Our goal is to make certain that at no time will family members be without support. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity voluntary. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, thus allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them. Most states, however, require embalming when death was caused by a reportable contagious disease or when remains are to be transported from one state to another by common carrier or if final disposition is not to be made within a prescribed number of hours. However, cremation often follows a traditional funeral service.
Cremation is the second most common form of disposition in the United States.
In other countries, such as England and Japan, cremation is the most common form of disposition. There are a variety of options for the final disposition of cremated remains. Urns or other containers may be placed in a niche at a columbarium, a structure or room designed to contain cremated remains. Families may elect to bury the urn in a family plot or cemetery or keep it in another place of personal significance, such as the home. Subject to some restrictions, cremated remains can be scattered by air, over the ground or over water.