Which Topic Should This Question Be Asked?

[Stargazer]

I want to fin d out the cheapest way ones body can be disposed of after death
to save my family being charged extortionate costs to go through a lot of palaver?

[ladyalex]

Donate it to medical science?

[Cloverjo]

I suppose the cheapest way would be cremation and no service, no cars and no wake or flowers. Are you sure your family wouldn't want something more to send you off?

[jourdain2]

I believe you can have an 'eco' burial and you should be able to find sites for info.. Bamboo coffins save forests etc. and are cheaper. A dear friend expressed a wish for this - which took place. His was a Humanist funeral.

[hc4361]

You can bury a body in your own back garden or on anyone's land with their permission. Very easy to do.

Alternatively you can buy a cardboard coffin from eBay, book a time at the crematorium and take it in the back of an estate car or any vehicle that it will fit in. In most cases there is no need for a body to be embalmed or whatever the fancy term funeral directors choose to use.

You don't have to have a service. The crematorium will be happy to dispose of the body without one.

Most funeral directors will provide a 'direct to crem' service. They collect the body, put it in a suitable coffin (cheapest possible) and take it to the crematorium either in the private 'ambulance' (van) or in the space under another coffin in the hearse. It is delivered to the 'back door' of the crematorium and disposed of without service.

[hc4361]

In my experience eco / green burials with wicker coffins are more expensive than a traditional burial or cremation

[jno]

some facts and discussion here

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/28/funeral-die-low-cost-options

[Stargazer]

Cloverjo, thanks for your suggestion as that is what I plan but what do you do with the dead body between the time of death and when the Crematorium has a slot. Do you need a coffin (card board?) and how and where does one store (and transport) it meanwhile? I am serious.
Lady Alex I have thought of that but my niece is a doctor and was shocked at the treatment of the bodies that were used in Medical School. I think mine would be rejected anyway being in less that optimum condition to be
used by medical students. I will not be there anyway to see or care what happens to a carcas. I am letting all those concerned know beforehand not to have a song and dance as I believe the soul leaves the body at one's last breath and what is left is just a shell.

[daveygh]

i'm guessing flushing down the toilet like my dead goldfish isn't an option :-D

[EDDIE51]

You can leave your body to be used for medical students to practice surgery techniques on. If you do this it costs you/your family nothing and the medical school will collect the body and do all the paper work.
Other than this it is 100% legal to put the body in a body bag and have it delivered direct to the back door of a crematorium and put straight into the furnace with no ceremony at all.
This should cost around £400. You have to pay for the death certificate and the clearance for cremation , approx £85. Then the body bag from £20 on eBay ,transport to the crem, this can be the back of a van or estate car it DOES NOT have to be a hearse , cost free or what ever it costs say £20?
The main cost is the cremation fee of around £300.
Get someone on benefit or pension to apply for a funer

[Elina]

That was interesting reading Jno. Thanks !

[EDDIE51]

^^ Sorry hit submit by mistake
Get a friend or family member who is on pension or benefit to apply for a funeral grant ,£1200, and there will be over £700 left for an all day *** up at your 'local' in memory! Of course you have to make sure there is no money in your 'estate ' so the funeral grant does not to be repaid.

[Stargazer]

Davey, this is not effective as Dennis Nilson found out when he tried to flush bits of body's down the loo. He is in prison now so that is not an option.
Seriously though I do want to investigate this as it seems to be an absolute rip off using a Funeral Director. Why pay for a polished and carved wooden coffin only for it to be cremated in minutes?

[EDDIE51]

A coffin is NOT needed, a shroud or body bag is perfectly legal and MUCH cheaper! Body bags are leak proof so you can keep the body in one for a day or two. You should be able to get straight into a crematorium if you just want the body delivered to the back door and into the furnace. It is the ceremony that takes the time and causes the waiting list . For a 'straight to furnace' job they can just slip you in between ceremonies.

[Hopkirk]

A funeral isn't really for the dead.

It is part of the grieving process for those still living.

While I understand your desire not to leave them with expense, you should also consider their emotional wellbeing.

[woofgang]

you don't have to pay for a carved coffin. The funeral directors I went to firmly steered me to their cremation range for just this reason. Many funeral chains will offer a prepaid deal, you can choose whatever you want, their cheapest option, pay for it now and you are guaranteed to get that service when you die with nothing extra to pay. If you family want or need extras, these can be added and paid for at the time of the funeral.

[hc4361]

Many councils insists on some sort of coffin for a crematorium as it makes things much easier for the crematorium staff. My council certainly does but don't care if it's a £30 cardboard coffin

[EDDIE51]

^^ £30 cardboard coffin ! more like £300 to £700 cardboard coffin!
Conventional coffins cost the undertaker £30 to £50 but they sell them on for £500 upwards!

[EDDIE51]

cheapest cardboard coffin £245
http://www.comparethecoffin.com/coffins

[EDDIE51]

Body Bag £6.50 a bit cheaper than a coffin even a cardboard one!!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Body-Bag-Adult-PEVA-Material-Premier-/231038604117?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_First_Aid_ET&hash=item35caf95355
And fully legal for cremation! no wonder the undertakers do not want you to know you can use one, they get most of their profit from ripping you off for a coffin!

[hc4361]

£119 here, but they can be found cheaper

http://coffincompany.co.uk/bespoke-coffins/cardboard-coffin