Death Away from Home

Death in the U.S.
Even if you believe your traveling companion is already dead, it is a good idea to call 911 or the operator. Or ask the management of the place where you are staying or dining to call emergency personnel. An unexpected death will likely mean the involvement of a medical examiner or coroner to investigate the cause of death. Consequently, this may delay for several days any arrangements for body disposition, time you may appreciate.

Once death has been pronounced, you will need to notify close relatives, even if the hour is late when you call. Studies show that most will feel left-out if they are not told right away, so don't feel you have to wait until morning unless there are special circumstances. Those calls - including calls to clergy - may provide needed support for you, too. Be sure to give a phone number where you can be reached later.

Unless there is a reason to have services with the body present in the area where death occurred (a summer cottage, perhaps, where there are established friends), you will usually save money by working through the home-town funeral director if the body is to be shipped back home. Check Death in One State, Burial in Another.

If cremation is the chosen method of disposition - without any services prior to cremation - there are several ways to locate an affordable company right there. As a member of one of the FCA affiliates, the deceased would be entitled to the discount offered to local members. Call the local affiliate to see what services are available.

If you have trouble locating the emergency or provider number or you're in an area where there is no society, check with the FCA office. Although the phone is not always staffed after business hours Eastcoast time, it is answered much of the time anyway, and voice-mail is checked regularly. We do have the names of low-cost providers in some non-affiliate areas who are happy to work with our members.
Medical Emergencies Outside the U.S.

You can obtain a free directory and medical card for English-speaking physicians worldwide by sending a request to IAMAT, 417 Center St., Lewiston, NY 14092; phone 716-754-4883. They list only doctors who meet U.S. and Canadian standards. This is a nonprofit organization; a donation of $10 is suggested. U.S. Embassies and Consulates also maintain lists of medical personnel. If you are a Medicare beneficiary and are traveling outside the United States and its territories (including Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands), and need medical services, you should be aware of the following: Generally, Medicare does not pay for hospital or medical services outside the United States. For specific information regarding exceptions, call your Medicare office before planning your trip.

You may want to buy special short-term insurance for foreign travel. If you have other health insurance in addition to Medicare, check to see if healthcare in a foreign country is covered. Medicare will pay for care in qualified Canadian or Mexican hospitals if you are in the U.S. when an emergency occurs (or traveling between Alaska and another state) and a Canadian or Mexican hospital is closer to or substantially more accessible than the nearest U.S. hospital.

Death Outside the U.S.
When a U.S. citizen dies abroad, making arrangements for disposition can become very involved and expensive. The Department of State makes several suggestions:

1. Call the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate before calling the family. A cablegram is sent from the overseas post directly to the next-of-kin with official notification of the death and an outline of options available, along with costs.
2. Be certain that the name of a person to be contacted in the event of an emergency is included in your passport.
3. Your preference for body disposition should also be attached to your passport.
4. If needed, money should be wired to the Department of State which will then wire it on to the Embassy; there is a $20 processing fee. Working through the banks takes too long. The Department of State can be reached at 202-647-5225 or 202-647-4000 after 10 p.m. est. Website: http://travel.state.gov/money.html Decisions for disposition must be made immediately and the information relayed to the Embassy. This can be done directly by the family or through the Citizens Emergency Center in the Department of State. The Overseas Citizens Services operates on a 24-hour basis and may be reached at 202-647-5226. There are no U.S. Government funds appropriated for the repatriation of a deceased U.S. citizen.

Options for Foreign Body Disposition
Local Burial. Although usually the least expensive option in some places, a few countries do not allow the burial of foreigners. The Consular Officer will be able to tell you.

Cremation. This option is available in most countries, although it may be prohibited in predominantly Catholic or Moslem countries. (It is now being done more often in Italy because of the limited cemetery space.) Some countries have only one crematory, causing greater cost and delay in returning the cremated remains.

Body donation. There is an urgent need of body donors in many countries. The Consular Officer should be able to assist with arrangements.

Return of an embalmed body to the U.S. Preparation and shipment are according to local laws, regulations, and customs. Embalming is not widely practiced in most foreign countries. There are other methods of preparation for shipment, but they will preclude viewing. (The body may be wrapped in a chemically-saturated shroud.) Charges for these services are high and vary widely from one location to another. After receipt of the necessary funds, there may be a 3 10-day interval until actual shipment. You will need to notify your funeral director in the U.S. who can assist with arrangements. Website: http://travel.state.gov/deathrep.html

IFFCAN The International Federation of Funeral Consumer Associations Nonprofit is an informal ad hoc group connected by the internet that aims to help those who are traveling in another country. It was started after a funeral consumer group began in France and contacted the FCA office. There is a beginning interest in several other European countries, too. If you will be traveling in France, check this link to the French organization to get contact information before you leave: Association Francaise d'Information Funeraire.

Bereavement Airfares
Bereavement airfares are available for both domestic and international travel. They are NOT always the least expensive seats, however. Check for the lowest available fares before asking if there are bereavement seats available. Only certain classes of seats are marked for the bereavement discount. http://www.funerals.org/personal/twostate.htm

Death in One State
Burial in Another
How to Avoid Double Billing

In our mobile society, death arrangements often cross state lines. Even though the shipping of cremated remains is far less expensive than body-shipping, cremation is not an option for many families. What are the ways to cut costs when two funeral homes are likely to be involved?

In the case of an anticipated death, visitation in the community of death may not be necessary-the family may have already said its "good-byes." In fact, if all observances can be saved for the state of final disposition, the expenses will be considerably less.
If the body has not yet been picked up-from the hospital or nursing home, for example-the family probably should not call a local mortuary. Instead, the family should call a receiving mortuary in the other state or location. The family should ask that mortuary to use a body shipping service such as Inman Nationwide Shipping (1- 800-321-0566 - this number is for undertakers only; the company will not talk with consumers). The charge for picking up a body, getting permits and the death certificate, embalming, and delivery to the airport is about $695. There may be an additional mileage charge if the Inman agent in your area must travel any great distance. By comparison, the charge for this service is likely to be anywhere from $750 to $2,000+ when approaching a local funeral home directly, although a few small funeral homes may have prices as low as Inman's for "Forwarding Remains." Funeral homes serving as an Inman agent probably do so simply because they aren't busy enough, in spite of the low reimbursement. No doubt they hope the local family will remember which funeral home came to call.

(Inman can also arrange for a simple cremation. If there is no Alliance affiliate in the area where the death occurred, you still might check with the FCA office. Sometimes we have be able to locate a low-cost provider or the low-cost provider has come to us. If we have not been able to locate an affordable cremation service, then the receiving funeral home could check with Inman. Funeral homes that post prices to the public of $1,895 for a cremation may be an agent for Inman and agree to do it for only $635-if the call comes through another mortician via Inman.)

If the body has already been taken to a funeral home, the family should inquire about the price for "Forwarding Remains," one of the sixteen FTC- required options that must be offered. This will usually include pick-up of the body, the basic service fee, embalming, and possibly a shipping container as well as transportation to the nearest airport (what it covers must be listed on the General Price List). Ironically, this price is often much less than the individual items priced separately! However, if a family doesn't know enough to ask for the price of this option, the mortician is likely to crank up the bill by charging a la carte. One woman would have saved almost $2,000 if she had only known.

There are two kinds of Airtrays or shipping containers: one carries just the body, the other covers and protects a casket. Sometimes this is not included, so it is helpful to know what is reasonable. The wholesale cost of the first one (somewhat more rugged) is $68; the wholesale cost for the other is $49. If the funeral home is going to charge more than $100-150, a family might ask if there is a used one that can be recycled for a reduced cost. Most funeral homes have a few in the garage, and it doesn't hurt to ask-although it's probably what the funeral home would use anyway.

(If there are no services on the sending end, the funeral industry etiquette says the receiving funeral director should get the casket sale. This is NOT always honored OR appropriate. One woman was told she'd have to discard the casket her son had been buried in in another state, buy a special shipping container, and THEN buy a new casket when his body arrived at the receiving funeral home in Maryland.)

In most areas, it is legal for a family to transport the body. Even if the family were to rent a van, it might be considerably less expensive than airfare, and such a journey may have some very therapeutic value. Most airlines, however, do offer a bereavement rate at a deep discount for people flying to a funeral.

Even if the person you are helping is not a member of one of our nonprofit consumer groups, look up the phone number of the affiliate in the other state to find a receiving mortuary. That sort of help builds good-will. The cooperating mortician in Vermont called the FCA office for contact information when shipping a nonmember to New Jersey. He saved the family hundreds of dollars as a result, and that certainly rewards the cooperating mortician on the other end.

Unless there is a need to have visitation and a full funeral service in the state of burial, the family should ask the receiving mortuary for the price of "Receiving Remains"- another one of the FTC-required options. This usually includes picking up the body at the airport, filing permits, and transportation to the cemetery; it might be as low as $450. Cemetery charges will be extra. After getting a price for "Receiving Remains," the family may wish to ask the cost of a "Graveside Service" (usually about $250) if relatives and friends will want to be in attendance. Both of these options should be considerably less than the a la carte prices that would be charged otherwise.

In selecting a casket through either funeral home, the family may want to specifically avoid a "sealer." An affordable casket would be a 20-gauge non-gasketed steel casket or a cloth covered wood or fiberboard casket. Or the family may wish to check the internet for casket artisans and retailers that can ship overnight to any destination. Cloth covered caskets run about $300 plus $200 or so for shipping; they come in pink, blue, taupe, and gray. A 20-gauge steel starts at about $495 plus a similar shipping charge.

The family should plan to handle the obituary without the help of the funeral director. It is also a good idea to call the cemetery directly to check on prices for opening and closing the grave and whether or not the cemetery sells the grave-liner it will probably require. It may cost less through the cemetery. There is no advantage in purchasing an expensive or sealed vault.

Weboliography:

All Information taken from:

Death Away from Home http://www.funerals.org/faq/away.htm