Funeral Directors are people in charge of managing a funeral home and arranging the details of a funeral. Their responsibilities include consulting with the family of the deceased, preparing the body, arranging transportation for the deceased, and submitting all the necessary legal documents. They can also discuss and plan funerals with people who wish to make arrangements for their own service in advance.

Aside from informing friends and family, you need to get a legal pronouncement of death immediately after someone dies. You also have to find out about any existing funeral and burial plans. If your loved one has such plans, you can let their chosen provider take care of the details and proceed as planned. Otherwise, you’ll have to make the funeral arrangements and decide whether between a traditional burial or a cremation.

Within a few days of death, the deceased’s home, car, and other assets have to be secured. Valuables like jewelry have to be locked up too. If they had pets, check if someone in the family or a closed friend would want to care for them. You may also board them at a kennel in the meantime. Also, the deceased’s employer has to be notified at this point, and a forwarding order has to be placed to take care of any incoming mails.

You’ll need to secure certified copies of the death certificate two weeks after death. If there’s a will, it’s now time to meet with the executor, as well as with an estate attorney to help distribute assets. Moreover, cancel all services that are no longer needed, such as phone lines and entertainment subscriptions, close credit card accounts, terminate insurance policies and cancel the deceased’s driver’s license. It’s also best to delete their email accounts and close or memorialize their social media accounts.

Both options have their own pros and cons. Many people choose traditional burial because it stays true to most religious beliefs and is considered the more natural way. It also provides a gravesite which family and friends can visit later on, thus helping the bereaved find closure. However, traditional burial is expensive. Aside from the gravesite, headstone, and casket, expenses also include burial services and yearly maintenance fees of the cemetery plot. Burial also poses a problem for families who have plans to relocate.

Now, cremation is the more economical option. Since cremation removes the need for a casket, gravesite, headstone, and other fees, the cost of cremation services is generally lower by 50% or more. Cremation also allows some flexibility when it comes to memorial services. Instead of the usual funeral, cremation lets family members get creative and arrange for a ‘celebration of life’ to better reflect the personality of their loved one. Lastly, families who’d want to relocate will not have any issues should they want to bring the remains with them.

However, unlike with traditional burial, cremation means there’s no gravesite where friends and family can gather. There are also religions that frown upon cremation as it destroys the body. Exhumations aren’t possible as well with cremation.

In the end, it all comes down to which stays in line with your beliefs, which your budget can afford, and which you think will let you rest better in peace.