My grandmother in another state is about to pass away. The state has been taking care of her in a nursing home. I have no funds to pay for a funeral and there are no other family members. Are there any options?
2007-02-21 14:05:47 · 8 answers · asked by msdker 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Community Service
If she truly has nothing, some counties will pay a minimal amount to the funeral home to do a direct burial. This will cost you nothing.
If she ever paid the nursing home directly before she qualified for Medicaid, you could have paid that money into a funeral contract with a funeral home instead (an irrevocable funeral trust.) That is what everyone should do when entering a nursing home before they pay anything to the nursing home. That way she just qualifies for Medicaid sooner and her funds are legally set aside for her funeral. Too late in this case of course.
2007-02-23 00:38:29 · answer #1 · answered by J. B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The least expensive tends to be cremation. If you wish to hold a viewing you can rent a casket for that alone and then buy a wooden box for a cremation.
Call at least 3 funeral homes in the area in which your grandmother lives and inquire about the cost for cremation.
If you have no money at all there may be a way to go on the payment plan. Also ask the nursing home if they are aware of assistance to bury (cremate) indigent citizens. Some areas of the country may provide funds.
2007-02-21 21:26:46 · answer #2 · answered by creole lady 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I went through this recently and opted for cremation and no service which means no viewing. It is very expensive to have an open casket viewing because they have to prepare the body. If she has no other family that would want to have a service for her you can simply have the nursing home transfer her body to the funeral home where cremation will take place. Keep in mind there will be cost though - but if it's too much you can always make payments.
Double check and make sure your grandma did not purchase a plot when she was first married or inherited one. She may also have a small life insurance policy. If she worked she most certainly had one or inherited one.
I would also suggest you have your grandma tell you or write down her favorite memory in life. It's inexpensive and will make her feel good her last few days of life. You can place it next to her cremated ashes.
2007-02-21 18:32:38 · answer #3 · answered by GranolaGurl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could donate your grandmother's remains to a medical university. Her remains will serve a valuable use to future medical students; afterwards, the school will cremate the remains and you can receive the ashes later.
As far as a low-no-cost service -- can you arrange with the nursing home to have a small service in their dining room? That would be a comfort for the residents that knew her and know that you care.
2007-02-21 17:19:33 · answer #4 · answered by idahdespida 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can try asking for charity coverage from your grandmothers local parish if she attended their services and the pastor knows her pretty good... there are funds set aside just for times like this... she would have to be a Catholic though... for the other religions I could only assume they would help.
now if your grandmother was a loner then you will probably have to go with cremation that the local social services will will take care of... don't waste your time asking Social Security for anything other than the $255.00 put aside for every tax paying citizen to help defray costs when a person pasts on... what a joke this Government Agency has turned out to be... you appear to be a noble person... I'm sure your grandmothers guardian angels will notice this gesture and help... God bless and good luck~~~
2007-02-21 22:17:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cremation is the cheapest. What normally costs two to three thousand dollars, can be done for less or nothing if there are no funds. Ask the Social Worker who works for the nursing home. She can help.
2007-02-21 14:24:40 · answer #6 · answered by Big Bear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cremation is generaly cheaper than burial.
and you can usually find a proest that will give you a few hours of his time in cases of low income families. or cases of proest's that simply never charge for services, yes they do exist.
other than that i do not know much.
2007-02-21 14:12:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
she can be buried in a potters field.
Find out if her state has one. Im sure they do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter's_field
2007-02-21 16:45:55 · answer #8 · answered by momof3 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋