Compassionate Care for Every Step of the Journey

The cost of a funeral depends on the services selected and the different ways the family chooses to memorialize their loved one. For example, the casket selected will affect the overall cost, as will whether the family chooses a visitation the night before or on the morning of the service. Some people do not want a funeral or ceremony and choose direct cremation instead. Funeral costs may also include printed materials, flowers, clergy, or another individual to speak and share stories about the person. If the loved one will be buried in a cemetery, cemetery expenses will also affect the overall price. A direct, immediate burial costs $3,430 for our services. A basic casket starts at $1,395, bringing the entry-level cost to $4,825.* However, the total cost could exceed $35,000, depending on the additional items selected. Our professional-services fee for direct cremation is $2,045. A cremation container is required, and the basic container starts at $150 for an individual weighing 150 pounds or less. Additional cremation charges may apply depending on the individual’s size. If the family wishes to see their loved one or witness the cremation, that will also affect the cost. Regardless of what the family chooses, certain documents are required, including a cremation permit. The family may also need certified death certificates. Our funeral home obtains these documents as part of our professional services, and the family is responsible for the associated fees.

The cheapest and most affordable option is direct cremation. The Statement of Goods and Services is broken down into three parts: professional services, merchandise, and cash advances. The professional services cost is $2,045. This includes bringing the loved one into our care within 25 miles, keeping them safe in our temperature-controlled environment until all permits and family signatures have been obtained, and then performing the cremation inside our funeral home. This typically happens within seven to ten days. A cremation container is also required. These start at $150 for anyone weighing less than 150 pounds. If the person exceeds that weight, a more durable container would be required. Families may also purchase merchandise such as urns, keepsakes, jewelry, and mementos. If the family chooses services such as a viewing or visitation before cremation, it would no longer be the least expensive option. The most affordable option includes no viewing, service, witnessed cremation, or urn, only bringing the loved one into our care, holding them until the permits and paperwork are completed, and performing the cremation.

These are very general terms for final disposition. Burial simply means placement in a cemetery. That could be in the ground or in a mausoleum for a full-size casket. It could also be in a crypt, niche, or another type of memorial, such as a bench, boulder, or columbarium, where cremated remains may be placed. Cremation is a form of final disposition of the human body. Once the body has been cremated, the cremated remains may still be placed in a cemetery through burial or above-ground placement.

Direct cremation is removing a family’s loved one from their place of death, bringing them to our funeral home, and placing them in refrigeration, commonly known as a temperature-controlled environment, where they are held until all the permits and signatures authorizing the cremation have been obtained. ‘Direct’ means there is no viewing, service, ceremony, or witness. Nobody is present. The family authorizes the individual to be brought directly from their place of death to our facility. Once the necessary permits and signatures are obtained, the individual is cremated.

We offer cremation. We own and operate our own crematory right on our premises. We do not have an alkaline hydrolysis or aquamation machine on-site. However, if a family came to us and that was their selection, we have community partners within our profession who are also members of the same professional associations as we are. We would gladly be able to take care of the family’s requests and needs and have their loved one aquamated through the hydrolysis process.

The first thing is to be the proper person to authorize a cremation or plan for a funeral. The funeral director will request statistical information about the deceased, such as their Social Security number, date of birth, parents’ names, where they were born, how long they lived in the United States and Arizona, whether they had children, their marital status, occupation, and education level. They will also ask what type of services you would like for your loved one. If a person is married, their spouse may be eligible for a one-time Social Security death benefit of $255. A dependent child could also be eligible for that same amount. People should also be mindful of the obituary. They will need information about the person’s life if they would like to print a memorial card to hand out at the service or post a notice on our website.

This question is going to vary by the needs of the family. There is no law that says you need to make arrangements with a funeral home within a certain amount of time. However, an organization such as a hospital or nursing home will, at the bare minimum, need to know which funeral home you have chosen because your loved one cannot stay in that facility. Typically, they like the person moved within four hours if they do not have a temperature-controlled holding facility. We can wait as long as necessary for the family. Sometimes they might be out of state, out of town on vacation, or waiting for people to come back from school or the military. We are very accommodating to the family’s needs. For some folks, there might be a religious reason they want to wait. For others, they may be trying to locate family members to make sure they are accepting of the choices and decisions being made for the individual. The time it takes to make arrangements will also vary. It can be an hour, or it could be as long as three or four hours if the family has a lot of questions and is undecided about what type of arrangements they want. It is typical to come in within a couple of days, the next day or up to two or three days later. However, we understand circumstances will dictate each individual situation. We also want to maintain communication with the family so we know they will be coming in at some point.

Yes, we live stream services. We partner with a third-party company that comes in with its own van and extra bandwidth to help prevent interruptions. They set up multiple cameras and microphones in the chapel to capture different angles and make sure the sound is picked up. This works well for people who live out of state or in another country and cannot travel to the service. It can also help those who cannot afford transportation or who have difficulty getting around. Especially during an emotional time, livestreaming lets them participate in the service and have a recording of it. The livestream also gives people a chance to leave a nice comment, because it’s set up somewhat like Zoom.

The answer is yes, before a death takes place. People need to consider pre-planning and arranging their funeral before the time of need. It eliminates many things, such as the emotional drain on a family: ‘Is this what Dad would have wanted? Are we doing the right thing?’ It also relieves the financial burden because payment plans are an option. You can go anywhere from one year, three years, five years, seven years, or even as long as 10 years to have a fixed payment every month. This is a great solution so that you’re able to decide on the types of service. Maybe you want flowers, printing materials, or a particular casket. The idea is to eliminate that stress on your family at the time of passing.

When a person passes away, we do not offer payment plans. At that time, the family would be responsible for the entirety of the expenses on the statement of goods and services. We do accept insurance assignments if they are in force and assignable. We take credit cards, a certified check, or a debit card. We’re moving away from taking personal and business checks, as they create a lot of risk of bouncing or having a stopped payment.

The beauty of preplanning is it costs exactly what a funeral costs today. That price is locked in. Should the family choose to pay it in full, nothing changes. It doesn’t matter if they die in a month, 10 years, or 20 years. The family would not be responsible for paying anything additional for the services and merchandise selected. However, cash advances are money that we forward to another organization on the family’s behalf. We do not lock in and guarantee cash advances. We hold that money in a pool, and they can apply it however they see fit.

If there is a payment plan involved, then there is also a cost of insurance involved. What that does is protect the family through the entire time the policy is in place. There will be a health question asked about the status of their health and their circumstances, and there’s a two-year lookback. So if a person dies within two years and they had an existing condition, they would get a return of premium plus interest. If they did not have an existing condition and they died, say, in a car accident, it would pay 100%. After the two-year mark, there is no lookback or question asked. Say you have a 10-year policy, you’re in year three of paying, and the person passes away. The policy would be paid in full. The small cost of insurance is the insurance from the insurance company that protects that individual. At the end of the term they’ve selected, they are completely paid up. They are locked in, and their costs will never go up.