Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Neptune Society is a national cremation society with prepayment plans providing services across the country. In certain areas they are called Trident Society. If you're interested in the plans and don't live near an office - they will come to you.
Then you ask about a transportation clause.
As I posted in another thread ...
$2,166.53 with the transportation clause.
No matter where I stop breathing, they take care of everything and ship the box to who I named.
I have no affiliation with Neptune or Trident.
Three or four months ago, I too signed up with Neptune and paid the full cost. I am divorced with no kids, only one sibling who lives 2000 miles away. My mother's family is buried mostly in one cemetery in a place I haven't lived for over 45 years; my father's family is buried mostly in another cemetery about 50 miles from there, but my father is buried 1500 miles from there.
Ergo, no particular place makes sense for me to want to be buried. Ergo again, cremation and shipping the ashes to my only sibling, a sister who is younger than I, makes sense to me. Decisions made, bill paid, easier for her. If she does not survive me, I can have Neptune scatter the ashes at sea for no extra cost.
I do not understand why people want more than a simple cremation. With cremation, I do not understand why people want a burial, a burial plot for the ashes, and a burial service.
Some married couples want the symbolism of their cremation ashes being buried side by side in burial plots in a cemetery. But if no relatives live in their hometown and will never visit the plots, what difference does it make?
Actually I believe that when you're dead, you are dead, and none of it really matters. Ashes can be kept at someone's home or distributed in nature.
It's funny how people get rather narcissistically wrapped up in what will happen to their ashes or body after death, and want something elaborate or special. Since they will not have consciousness, they certainly will not know if anyone is thinking of them or purchasing something elaborate and expensive.
I can understand religious people wanting a mass or church service because it is part of their belief system, and some wanting a wake for people to pay respects to relatives left behind and to the deceased person.
But I really think the very least expensive way should be chosen, and I agree that the whole funeral industry is an enormous rip-off..
I do not understand why people want more than a simple cremation. With cremation, I do not understand why people want a burial, a burial plot for the ashes, and a burial service.
Some married couples want the symbolism of their cremation ashes being buried side by side in burial plots in a cemetery. But if no relatives live in their hometown and will never visit the plots, what difference does it make?
Actually I believe that when you're dead, you are dead, and none of it really matters. Ashes can be kept at someone's home or distributed in nature.
It's funny how people get rather narcissistically wrapped up in what will happen to their ashes or body after death, and want something elaborate or special. Since they will not have consciousness, they certainly will not know if anyone is thinking of them or purchasing something elaborate and expensive.
I can understand religious people wanting a mass or church service because it is part of their belief system, and some wanting a wake for people to pay respects to relatives left behind and to the deceased person.
But I really think the very least expensive way should be chosen, and I agree that the whole funeral industry is an enormous rip-off..
Well said. I think buying a burial plot for ashes is rather pointless and ironic (ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and imo that means scattered). The funeral industry fans consumer sentimentality. That's why it's such a giant.
Three or four months ago, I too signed up with Neptune and paid the full cost. I am divorced with no kids, only one sibling who lives 2000 miles away. My mother's family is buried mostly in one cemetery in a place I haven't lived for over 45 years; my father's family is buried mostly in another cemetery about 50 miles from there, but my father is buried 1500 miles from there.
Ergo, no particular place makes sense for me to want to be buried. Ergo again, cremation and shipping the ashes to my only sibling, a sister who is younger than I, makes sense to me. Decisions made, bill paid, easier for her. If she does not survive me, I can have Neptune scatter the ashes at sea for no extra cost.
How does one know whether a service such as Neptune is reputable? Who checks up on their actual practices? If you live in a location that is not a base for Neptune, where are they conducting the cremation?
How does one know whether a service such as Neptune is reputable? Who checks up on their actual practices? If you live in a location that is not a base for Neptune, where are they conducting the cremation?
Neptune has been around a long time, and I assume it is reputable, but I don't know exactly how to know that. Close relatives of the deceased would know, of course, as they would "check up" on actual practices.
Neptune contracts with local crematories, I would assume, as well as local mortuaries to pick up bodies. It would be cheaper for them to ship ashes across the country than to ship bodies across the country.
" As funeral agents are required by law to place 75% of the sale of the service element of a cremation plan into trust, inflating as much of the total sale cost to be merchandise, reduces the actual amount Neptune must place into trust. i.e. all those items that are logged as merchandise – booklets, cremation containers, urns etc produce revenue for the Neptune Society that does not go into a trust."
In Florida, you can bypass the funeral home and deal directly with a crematory.
That's what I did when my father passed away in April of 2012. They picked up his body from the assisted living facility where he died, cremated him, put his ashes in a TSA-friendly plastic box (he had previously bought burial plots and a tombstone in their home state, so I had to fly his ashes there for a graveside service and burial - he wanted to be cremated and buried but made me promise there would be no viewing), and put that into a cardboard box with a certificate of cremation. I ordered 15 death certificates (and I needed every one - he had many accounts at many banks) and they didn't charge any more than what the county charges for the certificates.
The crematory fee was $795, and with the death certificates and medical examiner's fee, the total cost was $970.
My father was a cheap sumbeach, so I'm sure he would have been proud that I got it done so inexpensively!
Hospice provided a list of funeral homes and crematories, so I was able to do the research and have a plan in place ahead of time. I chose a local family-run business rather than the ones that offered "packages" (as if you were planning a vacation - that creeped me out).
My mother-in-law passed away recently. Being out of state, my husband had no say in the arrangements. His siblings went the whole nine yards with the casket, viewing, service at the funeral home, mass at the church, burial. After it was all arranged, my husband finds out via text from a family member that his mother died with no savings and the siblings who made the arrangements had no money to pay for it either. I'm pretty sure it was a hint for us to pay, but I told him that he who has no say in the arrangements will not be paying for them!
I do not understand why people want more than a simple cremation. With cremation, I do not understand why people want a burial, a burial plot for the ashes, and a burial service.
Some married couples want the symbolism of their cremation ashes being buried side by side in burial plots in a cemetery. But if no relatives live in their hometown and will never visit the plots, what difference does it make?
Actually I believe that when you're dead, you are dead, and none of it really matters. Ashes can be kept at someone's home or distributed in nature.
It's funny how people get rather narcissistically wrapped up in what will happen to their ashes or body after death, and want something elaborate or special. Since they will not have consciousness, they certainly will not know if anyone is thinking of them or purchasing something elaborate and expensive.
I can understand religious people wanting a mass or church service because it is part of their belief system, and some wanting a wake for people to pay respects to relatives left behind and to the deceased person.
But I really think the very least expensive way should be chosen, and I agree that the whole funeral industry is an enormous rip-off..
I suppose I used to feel this way.
However, its not a "rip off" to have to pay someone to come and pick up a body. In fact, its rather unpleasant work that requires skill and the way it is done has health implications both for the people who do it and the people residing in the place where the body is collected. The cost of having skilled people come and do this is probably more than any of us want to admit.
Funeral services? I don't really want one and, I too wish, wish for simple inexpensive cremation. However, it doesn't change the fact that many families still do want traditional services which would include embalming, casketing, viewing, transportation to a cemetery, burial, etc. The funeral home has to be able to provide these services to those who want them and doing so requires more expertise than most people realize. The funeral home has to charge to recover its costs providing such services and they aren't cheap.
I'm noticing that there are "discount mortuaries" appearing and offering services as well.
Many funeral directors believe that their profession peaked in about 1980. After that time, the public gradually has become less interested in grandiose funerals and more families are opting for cremation. My own observations confirm that view. I drive by a local funeral home often and I seem to observe less activity there all the time. Fewer people are choosing big funerals.
It may be a "rip off" in some ways, but a portion of what funeral directors do is absolutely vital to the community. As I've gotten older, I've developed more respect for those in this occupation.
I would Google low cost cremation services for your area. There are often companies that are created by this very need. They perform cremation services without all the "package" items. Funeral homes often tack on all kinds of extra costs that they claim are necessary "to comply with regulations". Who, in their time of grief, is going to question these guys and take the time to research what the regulations really are? I have had the misfortune to have to plan 3 cremations and funerals and we paid no more than $5000-6000 for the most expensive of the 3, including interment in a niche. It can be done more cheaply if you don't let the funeral home shame you into paying for a bunch of unnecessary BS. We started the conversation at the funeral home by stating upfront that we didn't have a lot of funds and that this came unexpectedly and was going to have to be done at as low a cost as possible. (They don't really know if this is true or not.) This gets the dollar signs out of the funeral directors eyes and limits the amount of "shaming" you into higher end caskets, etc.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In FL, you don't have to use a funeral home
I'm pretty sure it was a hint for us to pay, but I told him that he who has no say in the arrangements will not be paying for them!
