Rave Reviews & Closed Curtains | 4M #235
Welcome to the two-hundred-and-thirty-fifth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #235, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!
Too good to be true
A UK authority is investigating one of Britain’s largest funeral services providers for being too good at their jobs. Well, sort of. The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Dignity Funerals Ltd. (along with Autotrader and two food delivery companies) on suspicion of manufacturing “fake and misleading reviews”. They think that Dignity asked its staff to write positive reviews of its services. As if funeral homes can’t realistically put the “fun” in “funeral” …
Secure Online Identity Verification
When a family can’t come to your funeral home in person, online identification is sometimes the only option, — but emailing photos isn’t secure (and it’s repeat-viewable).
Secure View gives you a safer, documented way to confirm identity online:
- Upload the photo securely
- Send a password-protected link for a limited-time view
- The next of kin verifies themselves by uploading a government-issued ID
- You receive confirmation documentation for your records
If you want to see how it works (and how it helps safeguard your funeral home), watch the quick demo.
Rent-a-mausoleum
Authorities in China have finally caught on to a popular (and pretty clever) scheme for memorializing the dead — and they’re putting an end to it. It seems that thanks to a “subdued housing market” and rising burial costs, families have been opting to rent residential apartments in mostly-empty complexes in order to store the cremated remains of their loved ones. The dwellings have been dubbed “bone-ash apartments,” and some have been identified by “sealed-off windows and closed curtains.” Inside, urns are often set on a table and surrounded by photos and candles, as is “typical” of Chinese memorials. Last week, regulations were created to stop this practice, explicitly banning “the use of residential dwellings specifically for the interment of ashes”.
United in death
The somewhat controversial depictions of John F. Kennedy, Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, in the FX limited series “Love Story” have renewed interest in every aspect of the young couple’s lives — and their deaths. One fan of the series addressed the location of the remains of the Kennedys and Carolyn’s sister, Lauren, who also died when the plane John was piloting went down near Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. As it turns out, the three were cremated, and their remains were scattered in the ocean near where the plane crashed. The circumstances of that disposition, not surprisingly, were contentious, as the Bessette family wanted the sisters to rest together, and the Kennedys wanted the same for JFK, Jr. and Carolyn — but because Lauren wasn’t a Kennedy, she wasn’t allowed to be buried in the Kennedy family cemetery. The scattering was a fitting compromise.
More regs for Colorado
Like several previous deathcare-related scandals that took place in Colorado recently, the discovery of 24 decomposing bodies at Davis Mortuary in Pueblo has prompted legislators to introduce new and/or improved statewide regulations. This time, the proposed laws address the role of coroners. Brian Cotter, co-owner of Davis Mortuary, was serving as Pueblo County’s coroner in August 2025 when a surprise inspection (a direct result of new laws inspired by the 2023 Return Home tragedy) found the neglected remains in a hidden room. Last week, the Colorado House committee unanimously passed Bill SB26-105, which would “require a county coroner to disclose if they own, work for, manage, contract with or have other financial interest in a death care business.” This association would have to be posted on the coroner’s website and would prohibit them from taking actions impacting their own business. The bill would also change the population thresholds that may be keeping sparsely populated areas from electing a coroner.
