MSU Extension: What You Need to Know About Cremation

According to a report from the National Funeral Directors Association, Montana’s cremation rate is well above the national average of 58 percent. In 2021, 79 percent of people who died in the state were cremated.

To address the rise in interest in cremations, MSU Extension has developed a MontGuide on the topic. According to Kaleena Miller, MSU Madison/Jefferson County agent, the MontGuide answers questions such as: Does my body have to be embalmed? Is a casket required? How can my family be assured the ashes given to them are mine? Which survivors can receive my ashes? What can my family do with my ashes? Where can I have my ashes scattered?

Some people chose cremation because the charge is typically less than a traditional burial. However, the total cost depends on the services wanted by the family and the products requested from the crematory, said Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension family economics specialist. The Federal Trade Commission has information about funeral costs and a pricing checklist that includes cremation https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/funeral-costs-pricing- checklist.

In Montana, the state’s Board of Funeral Service, under the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, licenses and governs crematories, crematory operators and technicians, mortuaries, morticians, and privately owned for-profit cemeteries. The Board also hosts a license lookup system that allows consumers to find license or discipline information. More information on the board is online at https://boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/funeral.

Having a conversation among family members about cremation as a preference is important. The survivors need to have clear direction from the family member who had passed on about what they want to be done with their remains after death to avoid potential conflicts.

Sometimes, the conversations are not easy ones. Goetting remembers talking with her dad about wanting to be cremated and his being upset at her choice. “So, we kept talking. He explained when he was in the Air Force in World War II, there was a plane that crash-landed in the Philippines and caught on fire. The plane had four airmen aboard. He said you never forget the smell of burning bodies.” The experience had a profound effect on him and was the reason he did not want to be cremated. Goetting also said, “He respected my choice of cremation.”

To avoid misunderstandings, people who want to be cremated should list their request in a prepaid funeral contract, a written disposition direction, a signed affidavit, or a videotaped disposition direction, said Miller. Further information is available in the MSU Extension MontGuide, “What Are Your Rights Over Your Remains?”

If a person does not leave directions by one of the methods above, there is a Montana statute stating that the right for another person to control the disposition of the remains of the deceased, is in the following order: a spouse, a majority of adult children, a parent, a close relative of the deceased, or in the absence of a person listed previously, a personal representative, a public administrator or others as designated by the Montana Board of Funeral Service. “People who desire cremation should place their request in writing and provide copies of the written instructions to family members,” said Goetting. Copies of the MontGuides about Cremation and What are your rights over your remains can be found at  https://store.msuextension.org. For those who do not have computer access, copies are available from the Madison-Jefferson County Extension office at 287-3282.