If a person is cremated, it’s often the funeral director’s job to collect the person’s ashes and give them to the family. This usually happens quite quickly, though most funeral directors will be happy to store the ashes if you need more time.
Sometimes, families don’t collect the ashes from their funeral director. When this happens, the funeral director will usually store them for a long time. Funeral industry guidelines say uncollected ashes should be stored for a minimum of five years. After this period, the funeral home can respectfully dispose of the ashes.