Body

[henry1938]

what happens to a persons body
if they hav e no relatives or friends to bury them

[EDDIE51]

The local authority have to arrange the funeral and pay for it if there is no money in the estate of the deceased.

[Buenchico]

Nobody is ever obliged to arrange a funeral. The deceased person's friends and relatives can simply refuse to do so if that's how they feel.

As Eddies indicates, when nobody comes forward to arrange a funeral (for whatever reason) the local authority is obliged to provide a basic one. They can then seek to get their money back from the estate of the deceased person. However if the person didn't leave anything of value, the local authority has to foot the bill. (They can't pursue anyone else, such as relatives, for the money).

[EDDIE51]

^ what was once called a 'pauper's funeral'
I will point out here that EVERY undertaker HAS BY LAW !!! to provide a 'simple but dignified' funeral for the cost of the basic funeral grant which is the amount a local authority will pay.
( but just try to get them to agree to it!)
Buenchico, I believe has arranged the same as me, that any part of my body that can be used for transplant is so used and what's left is given to a medical school for trainee surgeons/doctors to practice on. It costs nothing and cuts out the greedy undertakers. The medical school make all the necessary payments and arrange to collect the body after death. They even provide a very nice commemorative plaque for the relatives to remember the deceased by.
I wonder why this is not mentioned as an option in all the funeral payment plan adverts we see on TV?

[jno]

I'm not sure medical schools take just any old body these days - if you had a communicable disease, for instance.

[EDDIE51]

^ yes that's true. But I have hardly seen a doctor and just one week in hospital in my 66 years. I'm a fine specimen ,well preserved from all the real ale I drink ! just waiting for some trainee surgeon to 'bodge up' !
No way I or my family are paying to get rid of my remains!

[EDDIE51]

Actually jno Medical schools are not too fussy, you don't have to be in perfect shape to be of use for training students. People get donation of the body to a medical school mixed up with transplants where the organs have to be in perfect condition to be of use. Someone who died of a particular condition can have their body parts used as specimens to show what to look for in diagnosis. I hear there is at the moment a need for the heads of people who have died from alzheimer's to be donated so that they can be used for research into how it affects the brain by the formation of 'plaques'

[jno]

All medical schools welcome the offer of a donation. However, certain medical conditions may lead to the offer being declined. Medical schools can give you more information about these conditions and any other reasons why a body donation may be declined.

Post-mortem examination (sometimes referred to as an ‘autopsy’) is an important reason why a medical school might decline the offer of a body donation. We recommend that potential donors and their families are prepared to consider alternative arrangements in these circumstances, which can arise unexpectedly. Depending on the circumstances of a person’s death, a Coroner might require, by law, that a post-mortem examination takes place.

It is important to note that medical schools might not be able to accept donated bodies during holiday periods, such as Christmas.

from https://www.hta.gov.uk/faqs/body-donation-faqs

[hc4361]

Eddie, most medical schools will refuse your body if organs have been used for transplant.

http://www.funeralinspirations.co.uk/information/Body-Donation.html

[EDDIE51]

I'm on the donor register for any parts to be used in transplant if possible, and on the list for Cambridge University Medical School if they want me.
If no one wants my mortal remain I have a plan ' B.'
Body to be put in a body bag ( cost £11 on eBay) and delivered to the back door of the crematorium where it will be fed straight into the furnace with no ceremony at all.The only cost in addition to the body bag is the death certificate and the clearance for cremation certificate,then the cremation fee of about £300. The entire disposal will cost under £400.
With a £1200 funeral grant from the social fund ( which will never be paid back as I have never had any money in my entire life,5 children and 12 grandchildren have seen to that) It leaves £800 for a good p*** up at my local boozer in place of a funeral !
No hearse for the body either, just a courier delivery.( or a wheelbarrow if it near enough) should not cost more than £25.

[Maydup]

Henry hasn't asked about a body with no money to bury, just no friends or relatives.

As mentioned already the local authority step in if no money or no family, but there may well be a funeral plan pre arranged. A person with no people around them might still make necessary arrangements with a funeral directors and ask a solicitor for example, to be executor to the will.

[Maydup]

I'm curious, Eddie. In plan B , who have you nominated to deliver the body?!

[EDDIE51]

^ Anyone who is there, not sure who will still be around when I pop my clogs.
Having a body delivered direct to the back of the Crem and fed straight into the furnace is 100% legal by the way and becoming more popular. Some companies are now offering such a service but they use a Hearse and charge around £1000. DIY delivery is much cheaper.

[hc4361]

Many funeral directors use a van or the space in the hearse under the top coffin to get the body to the crem in a 'direct to crem' funeral.
There is room for three coffins in a hearse, only one is on show.

The price for direct to crem funerals very much depends on the cost of the cremation itself - it varies from council to council. My local undertaker charges £900 all in for this type of funeral, including the 2 doctors certificates.

[tamborine]

Am told more than one cadaver can be cremated together, providing ashes are not required.

[hc4361]

Never happens, tambo. It is against the law.

[EDDIE51]

^There is a lot of misunderstanding over this. A cremation takes 3 to 4 hours , plus cooling time so 5 to 7 hours total. A crematorium typically has 2 chapels each doing a cremation every 15 mins from 10 am to 4 pm so each chapel does 24 cremations a day, it does NOT have 24 furnaces! Each furnace takes many bodies at the same time , each body is on it's own 'tray or 'shelf' so in that respect it is cremated separably. But there is not one furnace to one body that would be impossibly expensive and time consuming. A Crematorium will probably have 2 furnaces per Chapel and a spare.

[Mamyalynne]

Some answers on this old thread about how many are cremated at any one time, some by those who worked in the industry.

A bit of ripe humour too, sorry.


http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/How-it-Works/Question280344-1.html