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"Last summer you supplied the burial vault and casket for my father. Please feel free to post the following on your web if you desire.

My name is XXXX XXXX. Summer of 2009 my father died. My brother and I began the search for a funeral home and all the items required for a funeral. The following are some of the things that I learned.

1) The state of Ohio requires that all funeral directors provide a line item detailed quote to sign off on. Any line item can be refused. 4 of the 6 funeral homes that we interviewed did not provide this information but lumped many items together and when they were questioned specifically on what was included they hedged and said they would "throw it in".

In fact the funeral home that we had used to bury my mother years before and had wanted to use for my father threw us out when we tried to look at the details of the quote.

Stand your ground and make sure you know what you are agreeing to down to a sign in book (which can be purchased at any Party City for $4.95). Each funeral home will pad their quote in a different area which makes it extremely difficult to compare. Don't pay one Penny over the quote.

2) The grave liners that I looked at though each of the funeral homes and directly from the cemetery were $795-$1295 for exactly the same thing. I purchased this product delivered from Main Street Casket for %500.

I was also informed by the cemetery contact that for the additional grave site that I owned that I could use a double liner allowing 2 people to be buried in one grave. Check with your cemetery to see if this is an option for couples. They re-open the grave at the second death and use a joint headstone.

3) The least expensive casket that I looked at in any of the funeral homes was $1300 and it looked cheap. The most expensive I looked at was over $5000. Again I purchased a casket that looked great and felt great from Main Street Casket for $500. It very easily beat the $5000 model I looked at.

When I told the funeral home to remove these items from their quote I was told that they would match the price....why didn't they give me a fair price in the first place....and when I refused they gave me excuses that I would be getting a low quality casket and that it might be scratched. I made it clear that I was from a manufacturing background and that the casket was actually of a thicker steel with a better seal and more ornate than what they had offered me.

Both the casket and liner were delivered in a timely manner and when each was delivered I received a confirming phone call so that I knew all was well. This was handled very very professionally by Main Street Casket.

4) The family wanted a closed casket so I refused the dressing and embalming fees put on by the funeral director. The casket was to be sealed and locked. The funeral director also tried to add on refrigeration fees which I refused. Note: none of these fees are required by state law nor are then needed for a closed sealed casket. The funeral director attempted to play on my emotions on this but my father would have been the first one to applaud my decisions.

5) Out of 6 funeral directors only 1 asked me if I wanted a flag and honor guard for my father who was veteran from WWII. This is free and provided by Veteran's affairs. If a flag is not presented at the funeral the next of kin can request this flag at any point. There is only one flag issued per veteran. The honor guard is a 3 person guard with one of the individuals from the branch of service that the deceased served in. A live bugler is also available for free through Bugler's Across America. They added a significant touch to my father's funeral.

6) Sam's club delivers beautiful flowers much more reasonably than the local florists.

7) The cemetery told me that I had to apply for my father's headstone within a year to get the veteran stipend toward his stone. According to the veteran's site this can be done at any time by any person.

8) My father had a small veteran's insurance policy. If you don't have your relatives' discharge information you can find many military discharge documents on ancestry.com or by doing a google search for the Mormon genealogy website. You should be able to print a copy from either one.

9) If you are dealing with a retired individual remember to check any credit cards to see if they have a death benefit.

Remember to file a final tax return for the individual including all income.

Remember to get an appraisal for any significant asset. Your cost basis in the asset will be stepped up to the value at the date of death.

Also remember to contact Medicare and Blue Cross or any other insurance company to cancel the policy as of the date of death and to issue a refund for any unused premiums.

Don't pay any bills without absolutely knowing what they are and if they are valid in the days after the funeral. For instance my father used a dial up internet service who refused to cancel the account and billed for months after his death because we didn't know the passwords. No I did not pay the account for any time after they were first informed. We did call them numerous times trying to get it closed but they wouldn't budge. After 3 months of very rude phone calls they finally stopped.

I hope this information helps someone"