A Home Funeral – are you aware of your options?
Before World War I many funerals were taken care of in the home setting. The deceased person and the funeral were prepared at home by family and friends. This was considered to be an honour and mark of respect for the deceased, as well as an important and natural part of the grieving process.
After the war, some families chose to pay a funeral home to organise a funeral for them. Funeral homes had existed before this time but were not as common as they are today.
Today many people who find themselves in the position of having to arrange a funeral or cremation are unaware of the options available to them.
There is no rush to make these decisions. You can consider all of the options in your own time, and if you wish, you can perform all or some of the tasks associated with the funeral.
You may wish to engage the services of a funeral director but this is not required by Australian law. However, a funeral director can just make things so much easier as arranging a funeral when you’re grieving is probably the last thing you’d want to do.
Nor does the law require a formal funeral or cremation service as you can arrange for a direct, or No-Service, burial or cremation to take place – you can then choose to have a memorial service at a later date if you wish, it’s always your choice.
Lauren Newman and Tree of Life Funerals can provide transport, a coffin of your choice, at-home mortuary care, arrange a ceremony and celebrant or Minister/Priest, arrange venues and catering, make the bookings for a cremation or burial, arrange for flowers, an urn, music and a memorial slideshow presentation for the service and of course, manage all the paperwork, including registering the death with Births Deaths and Marriages and having a Death Certificate issued, or, you may choose to simply have everything at home or another venue such as a beach-side park, local hall or community venue. You may choose to have a No-Service burial or cremation instead.
People choose to engage in community and home deathcare for a variety of reasons, including:
· Because they can, it’s their legitimate right
· To have time to slow down and create space for grieving
· To follow the wishes of the dying and grieving
· Access to more time, privacy, and/or hands-on engagement for a more meaningful experience and support for the grieving process.
Home-based Care and Home Funeral
Home-based care makes it possible for your loved one to remain in their own home for an extended period of up to five(5) days. Even if the deceased has died in a hospital or other facility, Tree of Life Funerals can bring them back to your home and provide a cooling system and daily care.
A home funeral allows you to celebrate and honour the deceased person’s life and mourn their loss for several days in the privacy of your own home. Choosing to care for your loved one in this way means they aren’t alone on their final journey, and your family and friends have the opportunity to say their final goodbyes in their own meaningful way.
The people from Tree of Life Funerals can provide at-home mortuary care and then dress and prepare the body of the deceased on your behalf or help you do this, it’s your choice.
Should there be a requirement to delay the funeral, Tree of Life Funerals can arrange to transfer the deceased to an approved Mortuary* for storage, as you’re legally allowed to keep a body at home for just 5 days.
However, the funeral can still be conducted in the manner you choose as Tree of Life Funerals can then transport the deceased in their coffin to the funeral service from the Mortuary*. This allows for more time for planning or allowing time for friends and family to come from overseas or interstate.
So these are your options! I hope you’ve found this information useful and for further information, please contact Tree of Life Funerals directly.
*External Mortuary fees and additional transport fees will apply.
