A Home Funeral is green, and it’s legal.
A hundred years ago home funerals, like home births, were the norm. Slowly the care of our loved ones was turned over to professionals and we forgot how to care for our own. Now there is a remembering of the sanctity of this final act of love, and more and more families are seeking to have a home funeral.
This site shares information and personal stories of others who have held home funerals so you can see more completely how they are arranged.
For resources on how to do your own home funeral, click on the link in the menu bar, or visit HomeFuneralDirectory.com.
Legal
Home funerals are legal in all but five states. In Texas, for example, embalming is not required, nor does it take a licensed mortician to transport a body. A casket for burial is also not required by law. A family can choose to do only part of the after-death care, and purchase the services of a funeral home to do other parts. The Funeral Consumer Alliance can help you determine what is legal in your state. And now there are many Home Funeral Guides in different states that can offer assistance to families.
Costs
Home funerals are more economically reasonable. The average cost of a funeral, as of July 2004, is $6,500, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. That does not include cemetery costs. In contrast a dignified and loving home funeral can easily be held for less than $1000.
Usually families that choose home funerals prefer personalization over commercialized funeral practices. Like home births and home schooling, home funerals offer people a measure of control and allow you to go at your own pace.
Environmental Considerations
Because the body is not embalmed (using formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol and other solvents), it has far less impact on the environment. And it does not put other people at risk since the long-term impact of working with embalming fluids by mortuary workers is unknown.
Personalization
Home funerals can provide more meaningful end-of-life rituals and this helps the families take the time they need to grieve in a familiar environment. In the comfort of their own home, family members experience less fear of death and they are free to mourn in their own way. This more natural pacing deeply honors the deceased and the experience. Additionally, being physically involved in the process helps in grieving. It gives more closure to the loss of a loved one. And it’s a relief to many people because they can “do something” rather than sitting idly by waiting for a funeral home to take care of arrangements. Sometimes a loved one may request that they want their final arrangements to be at the hands of people they trust and love rather than be taken care of by strangers. The funeral choices that people make influence attitudes toward death for literally generations to come.