- Jan 12, 2012
- 27,286
- 113
Interesting that they would have already embalmed her without papers signed. That said, they will still expect paid for embalming even in the event of cremation largely cancelling the savings at this point, unless they legally can't hold the family to paying for a service they didn't sign for/authorize. Assuming that the family is on the hook for the embalming, from there you are looking at, provided the right cemetery is chosen, a few hundred dollars for a plot (ranging up to the price of a lot to build a house if you go to the wrong cemetery), a few hundred for grave diggers, whatever the cost of the apparatus used on site, and a marker, which the little sign with the slide-in letters will suffice until such a time that funds are available for a more permanent marker. One of the biggest variables is the casket. One option is renting a nice casket for the funeral service and transferring to the, well, economy model for burial. Careful use of these options should keep the tab under $5K unless the funeral director is being a real dick.