Coping with Chronic Health Conditions: Tips

Three Steps to Making Easier Funeral Arrangements While in the Hospital

5 June 2017 by Freddie Cox

If you have a loved one who is in the hospital and may not make it much longer, you may want to get the ball rolling with funeral arrangements. While they are sick, you may be in a better state of mind than when you are grieving a new loss. The hospital is also a good place to get some help with making arrangements for a funeral. Here are three quick steps that you can take to make arrangements for a funeral while your loved one is nearing their last moments. 

Figure out who has power of attorney

The person who has power of attorney or the immediate next of kin will need to make arrangements while the loved one is in the hospital. This includes determining what types of treatments to continue on with and when to remove any life sustaining equipment, if necessary. Figure out who has power of attorney or who is the legal next of kin in order to make decisions. Ask the next of kin/power or attorney holder if you can have the funeral arrangements passed on to you for the time being. 

Talk to the nurses about funeral homes

If the hospital does not have an office that handles funeral arrangements, you can ask nurses in the intensive care units about funeral homes that are connected with the hospital. Hospitals have relationships with funeral homes in the city to arrange for remains to be taken to the hospital. If you have a funeral home that you prefer or if you want to select the funeral home for your relative, you should get information from the nurses. Once you have information for all of the funeral homes in the area, you can make calls for the arrangements and removal of the body. 

Ask about packages

If your family will be paying for the funeral out of pocket or if no one will be in good enough condition to go over the details, you can request a funeral package. Some funeral homes will have packages that include a casket, flowers, and transportation from the funeral home to the burial site for the immediate family. Ask about the packages that the funeral home has available, and then speak with the power of attorney to select an affordable package. If the entire task has fallen in your hands, go through your loved ones final testament to determine if they want any particular type of service and select the package that works for the family budget and your loved one's memory. 

For more information and guidance during this difficult time, reach out to funeral homes like O'Halloran & Murphy Funeral & Cremation Services.

Share

Search