The Complicated Fates of the Unidentified or Unclaimed
What happens to unidentified or unclaimed bodies? Depends on the state, of course. In this, as in so many other matters of deathcare, there is no universal process...
Death Doulas in a Battle for Free Speech
If you’ve had the opportunity to worked with them, you know that death doulas traditionally fill the role of a guide, providing support and information to those preparing...
Widow Who Wrote a Book on Grief Now Accused of Husband’s Murder
A Utah widow who published a children's book about grief a year after losing her husband might be writing her next volume from prison. Kouri Richins of Utah...
You Can Facilitate Cremation Fireworks Displays
Looking to offer clients an explosive way to really go out with a bang? In the 2019 movie “Poms”, cremation fireworks feature in the story as an option...
Upbeat Funerals: Creating Happy Goodbyes
The recent climate of positivity in death care culture is a good thing on multiple levels: It helps to spread awareness, lessen stigma, and increase memorialization options. One...
Recovering Human Remains After Disasters
File this one under “Things You Hope Never to Experience”: If your community is ever affected by a disaster of some kind which results in mass casualties, special...
Collective Grief: Large-Scale Mourning
In some ways, the circumstances of any death are irrelevant to the nature of the grief experienced by mourners: In each case mourners experience loss, usually based on...
Florida Medical Examiner Sues Funeral Directors for Complaining About Her
District 1 Medical Examiner Dr. Deanna Oleske is bringing charges against area funeral directors who submitted formal criticism about her performance of her duties by sending letters to...
The Catholic Church On End of Life and Last Rites
Last Rites… the term itself is ominous. Pop culture and the media have bandied the phrase about for years without clearly bringing meaning to what such rites encompass....
Funeral Executors: Your Biggest Questions, Answered
What’s the role of a “funeral executor?” More and more frequently, people are appointing “funeral executors” – sometimes also called “funeral agents” – in the role of seeing...