How To Get Free Cremation For Low Income – The cost of the funeral in America goes high up to $12,000 which can be a huge financial obstacle for poor households. Cremation services are cheaper compared to undergoing each step of the funeral process but still may cost thousands of dollars. It’s an unfortunate truth that a lot of individuals in the United States of America cannot afford the cremation services for their loved ones.
A lot of people have to crowdfund to collect donations to cover the funeral and cremation expenses. Fortunately, there are resources in place that help low-income families with financial assistance for cremation. In this comprehensive guide, we will break down some of the best resources that you can explore if you want to pay for cremation with no money.
Highlights of this Post
Key Takeaway
- Funeral costs in the US can be substantial, with cremation often being a more affordable option.
- Various resources exist to help low-income families access free cremation services.
- Eligibility criteria typically include income level, lack of savings or insurance, and specific circumstances like unclaimed bodies or veterans’ status.
How Much Does Cremation Costs In the United States Of America?
The cost of cremation may vary widely depending on services chosen from your location and the particular Funeral Home or Crematory you are choosing. The cost of a basic cremation service on an average ranges between $1000 to $3000. The price may range high up to $4000 or above if you require additional services such as memorial service or urn. It is better to shop around and get estimations from multiple providers to make a well-informed decision.
Know more about how to get a funeral advantage program to assist seniors in our next guide.
Who Qualifies For a Free Cremation?
The eligibility criteria for free cremation generally depends on a wide array of factors including eligibility for government assistance programs, income level, lack of savings or insurance to cover the end-of-life expense and location. Following is the list of people who can avail free cremation:
- Unclaimed bodies in a morgue
- Low-income families and individuals going through financial struggle and earning below the national poverty level
- Individuals who cannot afford conventional funerals or make any funeral arrangements
- Individuals who are choosing to donate their bodies to science
- Someone who is a member of an Indigenous tribe
- Someone whose death is a result of a national law disaster
- Parents who have lost a child
- Veterans and military members
- Someone whose death occurred as a result of a crime
- Someone who was on Social Security
Some of the common eligibility criteria to get free funeral assistance for low-income families are as follows:
- Must give certified copies of the death certificate and cremation
- Be a citizen of the United States or a legal/ permanent resident
- Proof of financial hardship that you’re going through such as loss of income, death of a bread earner of the family, eviction or foreclosure,
- Must belong to a low-income category and have income below a specific percentage of the federal poverty level.
What Documentation Is Required For Free Cremation For Low-Income Families?
To apply for free cremation services for low-income individuals in the United States you need to provide proof of the following documents.
- Personal Identity: Applicants have to provide their identification documents in the form of valid photo ID like a state ID card, passport or driver’s license.
- Proof of Residency: A few programs or organizations require documents showing the current address of the applicant for instance disagreement or utility bill.
- Proof of Income. This includes recent pay stubs, bank statements or documents stating their participation in government assistance programs, tax returns etc.
Additional documents requested by the organization for instance proof of financial hardship or eligibility criteria specific to the program. You must reach out to the organization or program offering the services to confirm the specific eligibility criteria and document requirements.
How To Get Free Cremation For Low-Income Families?
A lot of low-income families struggle in the United States of America to pay for the funerals of their loved ones. Often the death of a dear one including the funeral comes as an unexpected event. If you are finding it unaffordable to bear the funeral expenses of your loved one then you can get a free cremation from various resources such as the following:
Government Programs For Cremation Assistance
Veterans Affairs (VA)
The Veterans Affairs provides a wide array of funeral assistance depending on different factors. VA provides burial costs up to $796. In case the death of the veteran was service-related reasons then the department offers federal assistance up to $2000.
Veterans’ spouses receive an additional payout if their serving partner is killed while on active duty. This also includes veterans who die at a later date from illnesses or injuries sustained during that active service. The VA benefits cover funeral expenses like remission costs for eligible veterans and their dependents. To know more, you can contact your local VA office or visit the official website.
Social Security Administration Benefits
A one-time date settlement up to $255 is provided by the Social Security Administration to children or spouses of someone who has died. Even though it is not enough to cover the funeral or cremation it can help you offset some costs.
You have to meet SSA requirements to get the settlement. If the deceased person was a retirement age his/ her children and spouse may be eligible to collect the survivor’s benefits. The benefits can help you to offset the funeral or cremation cost.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides burial assistance when someone dies due to a national disaster as declared by the president. These are the last resort for some unable to afford a casket or urn for burial, marker or headstone and a burial port. For instance, FEMA will provide real assistance to someone who drowns during a hurricane as a result of being a victim of a natural disaster.
Medicaid Burial Benefits
A few state Medicaid programs provide financial support for final expenses to those who are enrolled on Medicaid at the time of their death. This however varies from one state to another so you must contact your local Medicaid helpline for the state to avail more information.
Burial Assistance Programs
A lot of states provide government grants for burial and cremation assistance. They have different types of assistance that can provide help particularly dependent on the financial status of a family. For instance, residents of Alaska can get help from the General Relief Assistance Fund of the state and can use the fund for a variety of purposes.
Tribal Burial Assistance Programs
States with huge populations of Indigenous people can get regular cremation assistance for the tribal members who need it the most. To get more information about the availability of the programs you need to contact the National Council of Urban Indians Health Burial Resources guide.
Crime Victim Burial Cremation Assistance Programs
A lot of states have Crime Victim Compensation Programs in place that enable living victims to get free therapy or reimbursement for medical costs or lost wages. In case the victim is killed during a crime, burial or cremation costs can be covered with assistance from the state compensation initiative.
Nonprofit Organizations and Charities That Help With Funeral/ Cremation
Catholic Church Charities
A good place to search for assistance with funeral expenses is contacting the USA Catholic Church Charities. For this, you need to find the closest Catholic Charity near you. It is important to remember that the type of assistance may vary depending on the church and the specific guidelines of the program they provide. Similar to Catholic Charities there are many churches that help with funeral expenses throughout America.
Family Of God Ministry
The Family Of God Ministry is a nonprofit organization that offers much-needed financial aid to underprivileged families and homeless children living in Arizona. Some of the services that they provide are funeral and burial assistance and benevolence programs.
Final Farewell
Low-income families who are struggling to hold funerals for their children below 18 years of age can seek assistance from a popular nonprofit organization known as Final Farewell.
This nonprofit offers emergency federal funding as well as guidance to grieving individuals and families so that they can say a final goodbye to their child. Guardians or parents have to meet the charity policy of the organization to receive help with full funeral service including the cost of burial.
Children’s Burial Assistance
The Children’s Burial Assistance is an organization that assists low-income families during times of financial hardship.
The organization serves children between 1 to 17 years old and does not provide monetary assistance directly to the guardians or parents, instead, they provide help with donated burial sports, resource databases and cremation urns.
The database of Children’s Burial Assistance includes important information on crematories, funeral homes, florists, cemeteries and companies that offer grave markers, headstones and caskets.
Kaden’s Cause
Kaden’s Cause is a nonprofit organization that supports low-income families who have been affected by the tragedy of losing a child. Organizations assist low-income families and individuals who are living below the poverty line with sufficient funds that help them cover the cost of funerals, monuments and cemetery costs.
Call 211
You can contact the United Way by dialing 211 to get details about the essential community services including cremation assistance. You’ll be connected with an experienced operator who can provide you with relevant details about a local organization that can help you with funeral and cremation costs.
Can Babies And Children Receive Free Cremation?
The death of a baby can be a heartbreaking experience for any parent navigating the practicalities of arranging a funeral. Fortunately, some organizations and programs help to provide free or low-cost cremation for children such as the following:
- A lot of local funeral homes offer reduced cost or free funeral service for babies, infants and children so it is worth contacting a local funeral home in your area to learn about their policies.
- A lot of nonprofit organizations offer assistance with funeral expenses for low-income families who have lost a child such as Tears Foundation, Angels Above Baby Gowns and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.
- A few local hospitals have programs in place that help low-income families pay for their cremation or funeral costs for those who have lost a child. You can contact the hospital where your baby was born and inquire about their available resources.
- A lot of counties or cities have programs that offer low-cost or free burial cremation services for its residents. However, they may have varied eligibility and availability.
Read more about church assistance programs that help paying with bills.
Additional Ways To Get Help With Cremation Costs
Apply To Your Local County To Collect Funeral Funds
A lot of counties throughout America have set aside a particular portion of funds to help people with burial expenses especially if they are living below poverty.
You can contact your county clerk’s office and inquire about the qualifications and the available funds to apply. Even if you do not qualify for county funding you may get resources that can help you with low-cost cremation, for instance names of funeral homes and crematories that are affordable.
Funeral Homes
A lot of funeral homes provide reduced-cost or free services for low-income individuals who are looking for cremation assistance. It is worth contacting the funeral homes in your local area and inquiring about the availability of programs and policies in place.
A lot of funeral homes and crematoriums have discounts or deals that can help individuals reduce their out-of-pocket cost. Even though it is not common, it is worth asking about low-cost materials and services.
Direct Cremation
Direct cremation includes immediate cremation of the deceased person without involving any funeral or viewing services. This is an affordable option for low-income families and starts only at $795.
This is less expensive compared to traditional burial or other funeral options and the cost covers transportation, the cremation process and basic services provided by the crematorium Funeral Home.
To learn more about the cremation services you can visit the US Funeral Online website that helps people connect with the nearest direct cremation services.
Body Donation Program
You can get a free cremation for your loved one ondodonatiny donating the dead body to science. A misconception with whole body donation is that the remains of the deceased person never get returned to the family. You can donate your loved ones’ bodies to medical laboratories, medical schools, and hospitals with donation programs.
There are various non profit organizations that can help with whole body donation. For instance, you can donate the body of your loved one to an accredited organization through the American Association of Tissue Banks. On choosing to donate the body to science the organization will help you to cover the cost of transportation, and cremation, help you get a certified death certificate copy, and be the first to return the remains to the family.
The whole process may take 4 weeks to 15 months to receive the remains of the body of your loved one. This however requires the consent of a doctor and signature while alive. If all your loved ones want a whole body donation you have to register & the paperwork to make it legal. People who cannot donate their body to science are those suffering from hepatitis B or C, AIDS or other contagious infectious diseases.
Seek Services From New Crematorium
If you find a new crematorium to open their business in your area then you can approach them. New crematoriums often spend months focusing on attracting business to grow their business. You can get crematorium services at affordable rates from them when they are in the beginning months of their business.
Shop Around
You need to shop around to get the best deal and save your out-of-pocket crematorium cost. You can choose different businesses that offer cremation services in your area. You can ask for the price list of every cremation service including the expenses.
For this you have to check prices for the paperwork and permit filing, transportation of your loved one’s body, cremation process, cremation container, returning ashes to the family and container or urn for your loved ones’ cremains.
Set Up A Fundraiser
If you do not prefer a whole-body donation for your loved one then you can consider setting up a fundraiser to cover the cremation cost. Fundraisers provide an incredible way to get the whole community of family members, friends and acquaintances involved. You can set up a fundraiser on various websites. The popular options are Facebook and GoFundMe where you can set up an account for free.
Conclusion
Death of a loved one can be uncomfortable and overwhelming for everyone. The experience can not only affect you mentally but it can be financially stressful for a lot, particularly low-income families coupled with the huge expenses related to post-death treatment. Cremation is one of the cheapest options but may be out of reach financially for many individuals. Every guide lists various ways that will help you to get funeral or cremation assistance. With a little research and strategic planning it is possible to get a dignified cremation for your loved one amid financial problems.
Head to our blog at Get Government Grants to avail free resources and government programs for low-income families. Our guide has numerous supportive programs and names of organizations that help people in times of need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Alternatives To Cremation Services Are Available For Low-Income Families?
There are many alternatives available for low-income families who are not in a position to afford cremation and this includes body donation to medical schools or hospitals. Green burials are another cost-effective option. A lot of county, state and local agencies including charities, nonprofit organizations, and religious organizations provide assistance programs for low-income families to help them cover the cost of cremation or traditional burial.
Can I Get Free Pet Cremation?
A lot of veterinary schools and animal hospitals provide free cremation for pets through educational programs. You need to contact your local animal hospital veterinary school or pet crematoriums and ask about their available resources.
How Do I Apply For Free Cremation Service?
To apply for free cremation service you need to contact your local government agency, community charity, social service department or funeral home that offers help with cremation or burial assistance. We can provide you with the application form and will navigate you through the application process including the document requirement.