by Buffy Cranford

Created on: November 05, 2009   Last Updated: December 09, 2009

The cremation process often occurs days after the funeral for your loved one. Determining a proper burial or resting place for the remains should honor the person who passed. Although some urns are masterfully crafted to adorn your fireplace, families often struggle with the decision of keeping the ashes, scattering the remains, or burying the ashes so family and friends can visit a gravesite.

Urns provide a protective and dignified receptacle for cremated remains. Permanent urns are available in various shapes and sizes crafted out of bronze, wood and solid blocks of marble. Sheet bronze is shaped into cube or chest shapes.

Remains are often sprinkled in a special resting spot such as a residence, garden, park, or the ocean. For example, many families of Navy veterans send ashes on U.S. Coast Guard cutters for sea burial. Although sprinkling remains at a residence is optional, visiting the site of the scattering could be awkward for future generations if the family home is sold. When you arrange the funeral, the funeral director can direct you to cemeteries that provide gardens to sprinkle the remains. This allows the family a place to visit their loved one, similar to visiting a grave site. Families may also be drawn to beautiful or memorable State or National park areas, but before you attempt memorialize your loved one in a park, you may require a special permit for the scattering of remains.

There are a variety of companies providing services where remains are placed in helium balloons, fireworks, or shotgun shells and then released or discharged. Remains can also be mixed into paint used for creating a portrait of the deceased, and some have mixed the ashes with tattoo ink.

Other families may choose to honor the cremation wishes of the deceased, and place the ashes in a casket for burial in the cemetery in the family plot. Ashes buried in a cemetery must be placed in a container or urn, and the urn is placed inside a specialized urn vault, protecting the urn and remains. Graves are often dug with back hoes, the earth replaced after the burial, and then packed with heavy equipment. The pressure of machinery packing the soil can break an urn or cause the soil to settle, leading to erosion. For this reason, most cemeteries require a vault (or concrete box) for all burials.

Sometimes family members prefer a joint burial, where you can save the ashes of a previously passed loved one and combine the two urns in a casket for burial. For pre-existing plots, some cemeteries may allow you to bury an urn within a vault atop an existing plot.

A columbarium, a wall or building constructed with multiple compartments designed to hold one or two urns, is another option for burial of remains. Many cemeteries have one or more columbarium's where families can purchase cremation plots. Some churches have also added columbarium's in memorial gardens or chapels.

Whether you select a casket burial, a columbarium, scatter ashes at sea, or prefer to keep an urn for the family, there are numerous options for honoring those passed. Check with your funeral director for guidance in deciding the proper memorial options for your loved one.

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