When a loved one passes away, there is a lot for the family to decide. You’ll need to figure out what kind of funeral you want, which tangible reminders you want to keep, and where to locate the deceased person’s final resting place. One of the biggest decisions is whether you’d like to bury or cremate your loved one, especially since this affects the amount of time the body can be kept at a funeral home.
If you’ve chosen a burial, you’ll need to hold the funeral within a few weeks, since this is the maximum amount of time a body can be stored. But if your family member is cremated, you can extend the timeline if necessary. Today, we will have a closer look at how long you can expect the body to remain at the home and what other services you could benefit from.
How Long Can a Body Be Kept at a Funeral Home?
After your loved one passes away, you can safely keep their body at your home for several days, as long as the conditions in the room are cool. If you’re not sure about health and safety regulations, you could ask your funeral director about strategies to preserve the body. A few days after the death, the deceased person will need to be transported to a mortuary, where they can be kept in refrigerated conditions for around 4-6 weeks.
Of course, you and your family can visit them there. Depending on the timing of the funeral, we might recommend embalming your family member. The process involves introducing a chemical to the body so that it can remain stable for longer. Although embalming is a suitable option for open-coffin funerals, it is considered invasive, so we will always check with family members before proceeding.
Your Travel Arrangements
Although we generally recommend that you bury the deceased person around one to two weeks after their death, the timing of the funeral depends on many factors. If the funeral is especially involved and requires a lot of preparation, you might need to delay it further. Similarly, many people have relatives who live in a different state or country. To make sure they can attend the service, you might need to give them some time to prepare suitable travel arrangements.
