MortuaryShipping.com is a comprehensive directory of licensed funeral service establishments in the United States that specialize in embalming, post-mortem restoration, funeral directing, and the shipping of human remains both throughout the United States and internationally.

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Every month, MortuaryShipping.com receives about 75 e-mails from consumers seeking our advice regarding funeral shipping arrangements or for our recommendation of a funeral shipping provider.

Many people are confused, some even freightened, when it comes to making shipping arrangements for the dead. This is completely understandable. Few people are experts in matters of the dead and some will never be faced with this situation during their entire life.

Shipping dead human remains from one place to another within the United States isn't a complex process and it shouldn't be an expensive one. With a little common sense, a pad and pencil, a telephone, and some knowledge gained from our web site, we guarantee you'll make sensible, financially-responsible decisions.

Let's begin with an obvious point. If the person who died expressed a desire during their life for a DIRECT CREMATION to be arranged upon their death (with no service with the body present,) make arrangements to cremate their body in the city where they died. It doesn't make much sense to ship the remains back home only to have them directly cremated. Naturally, if a service with the body is requested, you will have to make arrangements to have the body transported back to you.

A dead body doesn't require an airline ticket and class is irrelevant. After someone has died, their remains are considered freight by those in the transportation business. Freight fees are priced per pound, the dimensional size of the item item being shipped, or a combination of the two. Domestic air transporation of the dead isn't too terribly expensive while shipping human remains internationally can be VERY expensive.

When a funeral director in Brooklyn, New York calls a funeral director in Miami, Florida to ship human remains back to New York he requests a "Minimum Ship-Out Service." The rate that the New York funeral director pays is a business-to-business rate and that's why you should always let your funeral director make the necessary phone calls to the firm that will do the preparation and shipping. If you make this call, you might be charged a-la-carte fees that are from the shipping firm's General Price List and these could be 4-8 times higher than the basic ship-out rate!

To MINIMALLY prepare and ship dead human remains from Point A to Point B in the contiguous United States, the cost, EXCLUDING air fare and other "cash advances," should be no more than $1,000.00.

"Minimal Preparation For Shipment" includes the following:

• Transfer from the place of death (or public morgue) to the funeral home;
• Embalming of the body;
• White or black vinyl body bag (some states require the use of this item);
• Securing. completing, and filing of the Certificate of Death with the local registrar and securing a transit/burial/cremation permit along with ordering certified copies of the death certificate if requested;
• The body will be placed in a simple, unlined, flakeboard (or plywood) shipping container (see photo # 1 below) that will then be placed into a larger cardboard air tray. The receiving funeral director will remove the remains from this container, dress the body in clothing you provide, and place the remains in a casket that you select;
• Transportation to the nearest airport

Air freight charges, certified copies of the death certificates, gratuities, and bridge/road tolls are extra items and are NOT included the $1,000.00 that was quoted above. These extra items, typically called "Cash Advance Items," can cost an additional $850.00 - $1,500.00 and can easily drive the total cost of shipping human remains upwards of $2,000.00.

Below are some real-life scenarios along with our suggestions about what to do and who you should call. All of these situations assume that you live in the same city as the person who died.

• Uncle Mike lives in Seattle, Washington and dies while visiting his sister in Miami, Florida. During his life, Mike requested that his body be immediately cremated upon death. Call: Funeral home in Miami, Florida and arrange a direct cremation. Approximate cost: Less than $1,500.00.
• Uncle Mike lives in San Diego, California and dies while traveling in Maine. Mike has requested a service with an open casket, a service in his local church, and burial in a cemetery in San Diego. Call: Funeral home in San Diego and they will contact a shipping firm in Maine. Approximate cost: Less than $2,300.00 (including air fare).
• Uncle Mike lives in San Diego, California and dies in Los Angeles, California. Mike has requested an immediate cremation after his death. Call: Either a firm in San Diego OR a firm in Los Angeles and arrange a direct cremation. Approximate cost: Less than $1,500.00.
• Uncle Mike likes in Manhattan, New York and dies in Lake George, New York where he owned a summer home. Since he has many friends in Lake George, he has requested one night of viewing there followed by a service in Manhattan that is then followed by cremation. Call: Funeral home in Lake George, New York. After the service, they will ship the casketed remains of Uncle Mike to the funeral home of choice in Manhattan. Approximate cost: $13,500.00 - $18,000.00 depending on the firms you do business with.

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