When a death occurs there is going to be a lot decisions that have to be made in a short period of time. The best way to get through this difficult time is to do everything you can to educate yourself and prepare ahead of time. If for whatever reason, you have not done so, here is a little information on what to expect.

Whether a death is sudden or expected, usually the first thing that happens is a phone call from the hospital or care center or a visit from the sheriff or police. At that time a decision needs to be made as to what mortuary your loved one is to be taken to.

After the mortuary removes a loved one from the place of death the first thing the mortuary will do is get a doctor to sign a death certificate.

If the deceased has no medical history, has not been seen by a physician in 20 days or dies because of an accident, the coroner is involved. 

Even if someone is registered with hospice, all home deaths are reportable to the coroner. That does not mean they will autopsy. It just means they make a report that a death occured somewhere other than a medical facility and oversee what the doctor puts on the certificate as the cause of death.

NOTHING can be done with the remains until the death certificate has been signed. Although the mortuary prepares the certificate, the doctor or Coroner is in control of how long it takes to complete the cause of death, sign the certificate, and return it to the mortuary so it can be filed with the Health Department.   It can take several days for a doctor to sign a death certificat.  The Coroners office in every county has different policies and time frame for their investigation. The Coroners office in San Luis Obispo county only performs autopsies on Wednesdays. If someone passes on a Wednesday the Autopsy will most likely be performed the following Wednesday.

It is EXTREMELY important that ALL arrangements be made through your funeral director. They will coordinate with the doctor, clergy, cemetery or crematory  and family so that all parties are on the same page.  Sometimes clergy or families arrange services without consulting the funeral director first and that could create a problem. For example, the doctor, or coroner may not sign the death certificate in a timely manner,  or the cemetery, mortuary or clergy may not be available at the timeof your request due to other commitment. This could cause services to be posponed and would certainly be an embarrasment to everyone. A funeral counselor will do everything possible to arrange services at the time a family requests, but unfortunatley sometimes its out of our control.

The first step the family needs to take is to decide what type of services they wish the funeral home to provide. Is the prefrence cremation? If so what is going to be done with the cremated remains? State law requires that they be either kept @ home, scattered @ sea ( 3 miles out cannot be scattered in a port, channel, stream, lake,or from a pier or dock). They are allowed to be scattered on land with certain requirements. They can also be placed in a cemetery or religous grounds, in accordance with state and local regulations. Will there be a memorial service or celebration of life?

If preference is traditional services with burial, will the services be at a church, chapel or graveside? Will there be a visitation or will the casket be open or closed? Will it be open for the family and closed for the public during the visitation? What cemetery will be used? Once the basics have been discussed it is time to make an appointment with the funeral home to make arrangements.

The reason we ask that you call for an appointment is that sometimes we have services or other pre scheduled appointments and our counselors may be assisting other families. If that happens, we may not be available to help you right away. Our families are very important to us and we would not want you to have to wait or come back because you did not have an appointment.  

Unless its requested when the body is removed, we usually do not contact the family immediately after a death occurs.  The reason is we prefer to allow the family time to inform all family members that a death has occured, and avoid the possibility that the person answering the phone, might not be aware that a death has occured. We do not want to be the bearer of that news. It also gives them time to collect themselves before being asked to answer questions, or  make any decisions.  

Whether your preference is cremation or burial, you will be asked to provide some information for the death certificate. The information is confidential and required by the state to obtain a permit for disposition. Again a death certificate must be filed with the state prior to cremation or burial.

If burial is your prefrence then at the arrangement appointment death certificate information will be discussed, a casket will be selected.  Federal Trade Commission rule allows the purchaser to provide their own casket, as long as it meets state, local, and cemetery requirements. The funeral home cannot charge a fee because you choose to provide your own casket but for your protection and ours, we WILL require that you be present to inspect the casket and accept delivery. We will not take possession until you accept and sign for the casket or assume any responsability what so ever prior to delivery to us by purchaser.

At the arrangement appointment, we will coordinate the funeral services with the family, clergy and cemetery , as well as explain the other merchandise and services available,  (some of which are listed on other pages of our website.)

Cemetery property is usually purchased seperately. If it is purchased ahead of time, they generally do not let you pay all of the charges when you purchase the grave or crypt. The reason they do not is if they let you pay for the opening and closing or vault when you purchase the grave, and you dont use it for years, then those costs would increase and they would lose money.

Payment

Most funeral and cemetery providers require payment up front either by cash, check credit card or assignable insurance policies.  The reason for this is a large amount of their fees are what is known as cash advanced items, and monies they pay for merchandise they have on consignment. Cash advance items are things such as death certificates, clergy honorarium transportation form another area, musicians, vaults, and other merchandise. Also if the responsible party resides out of state it is difficult to collect if payment is not made.

These are just a few of the steps in arranging services for a loved one. Please see the other pages of our site for answers to other questions and for links to other services and benefits available to our families.

For further information please call on one of our family counselors at        805-544-7400 or k-reis@sbcglobal.net