cremation, including a number of MasterTouch funeral professionals around the country.

What is the cost of cremation versus a traditional funeral? How does the cost of cremation compare with burial or entombment?

A cremation service can be less than a traditional funeral, but it's difficult to make a direct, “apples-to-apples” comparison given the range of services now available through your MasterTouch Professional. From casket choices to gathering ceremonies to specific kinds of memorials, it's very possible that some cremation services may cost a little more than a traditional funeral, or just the opposite. This is where we encourage you to have a candid conversation about costs and benefits with your cremation provider. To give you some idea of the way cremation services are now “packaged” within the MasterTouch Program, please read more about available MasterTouch Silver, Gold, and Platinum Packages here.

Which funeral professionals are necessary? Is a funeral director necessary?

Many jurisdictions require a licensed professional to transport a body and to obtain the necessary permits for the handling, cremation, or traditional burial of that body. Funeral directors are typically those with this kind of formal, licensed credential, and in some cases may be the only professionals permitted to provide these services. Normally, the licensed funeral director performs the same legally recognized functions during traditional funerals or cremations, even if the funeral director's “team” includes other specific professionals such as a crematory operator.

How is cremation actually performed?

The deceased's body is typically enclosed in a rigid cremation container or special casket (a casket is not required, but is available through one of the MasterTouch Packages here). Not all states require such a container or casket, which is typically constructed of wood or cardboard, used throughout the transportation and handling of the deceased's body, and itself cremated. By law, only one body at a time may be cremated in a cremation chamber. Additionally, most cremation chambers are designed to accommodate no more than one deceased adult.

• Once the body enters the chamber a combination of heat, flame, and evaporation will reduce it over a period of two to three hours (at between 1,500 to 2,000 degrees F) to its most basic elements, which resemble coarse, whitish or light gray sand. While the cremation service typically refers to “ash scatterings”, actual human remains bear little resemblance and no chemical similarities with ashes. They are, instead, bone fragments and the remains of an average adult usually weigh between three and nine pounds after cremation.

• Upon completion of the cremation, all remaining bone fragments and any other non-consumed materials are drawn into the back of the cremation chamber and into a stainless steel cooling pan. Through a combination of visual inspection and magnets any remaining metal work (artificial joints, bridge work, and metal from clothing) is then separated from the cremated remains. (Dental elements such as gold and silver are non-recoverable and commingled with the cremated remains. The remaining bone fragments are then processed in a machine to a consistent size and the placed in a temporary or permanent urn of the family's choosing. (But for the smallest amount of microscopic particles which are impossible to remove from the cremation chamber or the processing machine, all of the cremated remains are given back to the family.)

Is embalming required prior to cremation?

No. In fact, it is illegal for a funeral home to require otherwise. However, issues of time, health, legal regulations religious or spiritual considerations or other personal preference may make embalming prior to cremation appropriate or necessary.

What other preparation is required?

Preparation – including the possible inclusion of embalming – is often a matter of time and preference, but there are some simple scientific matters that need to be addressed prior to a cremation. One such matter that your cremation professional is likely to address is whether the deceased had a pacemaker of similar electro-mechanical device or implant. Such devices should be removed prior to a cremation because they may become dangerous when subjected to the extreme heat of the cremation process. It's wise to review these kinds of issues with your MasterTouch Cremation Professional.

Can the body be viewed without embalming? Can the cremation be witnessed?

Yes, most cremation providers allow immediate family members to briefly view the deceased prior to cremation and in many cases, the cremation provider will also allow family members to be present during the placement of the body into the cremation provider.

Is there a need for burial after cremation?

There are many options for the permanent “resting place” of a loved one's cremated remains. Some families choose traditional cemetery lots. Others prefer cremation gardens, permanent inurnment in a columbarium “niche” (recessed enclosure bearing an ornamental front with the name and dates), or that the remains be kept at home. This is all a part of determining the most appropriate, dignified way of memorializing your family's loved one, and your local MasterTouch Professional can help in this regard.

What other choices are available for permanent memorialization?

An ash scattering has become a more widely accepted form of memorial for many families, but special care must be given to legal, environmental, social, religious, and emotional considerations. Most areas will allow an ash scattering, but even with this kind of ceremony, MasterTouch Professionals have found that most families usually still desire some kind of additional, permanent memorial. Sometimes, it makes sense not to have a scattering, because it may place another family member in the delicate position of being the one who actually disperses the mortal remains of the loved one. This is no small request, as many families have found. Also, unless a family is absolutely sure that an ash scattering is the most appropriate and permanent way of memorializing a loved one, other forms of memorial may prove to be more suitable.

Is cremation universally accepted by all religions?

Today, most religions allow cremation except for Orthodox Jewish, Islamic, Eastern Orthodox and several Christian fundamentalist faiths. The Catholic Church accepts cremation within certain guidelines. Nearly all Protestant and Catholic churches allow cremated remains to be present during a Memorial Mass.

Who's choosing cremation today? Is it popular? Growing or declining?

The practice of cremation has been steadily rising over the last century, with a significant statistical upswing in the last 30 years. Families of every background have chosen cremation and there are now over 700,000 performed in the U.S. annually, with over 1 million expected by the year 2010. This trend has brought to families in the U.S. and Canada a new focus on planning and arrangements well in advance of death. That is, not only has cremation become an alternative to the traditional funeral, many families now see cremation as the catalyst for creating new and different, highly dignified ceremonies that honor and respect their loved ones.

Other information?

For more information on cremation, you can access a variety of other resources through this website.