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.

How to Get a Pronouncement of Death at Home

How to Get a Pronouncement of Death at Home

When someone dies at home, the house can feel suddenly unfamiliar. The sounds are the same, the light is the same, but time seems to move differently. In those first...

What to Do in the First Hour After Someone Dies at Home

What to Do in the First Hour After Someone Dies at Home

When someone dies at home, time can feel both rushed and unreal. You may be staring at a room that looks exactly the same as it did an hour ago,...

Who to Call First When Someone Dies (Who to Notify When Someone Dies)

Who to Call First When Someone Dies (Who to Notify When Someone Dies)

After a death, even simple actions can feel difficult: making a phone call, saying the words out loud, asking for help. If you’re searching for who to call first, you’re...

Pets at Home Funerals: Should They See the Body? Understanding Animal Reactions and Safety

Pets at Home Funerals: Should They See the Body? Understanding Animal Reactions and Safety

In the first hours after a death, a home can feel like it has changed its temperature. The air is quieter. People speak in shorter sentences. Even when grief is...

Candle Safety for Vigils: A Practical Protocol for Homes, Kids, Pets, and Overnight Burning

Candle Safety for Vigils: A Practical Protocol for Homes, Kids, Pets, and Overnight Burning

Candles can make a vigil feel steady. They give people a shared center when words are hard. But vigils are also high-risk moments for open flames: people are tired, emotions...

Creating a Home Altar for a Vigil: Photos, Objects, Offerings, and a Calm Sacred Space

Creating a Home Altar for a Vigil: Photos, Objects, Offerings, and a Calm Sacred Space

In the first hours after a loss—or in the quiet days when plans are still taking shape—many families find themselves wanting something simple and steady. Not a “perfect” memorial. Not...

Music for a Home Vigil: Building a Playlist That Sets the Tone Without Overwhelming Guests

Music for a Home Vigil: Building a Playlist That Sets the Tone Without Overwhelming Guests

In the first hour of a home vigil, people often arrive carrying two things at once: grief and uncertainty. They want to show up, but they do not always know...

Eulogies at Home: How to Deliver One Simply, Even If You’re Nervous

Eulogies at Home: How to Deliver One Simply, Even If You’re Nervous

The day a family gathers at home, grief often arrives as ordinary logistics. Someone moves the coffee table. A neighbor drops off food. A cousin brings extra chairs. And in...

Children at Home Funerals: How to Prepare Kids for Viewing, Questions, and Big Feelings

Children at Home Funerals: How to Prepare Kids for Viewing, Questions, and Big Feelings

The house can feel different after someone dies—quiet in a way that has weight. Adults move softly, phones buzz, and the kitchen table fills with paperwork and half-finished cups of...

Using a Password Manager for Family Access: Emergency Contacts, Vault Sharing, and Safer Workflows

Using a Password Manager for Family Access: Emergency Contacts, Vault Sharing, and Safer Workflows

Most families do not realize how “digital” loss can feel until they are in it. The death certificate is in progress. The funeral home is asking simple questions. A bank...

Preserving a Loved One’s Blog with the Wayback Machine: What It Saves, What It Misses, and How to Help

Preserving a Loved One’s Blog with the Wayback Machine: What It Saves, What It Misses, and How to Help

In the days after a death, families often discover that grief has a digital echo. A loved one’s words live on in places that feel surprisingly fragile: a personal blog,...

iCloud Inheritance and Apple Legacy Contact: How Access Works and What Families Need

iCloud Inheritance and Apple Legacy Contact: How Access Works and What Families Need

After someone dies, families are asked to carry grief and logistics at the same time. And in a life that runs on devices, one of the most emotional logistical questions...

How to Transfer Genealogy Files After a Death: GEDCOM Exports, Media, and Account Ownership

How to Transfer Genealogy Files After a Death: GEDCOM Exports, Media, and Account Ownership

When the person who managed your family tree dies, the loss is not only personal—it can feel like the family’s history is suddenly at risk. You might know there are...

Who Owns Your DNA Data? Privacy, Consent, and What Happens When a Testing Company Changes Hands

Who Owns Your DNA Data? Privacy, Consent, and What Happens When a Testing Company Changes Hands

Direct-to-consumer DNA testing can feel like a small, contained choice: you buy a kit, you spit in a tube, and a few weeks later you learn something interesting about your...

Face ID After Death: What Families Should Know About iPhone Biometric Locks

Face ID After Death: What Families Should Know About iPhone Biometric Locks

There is a particular kind of frustration that shows up in the first days after a death. You are already carrying grief, phone calls, and decisions, and then one ordinary...

Reporting a Deceased Person on Dating Apps: How to Remove Profiles and Protect Their Privacy

Reporting a Deceased Person on Dating Apps: How to Remove Profiles and Protect Their Privacy

Seeing a loved one’s dating profile after they’ve died can feel like a jolt to the body. It can be grief all over again—especially when the profile looks current, shows...