When a Death Occurs

Before any arrangements and decisions can be made, a legal pronouncement of death must be made. If your loved one dies inside a medical facility like a hospital, nursing home, or hospice facility, their staff will handle getting this pronouncement made. 

If your loved one dies at home, you need to immediately contact the local emergency officials so a legal pronouncement can be made. This legal declaration must be made before the family can proceed with making any funeral arrangements or handling any legal affairs.

Once a pronouncement has been made, you and your family can begin making funeral arrangements.  At this time, it is advisable to locate a copy of a pre-need contract, life insurance policy, or other final wishes documentation. If you have a Rector Funeral Home Pre-Need Contract, it is not necessary to locate your copy, as we maintain the original document. If your loved one has a pre-need contract with another funeral home and you want us to honor that contract, please bring it with you to the arrangements meeting.

During this time, if the deceased hasn’t made their final wishes known, the family will need to decide if they will bury or cremate the body, and what type of service should be held. These decisions include the time, date, and location of any service; what type of casket or urn your loved one needs; drafting an obituary notice; deciding on pallbearers; and making any decisions about the specifics of the service, like who the minister will be, what music will be played, and who will speak.

When you meet with your funeral director, the following information will beneeded to complete the death certificate:

• Full legal name and address
• Marital status
• Race/Ethnicity
• Date and city of birth
• Highest level of education
• Father’s name, mother’s maiden name
• Full legal name of spouse
• Occupation and employer

Funeral directors may need important documents to complete any legal paperwork. These documents include:

• Beneficiary designations
• Life insurance policies
• Military Discharge papers (form DD 214)

Following the death of your loved one, there are a few things you need to attend to involving the deceased’s personal life. First, secure your loved one’s property. Make sure their home and vehicle are properly secure.

If your loved one has a pet, make the necessary arrangements for the pet to be taken care of by family or friends. Any mail that comes to your loved one should be forwarded to a family member who plans to handle the deceased’s estate. Any mail that piles up at a vacant home only alarms potential intruders that a home is empty.

Make sure to contact the deceased’s employer and inform them of the death. If your loved one has any upcoming appointments, make contact to notify them about the death and to cancel the appointment.

When death occurs away from home within the United States, the family has the option to transport the body back to the home state or town. This usually requires the use of a mortuary service or other funeral home to provide part of the services. Rector Funeral Home will source the assisting funeral home. The funeral home or mortuary service at the location of death will collect and prepare the body for transport, and Rector Funeral Home will receive the body and conduct any services the family would like to hold.

When a death occurs outside of the United States, the family can have the body returned. The preparation and shipment will be done according to the laws and customs of the country where the death occurred. Embalming isn’t widely practiced in other countries, however there are other methods to prepare the body for shipment. 

The family will have the option to bury the deceased in the country where the death occurred or have the remains cremated and returned to the United States through the mail or air services with the family.

During this time, if the deceased hasn’t made their final wishes known, the family will need to decide if they will bury or cremate the body, and what type of service should be held. These decisions include the time, date, and location of any service; what type of casket or urn your loved one needs; drafting an obituary notice; deciding on pallbearers; and making any decisions about the specifics of the service, like who the minister will be, what music will be played, and who will speak.