If your loved one has decided to be cremated, it is important to understand how the cremation process works and how it will impact the process of planning a funeral or a memorial service.

#1: Legal Authorization for the Cremation Has to Be Granted

Before your loved one can be cremated, someone has to legally authorize the cremation process. You just can't cremate someone without any authorization. If the deceased had a legal representative, that person can sign for the cremation.

After that, the responsibility falls to the surviving spouse, children, surviving parents, or surviving siblings. It has to be someone who is a legal representative of the deceased or their next of kin.

#2: Choosing a Cremation Facility

After you have the authorization for someone to be legally cremated, you need to find a cremation facility. You can use a standalone crematory to handle the cremation process, or you can work with a funeral home. The funeral home can prepare the body if you want to do a viewing before the cremation, or they can just get the body ready for cremation. The funeral home will prepare the body and then get the ashes ready for you.

#3: Plan for the Ashes' Storage

You need to have a plan for the ashes. If you don't, the ashes will be given to you in a plastic bag and box. You can purchase an urn to store the ashes in.

The urn doesn't have to be fancy or big; you just need a safe place to put your loved one's ashes. From there, you can further decide what you want to do with the ashes over time.

#4: Make a Long-Term Plan for the Ashes

Third, you are going to want to figure out a long-term plan for the ashes.

Do you want to store them in an urn and keep the urn at your home? Do you want to take the ashes and put the urn into a storage spot at a graveyard? Do you want to spread the ashes somewhere? Or do you want to turn the ashes into something special?

Having a long-term plan will help you know what to do with the ashes and what to tell people who ask.

#5: Plan a Memorial Service

Finally, you don't need a body to have a funeral or memorial service. Work with the funeral home to plan a service that will honor your loved one.

You are going to want to plan a service that will allow people to share their memories. You may want to share pictures and other items your loved one cared about in order to help honor your loved one's memory.

When it comes to planning a funeral for a loved one that wants to be cremated, you need to get authorization for the cremation and choose a facility to handle the cremation. Then, you need a plan for dealing with the ashes in both the short and long term. Then, you need to plan a memorial service that honor's their memory.

Contact a company that offers cremation services to learn more.

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