What You Need to Know About Transport, Paperwork and Documentation

The death of a loved one is often a sudden and unexpected affair, leaving their families scrambling to make end-of-life arrangements while they are dealing with the tragedy of just having lost a loved one. It can be a confusing time, but we are here to make it less confusing, in today’s blog we will be going over what you need to know about the transport, paperwork and documentation that is required following the death of a loved one.

Transport

Following the passing of a loved one you will need to arrange for the transportation of their remains to a sheltering facility for their final disposition. Generally, you will want to contact either a funeral home or a crematorium as many of them offer transport services so that they can take your loved one into their care. At Care and Comfort Cremations you should contact us as soon as you are able following the passing of your loved one so we can transfer them to our sheltering facility to await cremation. Our transfer service is available 24 hours a day so no matter when you need them you will be able to make the necessary arrangements.

Paperwork

Thankfully there isn’t a lot of paperwork that is required following the death of a loved one but there are a few important documents that need to be delt with. First there is paperwork required to register the death of your loved one with Vital Statistics to release them into the care of your funeral provider. In order to provide the necessary information to Vital Statistics you will need to know the following information about the deceased, you will need their full legal name, the date of birth, the place of birth, their personal health number, their social insurance number, their occupation, their spouses name and maiden name, the full name and birthplaces of both parents and the method of disposition. At Care and Comfort Cremations we will arrange for one of our funeral directors to walk through this paperwork with you, which can take as little as 30 minutes, we will then submit the paperwork for you. A medical professional will also need to submit a Medical Certificate of Death within 48 hours. In order for a cremation to go ahead, written authorization from the estate executor or legal next of kin is also required.

Documentation

Following the arrival of the Medical Certificate of Death a funeral provider or crematorium can then register the death and issue a death certificate. The death certificate is an important piece of documentation that is important for settling things following a death. Death Certificates are required for filing insurance claims, applying for death benefits and executing the will of the deceased. At Care and Comfort Cremations we do not automatically include the printing of death certificates with our basic cremation services, they need to be ordered separately at a rate of $27 per certificate. If you are unsure of how many certificates to order, we suggest starting with one as we can always provide you with more copies should they be required.

We hope we have been able to provide you with some useful information on transport, paperwork and documentation following the death of a loved one. If you have any questions about cremation services, please feel free to contact us.

Care and Comfort Cremations is located in Vancouver and serves not only Vancouver, but Richmond, Burnaby, and the North Shore. We offer cremations at a fraction of the cost of a traditional funeral home while providing personal service with reverence and respect. If you have any questions about this blog article, please feel free to call us at (604) 260-2156.