1.    Notify the Funeral Home

When death occurs in a care facility.
In most instances, the staff of the care facility will contact the funeral home of your choice if it is on record at the facility.  When death appears imminent, we suggest that you notify the hospital, nursing home or hospice personnel of the funeral home you have chosen to engage.  Upon death, the staff of the care facility (or hospice) nurse will notify the funeral home on your behalf.  Upon the release of the remains, the body will be brought from the place of death to the funeral home.


When death occurs at home
Contact emergency personnel.  In Florida, when a death occurs at home, the law enforcement agency in your area will need to send an officer to your home.  They will assign a case number and pronounce the time of death.  The officer will call the funeral home for you and arrange for the transfer of the deceased to its care.  The remains may not be removed from the home by the funeral home staff until authorized by the law enforcement agency.  In almost all situations, the officer responding to the death call will remain on the scene until the funeral home staff have arrived to transfer the body to the funeral home.

2.   Notify Relative and Friends

The support of relatives and friends will be crucial to you in the next several days.  They volunteer to assist you by answering your phone, by being with you to care for some all of your needs, to run errands or to safeguard your house during periods of long absences.  (Deaths are widely known and publicized, affording burglars unforeseen opportunities.)

3.   Make and Appointment for the Arrangement Conference with your Funeral Director

In most cases, the funeral home will contact you to arrange a mutually convenient time for the Arrangement Conference.  It is important to have an appointment, as this will guarantee that a funeral director will be at your service when you arrive at the funeral home.  Arriving at the funeral home without an appointment could jeopardize our ability to meet with you immediately.  A licensed funeral director is the only individual legally allowed to make an at-need funeral arrangement.  They are also the only individuals allowed to conduct a funeral service.  Arriving without an appointment could find the funeral directors assisting other families either in an Arrangement Conference or in a Service.

4.   Gather Information, Documentation and Items for the Arrangement Conference

The following information and/or documents will be needed by the funeral director:

• Birth Certificate - if the birth certificate is not available, we will need the deceased father's name, mother's name (including maiden name), city and state of birth and  birth date among other details.  A copy of the birth certificate will contain a significant amount of information needed to process the death certificate.
• Level of education and degrees awarded
• Legal address
• Military Discharge Papers (DD214)
• Employment Information
• Names of survivors
• Clothing, including underwear
• Deed to cemetery plot
• Insurance policy/ies, if being used to finance the funeral

5.   Notify your clergy

The funeral director can do this during the Arrangement Conference, at which time the date and time of the service will be determined.  Although you may contact your clergy at any time, please do not confirm a service date and time until you have met with the funeral director.  We must confirm that our schedule is open during the date and time you wish to have your service.  The coordination between funeral home and clergy is a foundation to providing caring and dignified service.

6.   Contact the Cemetery

This is an item that we will be pleased to take care of for you.  In some cases, the corporate cemeteries in our area require a family member to visit the cemetery and sign documents and pay the opening and closing charges at that time.  All cemeteries have their own rules and by-laws.  We will be pleased to assist you in working with the cemetery of your choice.

7.   Call Bank to Notify of Death

The deceased's bank will need to stop direct deposit of Social Security benefits, pension payments, etc.  Even if you had a Power of Attorney on bank accounts, this ceases at the moment of death.

8.   Select Pallbearers

Relatives and close friends of the family (including children and grandchildren) are honored to be asked to serve as pallbearers.  Please avoid anyone with heart or back problems.  If you cannot provide pallbearers, professional bearers are available, sometimes at an extra fee.

9.   Call or Visit Your Florist

You and your florist will work together to create the floral items you wish to provide on behalf of the family.  Often family pieces are coordinated in appearance.  You will have received written instructions from the funeral director indicating the date and time by which flowers must arrive in order to be displayed properly.  Griffith-Cline has a complete list of florists in our area, which is accessible by clicking here.