of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties
PLANNING:
Necessary activities
There are only four basic necessities for death care:
Regulatory paperwork. In California, this consists of a death certificate and a disposition permit, and if you want to be cremated, a Declaration for Disposition of Cremated Remains.
Handling and transportation of the body. This involves moving the body from the place of death to the place of final disposition. It may include temporary storage. Handling and transportation may be done by a mortuary (funeral home) or it may be done by the family. A disposition permit is required to deliver the body to a cemetery or crematory.
Disposition of the body, either by burial, cremation or body-donation to a qualified institution for research. For veterans, the Navy provides a Burial at Sea program
Paying for all of the above. There are fees associated to the regulatory paperwork. You must pay the funeral director or home funeral consultant for their services to you. You must pay for cremation or for a cemetery plot. If the Cororner is involved, you may have to pay for body bags, removal (transportation) fees and per-day storage charges. You may have to pay for transportation to the research institute where the body is donated. Here is a link with some information for obtaining assistance to help pay for some of these expenses.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Optional Activities
Other than the above, everything else is optional. This may include:
- Autopsy: autopsies may be required depending on the circumstances of death and the ruling of the coroner. Families can also request autopsies. Autopsies may be avoided if a Certificate of Religious Belief is prepared in advance, as authorized by California Government Code 27491.43 (scroll down to see section section .43).
- Funerals, memorial services
- Graveside services
- Obituaries
- Hearses, corteges, pall bearers
- Flowers, music
- Caskets, coffins, urns for ashes. Note that coffins or burial/cremation containers may be required by the cemetery or crematory, but are not a legal requirement in California.
- Dispostion of ashes
TM
Our work on your behalf is aided by your donations.
