Leak & Sons Funeral Homes

Planning a Funeral: Funeral Directors Responsibilities & Family Responsibilities

Planning the funeral of a loved one can be a difficult undertaking. To help make the funeral planning process easier on a grieving family, responsibilities are spread between funeral directors and family members of the deceased.

What are a Funeral Director’s Funeral Planning Responsibilities?

In order to minimize the stress a family is under throughout the process, a dedicated funeral director seeks to help out with the funeral planning process in any way that he or she can. These tasks include:

• Arranging transport of the deceased’s body from place of death to funeral home.
• Procuring the signature of a coroner, medical examiner, or physician who is authorized to sign a death certificate.
• Filing and garnering certified copies of the death certificate.
• Completing accounting and other financial paperwork.
• Ensuring that all local, state, and federal regulations are adhered to throughout the funeral planning process.

What are a Family’s Funeral Planning Responsibilities?

Diffusion of responsibility makes the funeral planning process easier on a grieving family. However, there are a number of tasks that family members are legally required to perform. There are also a handful of responsibilities that it makes more sense to leave up to a family’s discretion. These include:

• Notifying other family members, friends, and colleagues of a loved one’s passing.
• Assessing a loved one’s finances and reviewing his or her will, trusts, etc.
• Filling out social security paperwork.
• Securing government-guaranteed or private insurance benefits.

Are you looking for a Chicago-area funeral director who can remove as much stress and difficulty from the funeral planning process as possible? At Leak & Sons Funeral Homes, you can find a knowledgeable and experienced funeral director who will keep your responsibilities while planning a loved one’s funeral to a minimum. To find out more about the full range of services we provide and the ways in which our funeral directors can help you, call (773) 846-6567!

Learn More About Funeral and Memorial Services

Planning a funeral or memorial service can be a bit overwhelming, especially after the loss of a loved one. Use these links to learn important information about end-of-life services and planning memorials.Contact Leak & Sons Funeral Homes to plan a funeral or memorial service to honor the memory of your loved one. You can reach us at (773) 846-6567.

• A funeral director is instrumental in organizing end-of-life services and taking some of the logistical burden off of the family. Find out more about a funeral director’s responsibilities by following this link.
• Many families choose to create a memorial service focused on celebrating the life the loved one they lost. If you’re looking for some memorial service planning tips and ideas, check out the information linked here.
• There are special ways to remember loved ones during and after a memorial service. Consider some of the suggestions listed in this link for remembering your loved one.
• Grieving is a complicated and personal process. Funerals and memorials are often one of the first steps in this process. WebMD has this article on the major stages of grieving.
• Funeral services and death in general can be hard to explain to a child. Learn how to explain death to a child by reading this article from KidsHealth.org.

The Role of a Memorial Service in the Grieving Process

Your grieving process will be unique to you, as no two people cope with grief in exactly the same way. However, there are some stages that many bereaved individuals share. These common grief experiences include full realization of the loss, the need to express grief to others, and the adjustment to a life without the departed person. Here’s how a memorial service fits into these grieving processes.

Accepting Feelings of Loss

A funeral or memorial service may help you accept the reality of your loss, especially if the death was sudden or unexpected. For some, it takes a short time to absorb the fact that the person is now gone. For others, a state of shock or numbness may be preventing total realization of the loss. Seeing those touched by the departed’s life come together and discuss the loss can assure you that you are not experiencing the complicated grieving process alone.

Sharing and Expressing Grief

You may feel like isolating yourself physically and emotionally from others while grieving. While it’s perfectly fine to want to be alone, many bereaved benefit from an opportunity to express grief openly. At a memorial service, mourners might express emotions through speeches, written message in a memorial book, songs, works of art, or whatever else the planner of the service thinks appropriate to pay homage to the deceased person.

Honoring the Life of a Loved One

A memorial service allows you and others coping with a loss to celebrate that person’s life as a group. In doing so, you strengthen bonds and connect to others experiencing grief. These intimate interactions can expand the available support network for mourners in the months and years following the loss.

Leak & Sons Funeral Homes is committed to providing dignified and memorable services for your departed loved one. With compassion and professionalism, we assist families in designing customized memorial services. If you have any questions about our end-of-life services, please give us a call at (773) 846-6567.

Writing an Obituary for a Departed Loved One

An obituary serves as a community notice of your loved one’s death. In another sense, it’s also a lasting documentation of the deceased legacy, something that people might come across years from now in a newspaper or Internet search. Because of these functions, it’s important to know what information should always be included when writing an obituary.

In this informative web clip, you’ll learn what to put in an obituary, including the deceased’s name, date of birth, date of death, the survivors of the deceased, and the details of the funeral ceremony. Learn what additional information, like life history, you can include in an obituary if you wish.

For a funeral home that will help you submit an obituary or death notice, contact Leak & Sons Funeral Home. We have years of experience providing compassionate end-of-life services. Call us at (773) 846-6567 for more information.

Services to Look For in a Funeral Home During Your Time of Need

The funeral home you choose to handle end-of-life services can make a huge difference in a difficult time. Consider the nature of the staff, the quality of the services offered, and any helpful options the funeral home makes available to you during this difficult process.

Compassionate Staff

A good funeral home staff will be committed to honoring your loved one with dignified services. Look for a funeral home with years of experience and a good reputation in the community. Read customer reviews and visit each funeral home’s website.

A Variety of Services

You’ll want to have a wide range of end-of-life services available to you in your time of need. Consider the services the funeral home offers, including casket and urn selections, customizable memorials, and help with preparing all the documents associated with the passing away of your loved one.

Transportation

Find a funeral home that will provide you with several transportation options. The funeral director should arrange for family transportation to and from services and provide you with access to a limousine if you desire.

Help with End-of-Life Paperwork

A good funeral home will have a good funeral director, one who will help ensure compliance with government regulators, obtain a certified copy of the death certificate, compose and submit media notices, and complete social security papers. Help with these responsibilities is more than valuable during funeral planning process.

Connections to Grief Support

Your funeral home should be able to put you in touch with grief resources and counseling services at your request. Compassionate funeral homes have made connections with these organizations through years of helping their clients through the bereavement process. If a funeral home or director offers this kind of assistance, you can be confident you’ve chosen a facility that cares.

To get help planning a funeral from a respected and experienced funeral home, contact Leak & Sons Funeral Homes in Chicago. Our funeral services include burials, cremations, embalming, and traditional or custom memorials. Call us at (773) 846-6567 for more information.