When an individual is cremated do the family receive the correct ashes?

Question

I believe that they do but I have heard some horror stories.

Thanks Stephan Undertaker. Please could you provide any more details you may have.
Much appreciated.

Answer 1

As an undertaker, I can 100% guarantee that the ashes you get are the ashes of the deceased and nobody elses mixed in! We follow a strict procedure (Burial & Cremation Act) so that mistakes are not made.
Any further questions on this subject most welcome!

Answer 2

Yes, the family absolutely receives the ashes of their loved one. Contrary to popular belief, most funeral directors are very compassionate, honest and upstanding people, however, people tend to believe all the the negative things they hear, regardless of whether or not they are true. We really take a bad rap, people constantly calling us crooks, thieves and liars, however, if they actually looked into the profession, they would find just the opposite. I'm not saying this is your opinion, just a vast misunderstanding.
Cremation is performed one at a time, the chamber is vacuumed after the cremation with a special vacuum, and any large bone fragements are ground down to a uniform consistency and added to the rest of the remains.
Take care!

Answer 3

As a Funeral Director and Embalmer that has vast experience with cremation I can tell you that the bodies are cremated one at a time in a common crematory that is used over and over so yes there is some co-mingling of the ashes.

Answer 4

I too have heard these stories but I also know from experience of dealing with funeral directors and crematoriums that they are very professional and sensitive to people's grief. I truly believe that you get the correct ashes.

Answer 5

who knows? i'm sure many are correct, but fraud and mistakes are documentable. don't trust an undertaker to be unbiased and do some homework.
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From News
The operator of a crematory in Volusia County, Fla., was arrested Tuesday night after being accused of purposely giving customers the wrong ashes, according to Local 6 News. Investigators said All State Cremation operator Mark Monti gave ashes to families on at least two occasions even though their loved ones had not yet been cremated. Monti was forced to shut down his business pending a full investigation, according to the report.The families who allegedly received the ashes have since been given the correct remains, Local 6 News reported.
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Sunday, December 3, 2006
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS USA Headlines
PONTIAC, Mich. A woman who delivered a stillborn child claims in a lawsuit that a hospital released the wrong body to a funeral home for cremation and took more than a month to inform her of the mix-up. Jordan Engelhardt, of Flint, said in a lawsuit filed in Oakland County Circuit Court that she learned last January that an urn of ashes on the mantel of her home did not contain the remains of her son, Maxxwell Sebastian Engelhardt.
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Dozens of families apparently get wrong ashes from funeral home Canadian Press Nov. 10, 2006 07:30 AM

PRINCETON, Canada - Authorities are recommending 78 charges against a former funeral director after dozens of people apparently received ashes that weren't their loved ones' remains.
"Up to 78 charges related to fraud, breach of trust and violations under the Cremation Act were recommended," Constable Guy Pollock said Thursday. Police began an investigation of Fred Netherton, the town's former funeral director, after the ashes of 51 people were found at the defunct Princeton-Similkameen Funeral Services last spring
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An undertaker conned a grieving mother out of nearly £1,700 by supplying her with the wrong ashes after the death of her son, a court heard today. Roger Barker, 57, of Grove, near Wantage, in Oxfordshire, scattered ashes apparently belonging to Lee Kent, who died after a road accident in October 2003 aged 27, as his parents Paul and Sheila watched.
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SEABROOK - A class-action lawsuit was filed yesterday against a Seabrook crematorium and 16 funeral homes and businesses in New England that used it. The lawsuit claims that those funeral home directors and businesses knew or should have known that Bayview Crematorium was co-mingling bodies during cremation and mishandling the remains. Bayview handled thousands of cremations a year from funeral homes in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island before it was shut down by New Hampshire officials Feb. 23. The suit, filed by a national law firm yesterday in a Boston federal court, alleges that thousands of New England families cannot be sure that Bayview gave them the correct ashes because the funeral homes allowed Bayview employees to pick up bodies in a box truck. The bodies were then taken to a facility where multiple bodies were cremated together, attorneys said.
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Answer 6

yes. the bones that remain in the furnace are taken out and put into a machine that resembles a washing machine. they are put in with big rocks and as they are ground down they fall out the bottom and are collected in a box.
i seen a docu on tv. everything was documented from start to finish on who the person was.

Answer 7

I would hope so... Although it would be difficult to prove!!! Never heard of any stories related to it.

Answer 8

unfortunately it is something you cannot prove or disprove I believe you just have to accept it

Answer 9

At the end of the day, who cares?

Answer 10

Does it matter? As long as you think it is the correct ashes then all is well.