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Life File: Options for Body Disposition

One of the final pieces of your Life File, a set of guidelines stipulating your end-of-life and after-death wishes, is deciding what you want to happen with your body after you die.

If you’ve heard the adage, “funerals are for the living, not the dead,” you may be tempted to consider relinquishing control over what happens after your death to your descendants. After all, it is your loved ones who carry on after your death; it is them, as well as your friends and community, who may need an opportunity to grieve and remember you. They may even learn new things about you from others that will help them see you through the eyes of others.

Planning for the disposition of your body, however, affords you the opportunity not only to confront your mortality but also to help your loved ones avoid making painful decisions about what to do while they are grieving your death.

You may also wish to make these decisions jointly, with your loved ones, not necessarily for them. This way, you can prepare them for your eventual death and perhaps gain some peace of mind during a difficult time.

While we offer here general guidance and some state-specific examples, not every body disposition option will be available to you in your state. Each state has its own policies or laws regarding body disposition, so be mindful when making your decisions. We recommend familiarizing yourself with your state’s laws about body disposition. Your state’s funeral consumers alliance chapter or similar organization should offer the information you need.

Options for Body Disposition

Although new options are starting to gain momentum, there are two main options for the disposition of your body after you die in the United States: cremation or burial. A third, much less frequently used option, is donation for medical education or scientific research.

Your choice between these options will depend on a number of factors, two of the most common being:

  • Your personal values and beliefs – Your religion may not allow cremation; your environmental conscience may steer you toward greener options, etc.
  • Your budget – Cremation can be considerably less expensive than burial. There are many cost points within each option to consider as well.

Cremation

Cremation entails incinerating your body in a cremator (a type of furnace) and turning it into ashes. If you opt for cremation, there are a number of decisions you may need to take.

Body Delivery

You can have your body delivered to the crematory in two ways:

  • In direct cremation, it is the crematory itself that picks up your body and cremates it.
  • Alternatively, you can have a funeral home or a specialty (intermediary) service deliver your body to the crematory for you. Some funeral homes operate their own crematories, on premises or elsewhere. Confusingly, a funeral home may also offer “direct cremation,” meaning the business will act as intermediary, with associated costs, for your cremation and have your body cremated without a service.

Witnessing

Another set of decisions has to do with witnesses at your cremation. Some crematories allow your descendants to observe the incineration of your body (some even allow your loved ones to handle the equipment). Additionally, your family can opt to have a ceremony before your body gets cremated.

Containers

You have to select a container to be cremated in: a cardboard box or a wooden coffin. Some funeral home businesses will rent out a casket for the service and then transfer your body to a cremation container. You may also provide your own body container for incineration, so you may want to inquire about that.

Next, a container for your ashes needs to be chosen. You can pick or have your descendants pick a container, or you can purchase an urn.

Disposition of Ashes

Your final decision concerns the disposition of your ashes. You can have your body stored in a columbarium, a section of a cemetery for storing cinerary urns. This way, your loved ones can visit with you after you die. Depending on the cemetery, the cost of a columbarium rental can be considerable. Some may choose to store your cinerary urn at home.

An increasingly popular alternative is the scattering of ashes. You can request your ashes be scattered at a location (or multiple locations) of your choice. This can be a location you have a personal connection to, a sentimental or nostalgic place, or your favorite destination – it’s really up to you. It is a good idea to check your state’s applicable regulations for the disposition of ashes, as there may be places where this is prohibited, e.g., some waterways, or ways in which it is not permitted, e.g., from a kite on a beach.

Alternative, commercially available ways of disposing of your “cremains” include transforming them into diamonds, scattering them with memorial fireworks, or placing them in a tree-planting pod.

Cremation on the Rise

Cremation is an increasingly popular option for body disposition, growing from 5 percent of all burials in 1950 to over 50 percent in 2016. Cremation has surpassed burial as the most common body disposition option.

Aquamation

A non-incinerating variation of cremation is hydro-cremation. Also known as resomation, aquamation, or water cremation, the process entails alkaline hydrolysis, which uses chemicals and heat to dissolve your body into liquid. The resulting sterile liquid can then be stored in a container. Aquamation is not yet legal in every state. The process has a much lower carbon footprint than cremation or burial.

Burial

Until recently, burial was the predominant option for body disposition.

If you decide to be buried, you’ll have an even greater number of decisions to make. The first involves deciding between a direct or traditional burial.

Green Burial

Direct burial, also known as natural or green burial, uses no chemicals—your body does not get embalmed. Burial, therefore, takes place shortly after your death. There is typically no viewing or visitation, though a memorial service or ceremony may be held at the grave site or at a later date.

In direct burial, your body is buried in a simple wooden casket or shroud. Another environmentally friendly alternative is the mushroom suit, a special shroud embedded with mushroom spores that during their growth accelerate the decomposition of your body and toxins in it.

While direct burial is an environmentally friendlier—and hence called “green burial”—and more economical option compared to traditional burial, some cemeteries do not permit direct burial and you may need to be buried at dedicated conservation burial grounds or a “green cemetery.”

The state of Washington also recently started to allow human composting, which turns your body into soil your descendants can retrieve or you can donate to a conservation organization.

Traditional Burial

Traditional burial involves embalming and dressing, a viewing or visitation, a funeral service, transport to the cemetery, and a casket entombed into an outer, typically concrete, vault at a rented or purchased cemetery plot or crypt. Each step entails an additional set of choices you have to make, depending on your preferences or budget (traditional burial is the most expensive type of body disposition).

Cemetery Alternatives

A cemetery is not the only place where you can be buried. Alternatives include:

  • Burial at sea – Some organizations in coastal states provide this option, following stringent EPA regulations.
  • Private property burials – Some states allow you to be buried on private property, albeit with limitations in some municipalities and locations.
  • Family plots in ancient or disused cemeteries.

Body Donation

As a final option for body disposition, you can donate your body to medical schools for the training of future doctors or for scientific research. Check with the institution where you wish to donate your body, and have an alternative plan in case your donation is rejected or if the institution does not have a need for it when you die.

Other Considerations for Body Disposition

Consider the Cost

Cost can be a major factor when considering the disposition of your body.

As you research crematories, funeral homes, and cemeteries, always ask for a copy of their General Price List (GPL), an itemized list of all items and services on offer required by the Federal Trade Commission of all funeral providers. If you are given a list showing package prices, ask again for the individually itemized GPL.

Your state’s funeral consumer advocacy organization may assist you with this. An example is they may provide a GPL survey for your state (here is Maine’s as an example). Many of these organizations are also lobbying the federal government to require providers to publish their prices online. Until then, “buyer beware” applies.

Financial considerations may inspire you to establish a special savings account for your body disposition that your descendants can access after you die. This is a safer alternative to pre-paying for your burial or cremation, which comes with the potential of the provider going out of business before you die, or your death taking place in a location far from the provider with whom you pre-paid.

Have a Plan B

No matter how much you plan for your death and body disposition, chances are, you might die at an unexpected time or location, e.g., while traveling. As you prepare your Life File, consider stipulating your preferences in writing even before you make all the arrangements or accumulate savings, so that your loved ones have some idea of your preferences.

Religious Rites

Your faith or spiritual beliefs may guide how you think about the disposition of your body. Every religion follows its own practices, rituals, and rules when it comes to final disposition. These may require additional layers of planning, in terms of funerary options, rituals, and people who need to be involved in the process.

Additional Resources