Monthly Archives: November 2018

Funeral services in Walnut Creek, CA

How To Pay For Funeral Services

It’s never easy to think about your death, but unfortunately you have to. Funeral services in Walnut Creek, CA can be very expensive, and if you don’t do some planning right now, you’re going to leave your family and loved ones with a very big bill when you die.

Its not as simple as just putting money aside in a savings account. When someone dies, his or her money is usually frozen for at least a month. So your family can’t access any money you had in an account for your funeral until long after the funeral is over.

The average funeral costs $8,500, so you need to come up with a plan to pay for yours. There are a few ways to do this, like:

Insurance – Most life insurance policies will pay out a lump sum of money to a beneficiary when you die. This lump sum can go a long way towards paying for your funeral or memorial service. These insurance payments are made almost directly after death so your loved ones can pay for the funeral right away. There are also special insurance policies for death related costs like burials, funerals, cremations and more.

Payable-on-Death Account – Payable-on-death accounts, or PODs, allow you to set money aside specifically for funeral and other death-related expenses. Your beneficiaries simply have to present a death certificate to the bank in order to obtain the money. They will not have access to the money until after your death.

Veterans Benefits – If you served in the military you may be eligible for veterans benefits, including burial and funeral at no cost. The Veterans Administration will pay a burial allowance to your loved ones to cover funeral expenses. Check the VA website to see if you’re eligible.

Borrowing – Banks also offer loans specifically for funeral expenses. However, as these loans are personal and unsecure, they can get expensive. Interests range usually from 16 to 35 percent on these kinds of loans. Since the FCA recommends that you do not go into debt for a funeral, be sure to only take out a loan you can easily pay back.

Low-Cost Options – If you don’t have money to set aside right now, and feel like you won’t later on either, you can plan for low-cost funeral options. From direct cremations and at-home funerals to green burials, or even donating your body to science, there are definitely low-cost options out there. If you do plan to donate you body to a medical school or other institution be sure to enroll in advance.

These are just a few ways you can put aside money for your funeral. If you want to learn more about your funeral payment options, or want more information on Walnut Creek, CA funeral services in general, Deer Creek Funeral Service can help. Feel free to stop by and visit us at 20630 Redwood Rd Castro Valley, CA 94546, or give us a call at (510) 317-7890.

Hayward, CA cremation

What To Do After Cremation

One major benefit of choosing a Hayward, CA cremation is that cremations offer lots of opportunity for creativity and personality after the cremation is over. There are an almost unlimited number of ways you can inurn or dispose of cremated ashes, each one more unique and special than the last.

While the classics, like scattering, inurnment, burial, and entombment, are always good, there are a lot of extremely creative things you can do with cremated remains Some of them are.

  1. Glass Art – Cremation ashes can be transformed into glass with the help of professional glass blowers. These artists can take small portions of the deceased’s ashes, combine them with glass, and create glass art in a range of shapes, colors, and sizes. You can display the art at home on your mantel, or somewhere else special.
  2. Fireworks – Help your loved one go out with a bang with a fireworks display. Some pyrotechnics companies help you scatter your loved one’s ashes by placing them inside fireworks. These incorporated ashes scatter when the fireworks go off, making for a memorable end to a memorial service, or a unique way to remember the deceased at a later date.
  3. Plant a Tree – Really go green with cremation, and help your deceased loved one continue to give back long after he or she is gone. Buy a biodegradable urn that’s specially made to be buried without any harmful impact on the environment. Plant the Bio Urn with some ashes and seeds inside. The ashes will help nourish the seed until it grows into a beautiful tree people can enjoy for generations to come.
  4. Create A Diamond – While expensive, this memorial will really last forever. Special companies can extract carbon particles from the cremated ashes and grow a real diamond. You can personalize the color, shape or cut to make the diamond even more unique for the deceased.
  5. Jewelry – Keep your loved one close by placing ashes in cremation or memorial jewelry. People have been placing memories of deceased loved ones in jewelry for centuries. However, modern technology makes it easy to order personalized pieces like lockets, pendants, rings and more filled with small portions of ashes. You can order pre-made pieces online, or have a jewelry maker custom make a piece for you.

These are just a few of the creative ways you can memorialize a loved one after cremation. Don’t forget to take inspiration from your lost loved one, and what his or her interests or unique qualities were. This will make the cremation even more respectful and special.

Do you want to learn more about cremation in Hayward, CA and what to do after? Simply contact Deer Creek Funeral Service. We would be happy to give you more information about what we do, or about cremations in general. Please visit us at 20630 Redwood Rd Castro Valley, CA 94546, or give us a call at (510) 317-7890.

funeral services in Castro Valley, CA

Funeral Services For Veterans

Serving in the United States armed forces is a great sacrifice, and all of our veterans deserve to be honored. One such way our country honors veterans is with veteran funeral services in Castro Valley, CA. There is a range of post-humus benefits available to veterans to ensure they get the honor and respect they deserve. All you have to do is submit a formal request.

Military Protocol and Honors For Funeral Services

The United States has laws that provide eligible veterans with military funeral services honors. If an eligible service member’s family so requests, the government must provide no-cost honors including:

  • Flag Folding and Presentation: All eligible veterans have the right for to have at least 2 Armed Forces members serving as an honor guard during the funeral. At least one of these guards will be from the deceased’s service branch, and this guard will present a traditionally folded American flag to the next of kin or designated person upon the funeral’s completion.
  • “Taps”- “Taps” is a bugle song traditionally associated with military and patriotic funerals. Though live bugle performances are rarely seen these days, military funeral honors require that a high-quality recording of the song be played at any eligible funeral services if no live bugle is available.
  • Flag Burial – A flag is provided at no cost to the family to drape the casket or accompany the urn. The flag will then be folded and presented to eligible family members such as the next of kin or requested friends. Family members may donate their flags to national cemeteries with Avenue of Flags so the flag can be flown on patriotic holidays to honor the deceased, or they may keep the flag as a keepsake or at-home memorial.

Headstone – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) can furnish a headstone at no cost to the family. These veteran’s headstones are made available for any veteran regardless of date of death. These headstones come in bronze, marble and granite in various styles to match existing headstones in the place of burial.

Veteran Eligibility

Military funeral service honors are given to members of the United States Armed Forces, or those that served in the Marines, Army, National Guard, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard. The veteran must also meet one or more the following requirements:

  • Passed away while in active duty or Selective Reserve
  • Completed at least one term of enlistment or initial obligated service in the Selective Reserve, and was not dishonorably discharged
  • Served on active duty, or in the Selected Reserve, and was not dishonorably discharged

Deer Creek Funeral Service, located at 20630 Redwood Rd Castro Valley, CA 94546, offers Castro Valley, CA funeral services for veterans. We would be honored to help you show respect for your lost veteran through a beautiful funeral service. Please give us a call at (510) 317-7890 for more information on post-humus veteran benefits, or on what we can do for you and your family.

cremation services in Dublin, CA

What Are Direct Cremations?

If you’re looking into cremation services in Dublin, CA, you might have heard about direct cremation. Direct cremation is when the body is cremated immediately following death without a funeral or service beforehand. There are a lot of benefits that come with this type of cremation, and its actually becoming very popular in California and beyond.
 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

A direct cremation is when the body is cremated without any type of service. The body is picked up from the place of death and taken directly to the crematorium for cremation. There is no viewing or visitation, and no funeral service. The ashes are usually returned to the family in an urn or other container.

 
One benefit of direct cremation is that it’s a lot less expensive than other funeral or cremation options. This is for a few reasons. The first is that since the body is cremated right after the death without a service, the deceased’s family or loved ones can use a crematory rather than a funeral home, which often ends up being much cheaper. There is also no funeral, wake, visitation or viewing with a direct cremation. This also allows the family to skip the embalming process, again saving money. Family, loved ones, or executors can also choose to have the body cremated in a simple container rather than a traditional and more expensive casket, as there is no need for ornamentation for a funeral. That’s three ways direct cremation can save money.

Another direct cremation benefit is that it allows family more flexibility in planning a memorial service later on. Not only does having a service after the cremation give more time for saving and planning, but it also gives the family more scheduling flexibility and to customize cremation service so people from out of town can attend.

Direct cremations differ from regular cremations in many ones, but one major one is that the Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule made mandates that direct cremation rights for consumers. Some of these rights include that consumers are not required to purchase a casket and the funeral home or crematory must return the remains to the bereaved either in an urn provided by the bereaved or in a basic container furnished by the company.

Direct cremations are also oftentimes easier and more convenient for the bereaved. Typically, crematory staff takes care of almost everything involved with a direct cremation. This includes transporting the body to the crematory, completing a death certificate form and inspecting the body before the cremation. You can also work with a traditional funeral home for direct cremations. In this case, the funeral home will fill out the death certificate and bring the body to the crematory, which is often onsite at the funeral home.

If you’ve recently suffered a loss, or are planning for your own passing, direct cremation might be the way to go, especially if you’re looking to save money on preparing the body, casket, extensive transportation, or funeral services.

If you want more information on direct cremations or Dublin, CA cremation services, Deer Creek Funeral Service can help. We offer a range of affordable cremation and burial services and would be happy to give you any more information you need to make your time of loss easier. Please visit us at 20630 Redwood Rd Castro Valley, CA 94546, or give is a call at (510) 317-7890.