Q: What is the purpose of a funeral?
A: Funerals are an important step in the grieving process, as well as an opportunity to honor a life lived. They offer surviving family members and friends a caring, supportive environment in which to share thoughts and feelings about the death. Often funerals are the first step in the healing process. To learn more, visit the "Why a Funeral?" section of this Website.

Q: What role does the funeral director fill?
A: Funeral directors are there to help you through a very difficult time in your life. They are listeners and counselors, tribute planners and crisis managers. Through discussions with you, based on information you share about your wishes and details about your loved one, they are able to offer guidance and help you coordinate a very personal tribute that honors the life of your loved one. Your local NFDA funeral director can guide you through planning the service; complete necessary paperwork; and coordinate doctors, ministers, florists, newspapers and other vendors to make your funeral experience as seamless as possible..

Q: Is it possible to plan a funeral in advance?
A: NFDA recommends that everyone preplan his or her own funeral. Doing so can offer emotional and financial security for both you and your family. By preplanning a funeral you will get the kind of service you want and your family will be unburdened from making decisions at a stressful time. Preplanning doesn’t necessarily mean prepaying. If you are considering preplanning your funeral, please visit the "Why Pre-plan?" section of this Website or contact your local NFDA funeral director for more information.

Q: Can I still have a funeral service if I choose cremation?
A: Yes. Cremation opens the doors to a number of different funeral options. From traditional services to contemporary celebrations, cremation gives you the flexibility to personalize the services for yourself or a loved one. To learn more about cremation, please visit the "Thinking About Cremation?" section of this Website.

What purpose does a funeral serve?
It is the customary way to recognize death and its finality. Funerals are recognized rituals for the living to show respect for the dead and to help survivors begin the grief process. Funerals in one form or another have been conducted to honor the dead since around 35,000 BC.

What do funeral directors do?
Funeral directors are caregivers and administrators. They make the arrangements for transportation of the body, complete all necessary paperwork, and implement the choices made by the family regarding the funeral and final disposition of the body.

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Q.Must you have a funeral director to bury the dead?
AYes. In New York State, a licensed funeral director or undertaker must be present and personally supervise the interment or cremation, or the pick-up from, or delivery to, a common-carrier of a dead human body. (NYS Sanitary Code Part 77.7(a)(4)) Further, a licensed funeral director must sign and file the certificate of death with the registrar in the district in which the death occurred.

Q.Why have a public viewing?
A. Viewing is a part of many cultural and ethnic traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity is voluntary.

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Q.What is the purpose of embalming?
A.Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body, retards the decomposition process and enhances the appearance of a body disfigured by traumatic death or illness.

Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, thus allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.

Q.Does a dead body have to be embalmed, according to law?
A.No.

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Q.Isn't burial space becoming scarce?
A.While it is true some metropolitan areas have limited available cemetery space, in most areas of the country, there is enough space set aside for the next 50 years without creating new cemeteries. In addition, land available for new cemeteries is more than adequate, especially with the increase in entombment and multi-level grave burial.

Q.Is cremation a substitute for a funeral?
A.No. Cremation is an alternative to earth burial or entombment for the body's final disposition and often follows a traditional funeral service. In fact, according to FTC figures for 1987, direct cremation occurred in only 3% of deaths.

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