The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Freeze a Deceased Person’s Credit: Preventing Post-Mortem Identity Theft (“Ghosting”) - Funeral.com, Inc.

Freeze a Deceased Person’s Credit: Preventing Post-Mortem Identity Theft (“Ghosting”)

In the days after a death, families often feel pulled in two directions at once. One part of you is trying to grieve, to breathe, to get through the next...

DMV License Cancellation After Death: How to Notify the State and Prevent ID Theft - Funeral.com, Inc.

DMV License Cancellation After Death: How to Notify the State and Prevent ID Theft

The first time you see your loved one’s driver’s license after they’re gone, it can land like a small shock. It’s just a card—plastic and laminated, a familiar photo, a...

Cancel or Transfer a Cell Phone Plan After a Death: Verizon & AT&T Policies Made Simple - Funeral.com, Inc.

Cancel or Transfer a Cell Phone Plan After a Death: Verizon & AT&T Policies Made Simple

The phone keeps ringing long after a person is gone. A pharmacy reminder. A “happy birthday” text. A two-factor authentication code that appears right when you’re trying to sign into...

How to Close Utility Accounts After a Death: Phone Scripts for Electric & Gas Companies - Funeral.com, Inc.

How to Close Utility Accounts After a Death: Phone Scripts for Electric & Gas Companies

In the days after someone dies, grief can make time feel warped. You can be in the middle of choosing clothes for a service, answering texts you don’t have the...

Transporting Human Remains Across State Lines: Permits, Paperwork, and Common Options - Funeral.com, Inc.

Transporting Human Remains Across State Lines: Permits, Paperwork, and Common Options

When someone dies far from home, grief often arrives with a second, practical shock: there are decisions to make quickly, and many of them involve logistics you have never had...

Pronouncement of Death at Home: Who Can Do It and What Happens Next - Funeral.com, Inc.

Pronouncement of Death at Home: Who Can Do It and What Happens Next

When someone dies at home, time can feel both fast and strangely still. You may be sitting in a familiar room—one you’ve shared meals in, folded laundry in, laughed in—and...

Pacemakers and Cremation: Why Devices Must Be Removed to Prevent Explosions - Funeral.com, Inc.

Pacemakers and Cremation: Why Devices Must Be Removed to Prevent Explosions

When a death happens, families are asked to make decisions quickly—often while they’re still trying to catch their breath. Cremation can be a gentle, practical choice, but it also comes...

DNA Banking After Death: How Postmortem Samples Are Collected, Stored, and Used - Funeral.com, Inc.

DNA Banking After Death: How Postmortem Samples Are Collected, Stored, and Used

The phone call nobody expects has a way of turning life into logistics. One moment you are hearing words like “sudden,” “unexplained,” and “we’re so sorry,” and the next you...

Private Autopsy Cost: What Families Pay, What’s Included, and How to Request One - Funeral.com, Inc.

Private Autopsy Cost: What Families Pay, What’s Included, and How to Request One

Most families don’t wake up expecting to learn the word “autopsy” in the middle of a crisis. It shows up after a sudden death, an unexpected collapse, a complicated hospital...

Cremation Urn Size Calculator: Pick the Right Capacity for Adults, Kids & Pets - Funeral.com, Inc.

Cremation Urn Size Calculator: Pick the Right Capacity for Adults, Kids & Pets

If you have ever stared at an urn listing that says “200 cubic inches” and felt your mind go blank, you are not alone. Grief has a way of turning...

Coroner vs. Medical Examiner: Who Investigates a Death and Why It Depends on Your County - Funeral.com, Inc.

Coroner vs. Medical Examiner: Who Investigates a Death and Why It Depends on Your County

In the first hours after a death—especially when it’s sudden—families often find themselves learning a new language they never wanted to know. Someone asks whether a coroner vs medical examiner...

Last 48 Hours of Life: Common Physical Changes and Comfort Tips - Funeral.com, Inc.

Last 48 Hours of Life: Common Physical Changes and Comfort Tips

In the last days of life, time can feel strangely elastic. Minutes stretch. Hours blur. You may find yourself watching a loved one’s chest rise and fall, wondering what each...

What to Send After Someone Dies: Thoughtful Sympathy Gifts (UK & US-Friendly Ideas) - Funeral.com, Inc.

What to Send After Someone Dies: Thoughtful Sympathy Gifts (UK & US-Friendly Ideas)

There’s a particular kind of helplessness that shows up after someone dies. You hear the news, your chest tightens, and your mind starts searching for something you can do that...

Are Cremains Really “Ashes”? What They Look Like, Weigh, and Why - Funeral.com, Inc.

Are Cremains Really “Ashes”? What They Look Like, Weigh, and Why

The first time many families receive cremated remains, there’s a quiet moment of surprise. You’re handed a container—sometimes a simple plastic box, sometimes a cardboard temporary urn—and you realize you’re...

Sympathy Group Gifts & Gift Cards: What to Send When You Want to Help - Funeral.com, Inc.

Sympathy Group Gifts & Gift Cards: What to Send When You Want to Help

When someone dies, the first impulse is often the same: do something, quickly. You want the grieving family to feel held—by love, by community, by the steady reassurance that they...

What Are Cremation Ashes Made Of? What “Cremains” Really Are (and Aren’t) - Funeral.com, Inc.

What Are Cremation Ashes Made Of? What “Cremains” Really Are (and Aren’t)

Families often use the word “ashes” because it’s the language we’ve grown up with. But when a cremation is complete and you receive the container back, what you’re holding isn’t...