Funeral homes provide valuable burial and funeral services for many people. They are also known as "funeral parlors" or "mortuaries." The services which they may provide include preparing and holding a wake as well as the actual funeral or cremation. They offer many of these services themselves, but may also serve as a means of making arrangements with other businesses.
It is very common for family members to choose a mortuary based on its proximity to their residence. However, in many areas, it is possible to perform all portions of the funeral at home.
However, there are seven states which require the involvement of a funeral parlor for at home services. These states are Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, and
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When it comes to cremation or interment, those wishing to break the law will likely not involve a mortuary anyway.
Also, the involvement of funeral homes does not guarantee that a body will be handled correctly. In fact, just as there are the occasional horror stories of a family hiding a death through illegal burial or cremation, there have also been stories of mishandling on the part of a funeral parlor. For instance, in the year 2006 the body of Erwin Jordan was lost by the Notier-Ver Lee-Langeland Funeral Home. It ended up being taken to a landfill with the garbage of Notier-Ver Lee-Langeland and was never recovered.
The Funeral Consumers Alliance is a non-profit group of organizations dedicated to providing the right of consumers to dignified, affordable, and meaningful funeral services. Their arguments against these laws requiring mortician involvement highlight the fact that many families provide at home care for their living elderly or disabled relatives. In this light, it does not make sense that care with matters involving deceased relatives should be a source of