Three Options for Those Who Wish to Be Buried at Home

Burial at home, while a potentially viable option in most areas of the United States, is not as simple as it may at first appear. You still have to work out the grave site, memorial headstone, and so on and prepare your family for what happens before the burial itself. This can be especially tricky if your family is squeamish or unlikely to bear up under having to prepare human remains for burial well. However, there are several different options you can choose from if you're thinking you'd like to be buried out in the back fifty. Here are some of them.

1. Hire a death doula

Also called a death midwife or an end-of-life guide, this professional can help you prepare for your burial in so many ways. In addition to helping your family with preparations such as preparing the remains for interment, the death doula can also help train your family and you in what to expect toward the end of your life. The death doula can help ensure that you have a peaceful end-of-life experience in your home, and that can be much more pleasant than having it in a retirement home or hospice. 

2. Have cremation and then burial

If your family just doesn't want to think about end-of-life things, then it may be a better option to simply let them have a funeral home handle your remains. You can have a direct cremation or a cremation with a viewing and then have your family bury the cremains at home with a memorial stone after the cremation has taken place. Your family may find this easier to handle if they're just not good at thinking about and dealing with mortality.

3. Have your family handle the whole thing

This may be an option if your family is fairly stoic and if there are enough family members living nearby to handle all the arrangements. You can of course help by ordering a casket and headstone and so on in advance. You'll need to make sure your family gets the necessary training beforehand as well, and you'll have to check with your local authorities to make sure that burial on private land (without cremation) is allowed and that you have or can get all the necessary paperwork.

These are just three of the many varieties of at-home burial that you can choose from if you wish to take advantage of a non-traditional burial arrangement. Talk to a company such as Foran Funeral Home for more information.