Nothing gives you more pain and stress than the news of a sudden death of a loved one and the need to look for funeral homes Willoughby Hills, OH. You may find yourself facing a rollercoaster of overwhelming emotions and what’s more, you’re the one in charge of the funeral arrangements.

Making funeral arrangements while coping with the grief of the sudden demise of a beloved is difficult – especially if you don’t know where to begin. This article provides a comprehensive guideline to help you steer through this journey one step at a time.

Whom to Notify

Your first course of action would be to notify the relevant authorities about the death of a loved one. Now, the order of events depends on where the death occurred.

• If they died at home or in the workplace, you need to call for a medical emergency. The attending doctor or a medical examiner will examine the body and pronounce the death officially.
• If the person died at a hospital or hospice care, a doctor or a physician will apprise you of the death and ask you to fill the required paperwork certifying the time and cause of the death.
• But if the person died due to unnatural causes, then you need to call 911 or a relevant law enforcement officer before moving the body of the deceased.

After registering the death of the loved one with a relevant department, you need to start shopping for a funeral director. Decide whether you want to bury the body or cremate it and tailor your search accordingly.

Spending enough time to find a perfect funeral director would save you from many troubles down the road and also makes sure all funeral arrangements go as smoothly as planned.

Most hospitals and nursing homes expect you to remove the body as soon as possible, so ask your funeral director to transport the body and complete the death certificate. The funeral director will also take care of all the necessary paperwork as per your State’s requirements.

Notify the Friends and Family

Next, you need to write an obituary, which is a death notice containing the deceased’s name, their brief biography, names of the surviving family members, and the time and location of the funeral service.

An obituary is necessary to communicate the news to people outside your direct contact or closest relationships. This obituary will be printed in a local newspaper and lately, many families publish it online as well. Any requests for donations or charities may also be included in the obituary.

You may have to inform the closest friends and family in person about the loss.

Plan the Final Disposition Services

If the deceased had a will discussing funeral arrangements, then plan all services accordingly. Else, take the input immediate family and funeral director and plan to give the best end-of-life tribute to your loved one – the one they deserved.

A good funeral director will provide you several options, like catering, music, floral arrangements, etc. to help you better customize and personalize the funeral as per your wishes.

You need to make several decisions like where you wish the deceased to be buried, the type of marker or monument you need, the type of casket, and so on. Working with cooperative and professional funeral homes Willoughby Hills, OH, will ease this for you.