Planning funerals at funeral homes in Bedford Heights, OH is something many people are unfamiliar with because we don’t plan funerals until our loved one dies. The process of planning a funeral can leave you confused, overwhelmed, and exhausted because so many decisions need to be made so quickly.

When you choose a trusted funeral home to help guide you through the funeral planning process, you can make sure that you avoid some of the most common mistakes that people make when they are planning a funeral.

One common funeral planning mistake is not asking questions. When you’re planning your loved one’s funeral, you are in a state of shock and numbness because death creates a chemical response in the brain that protects you from the blunt blow of the loss.

However, this “fog of grief,” as it is known, can keep you from asking important questions when you’re making funeral arrangements. Therefore, you should take another family member or a trusted friend with you to the funeral home and be willing to let them ask questions about funeral options.

Your funeral director will gladly answer any questions at any time, and they will offer invaluable advice in situations where you may not know how you want to proceed. Because of our unfamiliarity with death and funerals, we have a lot of questions we don’t know the answers to. Don’t be afraid to ask those questions or have a family member or trusted friend ask them.

Another common funeral planning mistake is thinking that the funeral rituals you are arranging are for your loved one. While there is an aspect to funeral services that pays tribute and honor to the memory of your loved one, funeral rituals are primarily for the people your loved one has left behind.

Funeral rituals give you and others an opportunity to be comforted, supported, and loved in a time of intense loss and grief. They also are designed to help you and others get closure, which is an important step in the grieving journey and the healing process after a loved one dies.

Therefore, even though planning funeral services and other events can be time-consuming, they serve a vital purpose that you will not get to experience if you decide you want to skip them.

Grief is not an event with a firm beginning and a firm end. But a common funeral planning mistake is to believe that it is. The reality is that the grief you experience when your loved one dies will not be over when the funeral is over.

In fact, because of the “fog of grief” discussed earlier, you may not experience the full expression of your grief until after the funeral is over. And that grief will run its course through weeks, months, and perhaps a year or two, until it mellows – but doesn’t disappear completely – into warm memories of your loved one.

The mistaken belief that grief ends with the funeral can cause people so much unnecessary pain, questioning, and sorrow for a long time because their expectations are not matching reality.

When you understand that grief is a journey, then you can better manage the ups and downs of the road before you. You can set limits on what you will and won’t do while you’re on that road.

A wise piece of advice about grief after the loss of a loved one is to not make any major decisions for at least one year after their death. That is because grief isn’t logical, rational, or objective, and you don’t want to make big any decisions you made emotionally that you will regret later.

If you’d like to learn more about planning funerals at funeral homes in Bedford Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

When planning funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland Heights, OH, people may not be aware that there are special ways they can show honor to their deceased loved ones who are military veterans.

If you’re planning a funeral for your loved one who served in any branch of the armed forces, the funeral home can help you highlight their military service during the funeral service. Here’s how and what you’ll need to bring to the funeral home when you make funeral arrangements.

When you meet with the funeral director to make your loved one’s funeral plans, you should bring their military separation orders (Form DD-214) with you. The funeral director will copy this because they will need it to arrange for military honors, as well as other funeral benefits your loved one is eligible for.

All military veterans who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable are eligible for free burial or inurnment in a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national or state cemetery. Their spouses and dependent children are also eligible for free burial there as well.

The burial in a VA national or state cemetery includes a gravesite, opening and closing the grave, a grave liner for casket burial, a headstone, and free perpetual care of the grave.

The funeral director will make arrangements with the VA to coordinate the services and the burial or inurnment in a VA national or state cemetery, and the funeral home will handle all the other aspects of your loved one’s funeral.

Another funeral entitlement from the Department of Defense that is available to all military veterans (except those who were dishonorably discharged) is military honors. Military honors are typically presented at the end of your loved one’s funeral service or graveside service.

The presentation of military honors is a deeply significant ceremony. Your loved one will have an American flag draped over their casket (if the final disposition is inurnment, a military flag will be held during the service).

Members of a local National Guard unit or a local veterans organization will fold the flag in 12 folds (each fold represents an aspect of military service) and then present the folded flag to a family member.

Military honors also includes a rifle salute and the playing of “Taps” as a tribute and as a goodbye to your loved one.

If your loved one was a military veteran, but either they or you wanted to be buried in a private cemetery, the VA will still provide a grave marker or headstone at no cost. However, they do not set the grave marker or headstone, but your funeral director can help you get that done.

Another military honor for your loved one that the funeral home can help obtain is a presidential memorial certificate. The presidential memorial certificate is a gold-embossed certificate of thanks that is signed by the current president of the United State. It is something that you can frame and keep as part of your remembrance of your loved one.

Many funeral homes host special Veterans Day and Memorial Day events to honor deceased military veterans. Look for those and plan to spend some time with others who are honoring their veterans who have died.

In addition, most VA and private cemeteries have special ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. You can check with the cemetery where your loved one is buried to find out what kind of events they have scheduled for these two national holidays that honor military veterans.

If you’d like to learn more about funeral benefits for veterans at funeral homes in Cleveland Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

After funerals at funeral homes in Bedford, OH, personal representatives are responsible for handling the estates of their deceased loved ones. If you’ve been named as the personal representative for your loved one’s estate, you may not know exactly what responsibilities you have in that role. This guide should help.

Being the personal representative for your loved one’s estate means that your loved one trusted you enough to handle their final affairs. However, being an estate personal representative can be a time intensive and difficult assignment for you to carry out.

Estate personal representatives are responsible for paying their deceased loved one’s debts, taxes (if owed), and other creditors from the estate assets. After these are paid, the estate personal representative then distributes the rest of the state according to the deceased loved one’s wishes.

While this sounds like it is straightforward, much of this may require doing a lot of research, filling out a lot of paperwork, and keeping up with deadlines. You, as the estate personal representative, may have to deal with family disputes during the process. It’s a lot to ask of somebody, but your deceased loved one knew you could do it.

So, what do you need to know about your responsibilities as an estate personal representative?

The first thing you’ll need to do is locate and safeguard all the estate’s probate assets. Probate assets are anything in the estate that was owned solely by your deceased loved one. Examples might be a business, a vehicle, or a piece of property.

Anything that your deceased loved one owned jointly with someone else will is not part of the probate estate. For example, if your loved one owned a house with their spouse or they owned a business with someone else, the house or business passes on to the surviving joint owner.

The same is true with joint financial accounts (checking, savings, etc.) and life insurance and retirement or investment accounts that have designated beneficiaries.

Anything that is a probate asset must be appraised for its value as of the date your loved one died. You will need a professional appraiser (real estate agent for the property and certified public accountant for a business) to determine the value. For financial accounts that were solely held by your deceased loved one, you will need to obtain current bank statements.

You will also need to identify all your deceased loved one’s creditors and pay off the debts owed to them. Typically, a notice of death published in a local newspaper will satisfy this obligation since it serves as a notice of death and creditors can then make claims against the estate.

Hopefully, your loved one left a list of creditors to whom they owed money, and this process will be relatively easy and straightforward.

You may need to file a final state and federal tax return for your deceased loved one. Consult with a certified professional accountant to see if this step is necessary for the estate you are representing.

As the estate personal representative, you will also need to pay any ongoing expenses for the estate. These would include things like utilities (residential) and operating expenses (business) that the estate has.

Once the debts of the estate have been paid, then the estate personal representative can distribute the rest of the assets according to the deceased loved one’s specifications.

It’s important to know that all your out-of-pocket expenses for managing and settling your deceased loved one’s estate are eligible to be reimbursed by the estate. Keep detailed records and receipts for everything you spend. You may also be entitled to a small fee (generally about 2% of the estate’s net worth) for your work as a personal representative.

If you’d like to learn more about being an estate personal representative from funeral homes in Bedford, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

After funerals at funeral homes in Bedford Heights, OH, people will visit cemeteries to spend time with their loved ones who are buried there. When you go to a cemetery, you might be aware that they have rules that are designed to keep the cemetery serene and well-maintained so that everyone who visits can have a peaceful and meaningful experience.

Before you go to the cemetery to visit your loved one, check out their website for the information you need to know (most cemeteries have rules posted near their entrances as well) and to look at a detailed map of the cemetery so you know how to get your loved one gravesite.

When you get to the cemetery, be respectful of other people who are visiting. For example, if a burial service is happening when you enter the cemetery, keep a polite amount of distance away from it out of respect for the deceased and the grieving family while you pass by.

Don’t stop to linger or watch. Also, you should be sure to leave your cellphone in your vehicle or to mute it so that it doesn’t disturb anyone else who is in the cemetery.

When you’re driving into and through a cemetery, drive slowly and cautiously. Keep your focus on the cemetery road so that you can slow down or stop for other visitors who may be crossing the road or coming onto the road from visiting their loved one’s grave.

Stay on the paved road of the cemetery at all times and do not drive or park on the grass. If another car approaches yours from the opposite direction, be sure to allow the driver enough space to safely pass by you.

Every grave in the cemetery represents someone’s loved one who has died. Be mindful of this as you walk through the cemetery. Walk between the grave markers and do not walk on top of graves.

As interesting as some headstones in the cemetery may be, do not touch them. For one thing, touching a headstone is considered disrespectful. For another thing, touching really old headstones could damage them. Additionally, do not lean on or sit on any of the headstones.

Although cemeteries have maintenance crews that work hard every day to keep the cemeteries pristine for visitors, each person who visits the cemetery to see a loved one can do their part to help with this process.

When you bring flowers and other gifts to place at your loved one’s grave, be sure to clean up any wrapping or tags that may be attached. Make sure that you pick up any other debris that you might see on the way to or at your loved one’s grave. The cemetery will have trashcans that are easy to see and get to, so throw away all the trash you have before you leave the cemetery.

Cemeteries are fascinating places. Because of that many people love to take photographs in cemeteries. There may be unique grave markers or graves of people who are mysterious or locally well known. Take photographs in cemeteries is okay as long as you are taking pictures of the cemetery itself and not people in the cemetery.

Make sure, if you have other family members going to the cemetery with you, that everyone in your party knows what the rules of the cemetery are. If everyone who visits cemeteries follows these rules, cemeteries will truly remain places for our loved ones to rest in peace.

If you’d like to learn more about cemetery etiquette at funeral homes in Bedford Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Before funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland Heights, OH, you may be caring for a loved one who has advanced dementia. You may not know it, but hospice care is not just for terminal diseases like cancer or organ failure.

Hospice care can be effective for people who may be experiencing a wide range of chronic conditions including renal failure, heart failure, liver failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and dementia. However, it’s important to know that once you have your loved one admitted to hospice care, these chronic diseases will be managed, but there will be no treatment to extend life.

Unlike many chronic diseases, dementia can be difficult to characterize in terms of stages of the disease. If your caregiver for someone with dementia, you know firsthand that every day can be different. You may have some days where your loved one is doing relatively well and you may have other days where the neurological decline is plainly evident.

The life expectancy of your loved one with dementia is also difficult to predict. Whether your loved one has vascular dementia, frontotemporal lobe dementia, Lewy body dementia, or Alzheimer’s disease, or a combination of different types of dementia, it can be difficult to determine when hospice care is appropriate.

Because of the difficulties with communication in the later stages of dementia, you may not know if your loved one is in pain, experiencing discomfort, or needs and wants anything. Even if your loved one can communicate, the communication may not reflect what’s actually going on with them.

This can complicate your decision about getting hospice care for your loved one.

Dementia in terms of hospice eligibility is difficult to assess. With many other chronic or terminal diseases, life expectancy can be relatively estimated in concrete terms. With dementia life expectancy cannot be estimated with any certainty.

Most hospice care agencies have admission policies that include terminal health conditions with a life expectancy of six months or less. Therefore, it’s critical that you and your loved one’s medical care team work together to try to identify when your loved one is in the late stages of dementia.

It’s not unusual for dementia patients to get admitted to hospice care for the comorbid conditions, such as heart failure or kidney failure. But, if it’s clear that your loved one has progressed to the end stage of dementia, they will be admitted to hospice care so that they can get comfort care until the end of their life.

Hospice care agencies use two criteria to determine whether your loved one with dementia can be admitted.

The first thing that hospice care agencies use is your loved one’s ranking on the FAST scale. The Reisberg Functional Assessment Staging (FAST) scale has 16 items that can determine how many stages your loved one with dementia has gone through (there are seven stages on the scale).

If your loved one has a stage 7 ranking on the FAST scale, then they will have progressed to severe dementia with incontinence and the inability to dress, bathe, walk, or go to the bathroom without your assistance. In stage 7, your loved one may be unable to communicate at all or may not be able to communicate effectively.

The other criteria that hospice care agencies use to determine admission eligibility for your loved one with dementia is comorbid conditions. Comorbid conditions directly related to dementia can include pressure ulcers, extreme weight loss, sepsis, and pneumonia.

If you’d like to learn about planning funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.