Often the deceased has made their wishes known, but if not then it is up to the family to choose. Whatever your choice, Simplicity Funerals will be able to take care of the arrangements for you. In New Zealand, there are four options available: burial, cremation, burial at sea or donating a body to medical science. Burial In the past, this was the most common choice and is still favoured by many. It provides a family with a focal point, a grave to go to where they remember their loved one. Burial involves buying a burial plot, paying an interment fee, which covers the cost of digging the grave and maintaining it, and usually buying a memorial or headstone. In almost all cases, the places people can be buried are limited by law to official cemeteries or traditional burial grounds. If you wish you can fill the grave in but conditions apply. Cremation Cremation provides greater flexibility when choosing a final resting place because there is no restriction to specific places of burial or scattering. Ashes can be buried in a cemetery or special memorial area, or they can be scattered somewhere the family or deceased thought appropriate, such as in a garden, at sea, or in a favourite place. Some people split the ashes between different places. A memorial or plaque is often chosen to provide the focal point for the family. The process of cremation involves placing the body within the casket into a cremator – a large metal box with room for only one casket. The cremation process takes approximately two to four hours. The ashes are removed from the cremator and placed in an Acrylic container, about 25cm long and 14cm wide. They are then available for families to collect, usually within 48 hours. We have a range of attractive urns and scatter tubes available for you to choose from. We also have some very nice cremation jewellery / keepsakes Burial at Sea This requires a special casket, which we can provide. There are specially designated areas off the New Zealand coastline for burial at sea which we can show you and then help with the arrangements. Organ Donation If there is interest in the option of organ donation or leaving the body to medical science, arrangements need to be made prior to death. Simplicity Funerals can provide information about your options.