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There are 4 of us left in the immediate family and retired. We in our 60's and parents in their late 80's. We have our family burial plots in the state of my Father and my brother. However, my Mother lives 3 states away and I do too. My husband will be buried in our state near his Mom.
With two of us living out of state, when we pass, we know our estate will be responsible for the cost to transport the casket.
With so many family members living in various states, surely this is not a rare event.
What options do we have to transport the deceased to the state of burial?
I've never heard of a funeral home offering to drive several hundred miles. I've never known of anyone using air transport, etc.
None of us want to be cremated. (That would seem to simplify the transportation of the deceased)
We're all retired and aging. The reality is that two of us will not conveniently pass away in the burial state. We're all very close, so we are all the estate, as far as that goes, so even though this will be an expense of the estate, it will still be shared by all, emotionally and financially.
Has anyone experienced this in your family, or known of such a difficult problem with a friend of yours and their loved ones, living in other states?
Ways to get the deceased to the burial state and the estimate costs.
Thanks you for sharing your thoughts or experiences.
It's not unusual at all. Basically you hire the services of two funeral homes--the state of death and the state of burial. The state of death does the certificate, etc. and then releases the body. The state of death funeral home then coordinates with the state of burial funeral home and they transport the body at a pretty high cost per mile. If it is a long distance the airlines will handle it--also pretty expensive. I've lined up several myself--a great aunt died in California and was flown back to Alabama. Weirdest one I ever did was send three Mexican Nationals who died in a house fire back to Mexico--had to go through the Mexican Consulate in New Orleans to get that lined up and the plane only flew once a week and would only carry two caskets per flight.
Not a difficult thing to arrange but it is expensive depending on the distance and, of course, the two funeral homes.
It's not unusual at all. Basically you hire the services of two funeral homes--the state of death and the state of burial. The state of death does the certificate, etc. and then releases the body. The state of death funeral home then coordinates with the state of burial funeral home and they transport the body at a pretty high cost per mile. If it is a long distance the airlines will handle it--also pretty expensive. I've lined up several myself--a great aunt died in California and was flown back to Alabama. Weirdest one I ever did was send three Mexican Nationals who died in a house fire back to Mexico--had to go through the Mexican Consulate in New Orleans to get that lined up and the plane only flew once a week and would only carry two caskets per flight.
Not a difficult thing to arrange but it is expensive depending on the distance and, of course, the two funeral homes.
Well, thank you for your reply.
It is more comforting now.
The distance would be about 300 miles one way.
Even $3.00 a mile which sounds high, would only be $1800 total.
A sizeable expense but it has to be a part of our planning.
Well, thank you for your reply.
It is more comforting now.
The distance would be about 300 miles one way.
Even $3.00 a mile which sounds high, would only be $1800 total.
A sizeable expense but it has to be a part of our planning.
I'd suggest you and everyone else in the family each go to a local funeral home and do pre-planning arrangements. Find a funeral home that has experience with shipping (and it IS very common).
Having this all in place ahead of time will not only give you peace of mind but will be the best gift you could ever give the rest of the family when that time comes.
(not to be cold about this, but there can also be a substantial savings if you pre-pay for some of the funeral home services. Be careful to read and fully understand the refund policies. You never are 100% sure it's gonna be THAT funeral home involved - life changes - you might have an unexpected relocation, death can occur while on vacation, etc.
...Not a difficult thing to arrange but it is expensive depending on the distance and, of course, the two funeral homes.
My mother died in Erie, PA and was buried in our hometown about 50 miles outside of Buffalo. The funeral home took care of making arrangements. I don't remember the cost, but it was nothing to fret about as the distance was not very great....I presume it was 150 miles or a bit more.
I seem to recall reading that this is a very common occurrence from Florida to Northeast. Alot of elderly that pass away in Florida still want to be buried in their NE hometowns. I think if you call a major airline like AA, and ask them what the charge is for transporting a casket, they should be able to give you an estimate.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suenjohn
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What options do we have to transport the deceased to the state of burial?
...
Has anyone experienced this in your family, or known of such a difficult problem with a friend of yours and their loved ones, living in other states?
Ways to get the deceased to the burial state and the estimate costs.
Take a 'road trip' with the deceased. (somewhat common also)
You get a FREE 'transit permit' from the person handling the 'post-death-body-prep'.
You load up the body / casket and hit the road.
I did a 2000+ mile trip w/ 'dad'. We went to all his favorite places (Yellowstone, Tetons, Devil's tower, Mt Rushmore, Wall drug, Corn Palace...)(very 'healing' process... LONG story...
Stopped in Afton, WY and fitted a 'composite' 'burial vault' (last year's model, very cheap, and much better (and lighter) than concrete.)
Got to destination (rural cemetary) rented a back hoe ($100), had a 'military flag ceremony' Dropped him in and backfilled and made some 'Improvements' to the cemetery while the backhoe was there (4hr minimum) (straightened stones, fixed flowerbeds, moved rubbish... built a fire pit)
He could have flown 2,000 miles for $300 (freight class) BUT the funeral home wanted $1,800 to pick him up, drive 40 miles and bury him. Destination State Law would not allow ME to pick up a corpse from Airport. BUT they had no authority over my 'transit permit'. (tho they (Attorney General) claimed they did).
Go for the road trip, I created a whole journal and we all had a blast!
There are lots of options, what state are you (or potential deceased) in?
Funeral Home Co-ops are a great benefit (~ $800 'turn-key')
The funeral home made all the arrangements for transport (ground transport to the airport, air transport, then ground transport to the cemetery) of my father's casket from Delaware to Illinois. Funeral homes do this all the time. If a funeral home cannot or will not provide all services and arrangements required, find one that does.
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