Commitment to Service

During the arrangements conference you will be given an itemization of the goods and services that you select.  This includes the funeral home charges and cash advances for the arrangement you made.  To be sure you understand what each item involves, we offer the following details.

TRANSFER OF YOUR LOVED ONE TO THE FUNERAL HOME

This charge enables us to recover a share of the expense involved in the specific act of bringing your deceased loved one to our funeral establishment or to the establishment of our agent.  State law requires that a licensed funeral director be present, and assistants when necessary.  During this retrieval and transfer, our personnel are at the greatest risk of contracting disease since your loved one’s body has not yet been disinfected and prepared.  This charge also includes the use of our vehicle, which is specifically suited for this purpose, and may include a mileage charge if beyond local limits (10 miles).

PREPARATION OF YOUR LOVED-ONE’S REMAINS

This charge enables us to recover a proportionate share of the expense for our licensed staff and, at times, hired agents to prepare the your loved one’s body for viewing or visitation according to the arrangements you have selected. This charge also includes the necessary professional equipment and supplies required for the custodial care of your loved one.  We are also required to maintain a specialized room at the funeral home to be used only for the purpose of preparing and caring for your loved one.  The necessary equipment and specialized facilities meet state and municipal standards for the proper sanitary care of the deceased.

While embalming is not usually required by law, common sense dictates that it is necessary in most instances.  We require embalming when we have custody of your loved one in our funeral home for more than a limited time, for public viewing, and in other circumstances under which normal biological changes in your loved one’s body would present our staff with a practical problem.  The bodies of the deceased brought to our funeral home are without exception topically disinfected for sanitary handling, whether embalming or immediate delivery to a crematory or cemetery is planned.  When embalming is selected, topical disinfection is included as part of the procedure.

CARE OF YOUR LOVED ONE

• We must maintain universal precautions and hygienically prepare your loved one’s body to protect the public and our personnel.  This is true whether the method of disposition is cremation or burial.
• We must care for the deceased in custodial fashion (i.e., we are responsible for your loved one even on days when no services are held).
• We must maintain a New York State and OSHA regulated facility for care of your loved one, including the sanitary removal and disposition of regulated medical waste.

Following a death, there are many arrangements that must be supervised by a licensed funeral director.  The maintenance of this service is unending.  By that, we mean the charges made to you enable us to maintain and staff our facilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Therefore, ours is a 168-hour work week — not a 40-hour work week as is typical.  Many phases of our work are apparent; others are not.  Traditions, customs, social standing, personal feeling, financial means, and a multitude of other considerations affect each funeral.  Our services must conform to each family’s wishes and their personal and religious needs.

BASIC ARRANGEMENTS

The basic arrangements fee is the largest service cost item on the memorandum.  The following items are included in that fee:

• Professional services (i.e., complete arrangements and schedule and direct all duties performed prior to actual services).
• Meet with the family to secure vital statistics information, obtain obituary information, complete itemized cost agreements and oversee all aspects of the services selected.
• Coordinate the following services as needed:  clergy, fraternal organizations, necessary automotive equipment, cemetery or crematory, civic, veterans’ or other organizations.
• Complete the death certificate with accurate vital statistics information and obtain the signature and medical information from the attending physician or medical examiner (obtaining the physician’s signature sometimes involves traveling significant distances and waiting a substantial amount of time for a doctor to sign the certificate, as well as the use of our vehicle to do so).
• File the completed death certificate with the Registrar of Vital Statistics in the municipality where the death occurred, obtain a burial permit, and secure certified copies of the death certificate for the family for estate settlement purposes.  At times, this also requires substantial time commitment, and vehicle use.
• Fax or e-mail obituary information to all newspapers requested by the family.  When circumstances permit, the obituary, written by our staff, is presented to the family for approval prior to its printing.  When obituary costs are substantial, efforts are made to have the family approve those costs before the obituary is published.
• Complete necessary forms such as:  Veteran’s Flag Application, Veteran’s Headstone Application, Veteran’s Benefits Application, Social Security Forms, Cemetery or Crematory Forms, and Insurance Assignment Forms.
• Order flowers on behalf of the family if requested.
• Purchase clothing on behalf of the family, if necessary.
• Answer all telephone calls related to the funeral (i.e., provide funeral service information to family, friends, lodge members, and business associates).
• Maintain an up-to-date website to publish the obituary and accept, review, and publish online condolences sent to families.
• Coordinate with monument dealers for headstone purchases or inscriptions.
• Receive veterans’ headstones or plaques and deliver them to local cemeteries or monument dealers.

SUPERVISION (Funeral Director & Staff)

Charges for these items enable us to recover a proportionate share of the salaries paid to our licensed funeral directors and assistants.  This practice enables us to retain skilled staff for the personal and professional services rendered to you and your family at the time they are required.  It includes the arrangement, supervision and direction of the funeral, the coordination of various details, administrative personnel, and all necessary attendants.

USE OF FACILITIES (For visitation and/or ceremonial purposes)

Charges for these items allow us to recover a proportionate share of the costs of operating and maintaining specialized facilities for your use and comfort.  The amount charged varies according to the length of time the facilities are to be used in fulfilling a family’s funeral arrangement wishes.  Some of the specific costs covered include:  building maintenance and repairs, furnishings, funeral equipment, insurance, real estate taxes, air conditioning & heat, lighting, power, and cleaning.

LIVERY (Transportation vehicles)

• Use and depreciation of service cars and their operation.
• Securing the use of a hearse and/or limousine(s) as necessary for the services selected.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES/MERCHANDISE

• Prepare register books, prayer cards, and acknowledgement cards as selected.
• Obtain flowers or secure necessary cemetery equipment on behalf of the family.
• Off-site charges are sometimes necessary when personnel are needed to conduct services and/or viewing at a location other than the funeral home.  This would also include the transport and set-up of necessary equipment.

FIXED OVERHEAD COSTS

The items listed below are essentially incorporated into the Basic Arrangements Fee and the Use of Facilities and Livery charges:

Taxes, Cleaning, State-Mandated Continuing Education, Housecleaning & Supplies, Surgical Instruments and Supplies, Building Maintenance, Inventory, Grounds Maintenance, Stationery & Supplies,  Automobile Maintenance,  Advertising and Promotion, Heating & Air-Conditioning, Utilities, Telephone, Insurance (including Worker’s Compensation, Unemployment and Malpractice, etc.)

PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL

• There is a licensed funeral director available to respond to the needs of families 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
• It should be noted that due to the nature of funeral service, many hours of training and specialized education take place to insure that a competent and understanding person is available to the public at all times.

A NOTE ABOUT CREMATION

When you select cremation as the final disposition, you should be aware that the services provided to you and the use of our facilities and equipment are the same as those needed for “traditional” funerals.  If you wonder why cremation is less expensive than a “traditional” service, it is due to families not having to pay for embalming when the cremation is direct, or immediate.  In most cases, families also do not have to purchase a casket or large concrete vault for burial in the cemetery.  Additionally, the cemetery charges for cremation grave openings are generally less than those for casket grave openings.  Regardless of whether a cremation service or traditional burial service is requested, the efforts of and the time needed by the funeral director and other staff  to perform such services are identical.

PAYMENT & INTEREST CHARGES

Payment is due at the completion of the main funeral service.  A payment grace period of 30 days is provided to families to afford time to organize an estate or collect an insurance payment, for example.  After the grace period, interest is added to the unpaid balance at the monthly rate of 1% (annual rate of 12%).  Additionally, a rebilling fee may be added to the second and all subsequent bills sent.

We wish to express our sincere thanks for the trust you have placed in us.  Understanding that we are a business, please know that our primary goal is to serve you in a dignified and professional manner so that our efforts can make a very difficult time a bit easier for you.  It is then that our aim is accomplished.  Please feel free to contact us at your convenience if we can be of assistance to you.