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A Home funeral is when a funeral occurs at a person's home, as opposed to a
funeral home A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral. Services ...
. Though rare since the advent of funeral homes, they were once common events, since washing and laying out the body often took place at home, as well as the viewing, the wake and the burial in the family plot. Some are now preferring to do this themselves.


History

Until the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, most funerals in America were home funerals.


Legality

Most American states allow home funerals, requiring only a death certificate, and legal permission to transport the body. In Canada, the same is required. From the point of view of the funeral director, in home services present additional challenges; access being prime. Care and sensitivity must be taken particularly in a multi-unit situation such as an apartment, condominium or row housing complex. Families are advised to notify neighbours in advance of services in order to avoid unfortunate misunderstandings. Once delivered into the care of the private home, the funeral director is under no legal obligation to remain with the deceased.


See also

*
Natural burial Natural burial is the interment of the body of a dead person in the soil in a manner that does not inhibit decomposition but allows the body to be naturally recycled. It is an alternative to other contemporary Western burial methods and funera ...
* Death midwife


References


External links

* * * * *{{cite book, last1=Sealand, first1=Irene B., others=David Bender (publisher), editor=Bruno Leone, editor2=Bonnie Szumski, editor3=Claudia Debner, chapter=A Home Funeral Consoles The Bereaved, title=Death/dying, date=1984, volume=1, issue=1-100, pages=427-, isbn=9780899085159, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Dw2AQAAIAAJ, publisher=Greenhaven Press, location=St. Paul, MN Funerals Burials