A “home funeral” is one that takes place in the homes of a deceased person’s family or close friends, rather than at a funeral home. It was traditional for the deceased person’s body to be washed and prepared at home, as well as for family and friends to attend the viewing, wake, and burial in the cemetery.
However, the number of home funerals has decreased significantly with the advent of funeral homes. The good news is that it hasn’t happened as often lately as it used to. When planning a funeral or ceremony at one’s own home, there is no right or wrong way to go about it. For each family, there is a unique ritual or practice that they follow, which is why it is hard to generalize.
There isn’t a single way to go about any of these tasks that are better or worse than another. Start things off on the right foot by honoring any requests you know your loved one’s relatives made before they died. In addition, cultural and religious traditions, as well as the family’s traditions, must be included.
Whether you choose to have your loved one cremated or buried once the body has been returned to the funeral home, the people closest to you will be there to comfort you. You may comfort one another by talking about your memories of the deceased and how you feel about their passing together. This allows the deceased’s family and friends the opportunity to say their last farewell and pay their final respects.
In this post, we’ll be sharing with you more about what is a home funeral and how it works so keep reading.
Can a Funeral Be Held at Home?
Yes, funerals can be held at home. In fact, a home funeral provides the chance for friends and loved ones alike to work together to create an afterlife experience that is both personalized and cost-effective. Those who have passed away are remembered in the place where they spent the most time with their loved ones.
Grief may be a long and painful process that is highly personal most of the time. When a loved one dies, the bereaved are allowed to spend more time with the deceased, which may offer them some comfort during this painful time. The following are some additional benefits of holding a funeral at one’s own home:
- Funerals that take place at the home of the person who passed are a more caring way to say goodbye to a loved one. Funerals in the deceased’s house promote healing and moving on. Before the body is transported, friends and family may come together for a few days to build a memorial, honor the deceased’s life, and express their sorrow.
- When the funeral is held in your home, you have more influence over the ceremonies. However, it is conceivable that a funeral director or other provider of services conducts a funeral or memorial service outside of the family’s home. A funeral or memorial service performed in the home of the deceased is likely to be more personalized than a service done elsewhere.
- When a loved one passes away, it may be difficult to decide where to keep the body and how to get it to the grave or crematory. A home funeral, on the other hand, is a good option if you want to be as involved as this or if you want to be in charge of preparing the body for burial. Both of these things are possible with a home funeral.
- It is more cost-effective to have a funeral in one’s own home. Choosing not to use the extra services that funeral homes provide as part of the package may save families tens of thousands of dollars on products and services that they may consider unnecessary.
- Friends and family members may get closer through the process of planning and executing a funeral at home. When a funeral is held at the home of the departed, it reinforces the circle of life. Bereaved family members may benefit from being a part of a deceased loved one’s daily routine, highlighting their achievements and the ambitions and dreams of their loved ones.
- People are better able to cope and move on after a funeral that is conducted at the deceased’s home. In a more relaxed setting, such as a funeral in one’s house, people feel more at ease talking about death and their mortality.
- The trend toward home funerals symbolizes a return to more natural and customary ways of meeting the needs of the departed. Families in North America used to prepare the bodies of their departed loved ones at home and have funerals there. This custom remained up to the turn of the twentieth century. Keeping the departed at home was a natural and accepted part of life’s cycle of death.
How Does a Home Funeral Work?
Once you decide to hold the funeral at your home, you can pick up the body from the hospital or morgue and bring it with you. You might be able to use a funeral home that will bring the casket to you instead of transporting it.
When you get to your home, you can start the process of dressing and washing the body. Put the body in a nice room where the dead person’s family and friends can come to pay their respects and spend some time together one last time. The body of a person who has died can be cared for at home for a few days before it is buried.
How Much Do Home Funerals Cost?
The National Funeral Directors Association did a study in 2021 that showed that the average cost of an adult funeral that included both viewing and burial was $7,848. Compared to the price in 2016, this is an increase of 6.6%. The average cost for an adult cremation is now $6,970, which is 11.3% higher than what it was in 2016. This price covers both the viewing and the cremation. To find out more about the cost of funeral and cremation services provided by a funeral home, check out this post.
One of the things that adds the most to the expenses of a funeral for an adult is the cost of the casket. The study found that the average cost of a metal casket for a funeral is $2,500, while the average cost of a wooden casket for burial is $3,000. A casket that can be used for a “green burial” costs about $1,500, while a casket that can be used for cremation costs about $1,310. Based on the results of the survey, the average cost to rent a coffin is $995. Additional cost to consider are:
What States Allow Home Funerals?
The laws governing the after-death care of the dead vary greatly from state to state. Family members or those selected by the dead person’s family are often allowed to act as funeral directors and keep their loved one’s corpse at home until it can be taken to a cemetery or crematory. A professional funeral director may be hired in certain situations by the family. “Home disposition,” as the term is often used, refers to something like this.
In Indiana, Connecticut, Michigan, Louisiana, Utah, New York, and Nebraska, it is currently against the law to perform a funeral at home without the help of a funeral director. Legislation of this kind has been introduced in several other states. A funeral director may be needed to get the necessary paperwork if a person dies in one of these places, for example.
Additionally, a funeral report may be required in certain areas in addition to a death certificate. While it is possible to have a funeral in the home of a friend or family member, the deceased’s body must be approved by a medical practitioner before it may be transported. Some states demand that you have both a burial permit and disposal permission before you may bury a deceased person.
As you get ready for a funeral that will take place in your house, keep the following things in mind: The laws that govern your state must be well-known to you. A few of these regulations seem to be at odds with one another and are difficult to ascertain exactly what they represent. Be ready to defend your choices if someone challenges you on them. Use the Home Funeral Directory to find a local home funeral specialist in your area!
Home funerals are a great and loving way to spend a few moments before saying your final farewell to a loved one. Healing and moving on takes time so you don’t need to rush it. Home funerals are there to help you have that closure and go through a little less painful recovery.
Always remember that when you decide to hold funerals in your home, make sure it’s worthwhile. Let your deceased loved one know that you’ll go on with life and that you’ll be happy even if they’re gone. That way, you’ll still have a beautiful and worth-remembering funeral at home.
