Meeting with a Funeral Director
- Wesley VanMeter
- Aug 31, 2015
- 2 min read
After a death has occurred, a time will be set to meet with the funeral director. He or she will be asking a series of questions so that they can gather information from you about the deceased.
This information will be used to draft a death certificate, write obituaries, and put together a meaningful memorial or funeral service.
What to bring to the arrangement conference:
Clothing - if you have the clothing available it is a good idea to go ahead and bring it at this time, it will help the funeral home to be able to get your loved one ready quicker, especially if the funeral service is scheduled for a day or two after the conference.
Jewelry - Although I don't recommend placing expensive jewelry on the deceased, if you plan on burying your loved one with jewelry on, bring it to the arrangement conference including items like glasses. Make sure and let your funeral director know if you want any of the jewelry left on or taken off prior to burial, because once someone is buried, it takes a disinterment permit and a significant cost to get it back.
Insurance policies - if you are planning on paying for the funeral or cremation with an insurance policy, bring it with you to the conference. The funeral director will call and verify the policy information and ask the insurance company for the necessary claim paperwork to be faxed, emailed or mailed.
Veterans' Discharge Papers - If your loved one is a veteran, bring his or her discharge papers from the military. The discharge paper is usually on form DD214. This will help the funeral home to obtain military honors, order military headstone, apply for veterans burial benefits, and help with the information gathering process for paperwork.
Pictures - Pictures are used in memorial videos, in obituaries, and of recent even in the memorial books, and other customized funeral products. It is very important to bring the pictures all at once. (ask your funeral director how many pictures are allowed on the memorial video).
Other documents - sometimes there may be riff in a family and questions are raised as to who the next of kin is. Therefore any pertinent papers that will help determine who the next of kin is, bring them. (ie: Marriage license, divorce degree, birth certificate, etc.).
Don't sweat it if you forget something, the funeral director will usually write down a list of items for you to bring back.
There may be other items that you would like to place in the casket with your loved ones such as letters, notes, stuffed animals, pictures, etc. You can either place these in the casket during visitation time or give it to your funeral director and they can place the items for you.
If "mom" wore a certain shade of lipstick, be sure and bring hers, this will help the funeral director make her look as natural to you as possible.
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