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.

When Family Doesn’t Claim Ashes: Timelines, Responsibilities, and Next Steps

When Family Doesn’t Claim Ashes: Timelines, Responsibilities, and Next Steps

When someone dies, the days that follow can feel like a blur of phone calls, paperwork, and decisions no one wanted to make. In the middle of that fog, it...

Backyard Pet Burial Safety Checklist: Depth, Water Table, Wildlife Risks & Legal Basics

Backyard Pet Burial Safety Checklist: Depth, Water Table, Wildlife Risks & Legal Basics

When a beloved pet dies, the urge to bring them home and keep them close can be powerful. For some families, a backyard burial feels like the most natural goodbye—quiet,...

Mississippi Pet Cremation Guide: Laws, Costs & Options

Mississippi Pet Cremation Guide: Laws, Costs & Options

Updated December 23, 2025 for 2026. Losing a pet is never easy, and making decisions about cremation can feel overwhelming. This guide explains pet cremation in Mississippi in clear, compassionate...

Pet Burial When You Rent: Options for Apartment and Condo Dwellers

Pet Burial When You Rent: Options for Apartment and Condo Dwellers

When a pet dies, many people instinctively imagine a peaceful burial—a small ceremony, a favorite blanket, a place to visit on hard days. But if you live in an apartment,...

Creating a Small Family Pet Cemetery on Private Land: Rules, Records, and Respect

Creating a Small Family Pet Cemetery on Private Land: Rules, Records, and Respect

When a pet dies on rural land, the instinct to bring them home can feel both tender and practical. You know the trees they slept under. You know the paths...

Pets in Human Cemeteries: Special Sections, Companion Graves, and What’s Allowed

Pets in Human Cemeteries: Special Sections, Companion Graves, and What’s Allowed

If you have ever stood at a grave and wished you could also visit a pet you loved just as deeply, you already understand why this question is becoming more...

Where Can You Bury a Dog Legally? Home, Pet Cemetery, or Private Land Explained

Where Can You Bury a Dog Legally? Home, Pet Cemetery, or Private Land Explained

When a dog dies, families often feel two strong urges at the same time: the need to do something loving right now, and the fear of getting it wrong. Burial...

Home Pet Burial Laws in the U.S.: Distance, Depth, and When You Need to Choose Another Option

Home Pet Burial Laws in the U.S.: Distance, Depth, and When You Need to Choose Another Option

When a beloved pet dies, the first instinct is often simple: bring them home, choose a quiet place in the yard, and give them a resting place you can visit...

Understanding Your Cemetery Contract: Plot Rights, Fees, and Long-Term Obligations

Understanding Your Cemetery Contract: Plot Rights, Fees, and Long-Term Obligations

In a season of loss—or even in the quieter months of funeral planning—a cemetery contract can feel like a different language. The words look familiar: plot, deed, perpetual care, interment. But...

What to Do If a Headstone Is Leaning, Cracked, or Damaged

What to Do If a Headstone Is Leaning, Cracked, or Damaged

You might notice it from a distance first: a headstone that doesn’t look quite square anymore, a tilt that wasn’t there last time, a corner that seems chipped, or a...

Minnesota Pet Cremation Guide: Laws, Costs & Options

Minnesota Pet Cremation Guide: Laws, Costs & Options

Updated December 22, 2025 for 2026. Losing a pet is never easy, and making decisions about cremation can feel overwhelming. This guide explains pet cremation in Minnesota in a clear,...

Burying vs Cremating a Dog: Legal Issues, Costs, and Emotional Considerations

Burying vs Cremating a Dog: Legal Issues, Costs, and Emotional Considerations

Losing a dog can feel like losing a steady part of your everyday life. The leash still hangs by the door. The food bowl is still where it always was....

Can I Be Buried with My Pet? Human–Pet Companion Burial Options Explained

Can I Be Buried with My Pet? Human–Pet Companion Burial Options Explained

If you’ve ever looked at your dog sleeping at your feet or your cat curled up in the same sunny spot each afternoon and thought, “We’ve done life together,” it...

Pet Cremation Near Me: How to Choose a Trusted Provider (Questions, Costs, Tracking & IAOPCC Tips)

Pet Cremation Near Me: How to Choose a Trusted Provider (Questions, Costs, Tracking & IAOPCC Tips)

Typing pet cremation near me or pet cremation services near me is one of those searches that feels intensely practical and strangely impossible at the same time. You are trying...

How to Bury a Dog at Home: Legal Checks, Safe Depth, and Gentle Goodbye Rituals

How to Bury a Dog at Home: Legal Checks, Safe Depth, and Gentle Goodbye Rituals

Losing a dog can feel like losing a piece of the household’s heartbeat. One moment there’s a familiar weight at your feet, a collar clinking at the door, a nose...

Michigan Pet Cremation Guide: Laws, Costs & Options

Michigan Pet Cremation Guide: Laws, Costs & Options

Updated December 21, 2025 for 2026. Losing a pet is never easy, and making decisions about cremation can feel overwhelming. This guide explains pet cremation in Michigan in clear, compassionate...