Your family has decided that cremation is the right way to honor your loved one's wishes and now you're faced with the task of finding a cremation provider in your area.
Most funeral homes offer cremation as part of their services, but few actually handle the process in-house.
So, when it comes time to select a cremation provider, which way do you go: In-house or outsourced through a funeral home? Using In-House Services Pros Avoid hidden fees.
Some funeral homes charge extra transport and outsourcing fees when they have to send a body to a third party crematory for cremation, but using an in-house cremation provider will eliminate those fees.
Have direct contact with the crematory.
You won't have to rely on the funeral home to pass your requests on to the crematory, you can speak directly to the management at the crematory if you choose in-house services.
Fewer channels of communication.
The more channels your requests have to go through before they reach the crematory, the higher the chance of the request getting disregarded or misinterpreted.
Working directly with a crematory reduces the channels of communication drastically.
Cons Less compassionate staff.
This may not always be the case, but staff at a crematory generally have less experience working directly with a grieving family, since a lot of their cremation requests come from third party funeral homes.
More paperwork.
When you work directly with a crematory as your cremation provider, you'll have to handle a lot of the paperwork that a funeral home would normally handle.
It can be confusing and frustrating to deal with during your time of grief.
Lack of other funeral planning services.
A crematory is just that.
They are a cremation provider and they usually won't offer help with planning the memorial service or scattering the cremains.
This can prove to be too much for someone in grief to handle all at once.
Using an Outsourced Third Party Option Pros Work with a professional.
A funeral director has specifically been trained to assist people in finding solutions during their time of need.
Access to ancillary information.
Funeral homes have lists of preferred florists, event centers and cremation providers if they do not already offer these services onsite.
They will be able to give you contact information for most of the aspects of the memorial service and everything surrounding it, including the cremation planning .
Proximity to home.
While there aren't many crematories in a given area, you are more likely to be able to find a funeral home right in your community.
They will know the regulations of the community and be more available for you to visit should the need arise.
Cons Higher cost of cremation.
Because the funeral home will add its costs for transporting the body and any other associated handling fees, the cost for cremation will likely be higher if you use a third party funeral home.
Lack of direct contact with the cremation provider.
While it may come as a relief to some that they don't have to deal directly with the crematory, there are others who would prefer to speak with the cremation provider directly and working through a funeral home may make it slightly more difficult to do so.