When a death occurs in your family, you will be faced with important tasks and decision-making during a very difficult time. You may not know what to do or when to begin making arrangements, and bearing the responsibility can be overwhelming. Remember that you are not alone: we are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to assist you with the details and offer our guidance. We have compiled the following list to help guide you through the steps you will need to take when a death has occurred. Your funeral director will help coordinate all of the details when you meet for an arrangement conference.
  1. After a death has occurred, notify Moore and Snear Funeral Home by calling 610-828-0330. The following are some questions that we may ask when you call:

    • What is the full name of the deceased?
    • What is the location of the deceased (Hospital, Nursing Facility or Residence)?
    • What is your name, address and telephone number?
    • What is the name, address and phone number of the next-of-kin?
    • Is there a pre-arranged funeral plan? (If yes, what is the plan name or number?)

    We will then set an appointment time for you to come to the funeral home to complete the details of the funeral arrangement. We will ask you to bring in some items and information that will be necessary to complete the arrangement. These items will include:

    • Clothing for the deceased
    • Social security number of the deceased.
    • The deceased's birth date and city and state of birth.
    • The deceased's parents names, including mother's maiden name.
    • Information about the deceased's education.
    • Marital status of the deceased.
    • Veteran's discharge papers or Claim Number.
    • A recent photograph of the deceased.
    • Pre-arrangement paperwork (if applicable)
    • Cemetery lot information (if applicable).

  2. Contact your clergy. Decide on a time and place for the funeral or memorial service (the services may be held at the funeral home).

  3. The funeral home will assist you in determining the number of copies of the death certificates that you will need and will order them for you.

  4. Make a list of family, friends and business colleagues, and notify each by phone. You may wish to use a "branching" system: make a few phone calls to other relatives or friends and ask each of them to make a phone call or two to specific people.

  5. Decide on an appropriate charity to which gifts may be made (church, hospice, library, organization, school).

  6. Gather obituary information, including a photo, age, place of birth, cause of death, occupation, college degrees, memberships held, military service, outstanding work and a list of survivors in the immediate family. Include the time and place of the funeral services. The funeral home will usually write the obituary and submit it to the newspaper(s).

  7. Arrange for family members and/or close friends to take turns answering the door or phone. Keeping a careful record of visitors and flower deliveries will make it easier to thank people later on.

  8. If Social Security checks are deposited automatically, notify the bank of the death.

  9. Coordinate the food supply in your home for the next several days.

  10. Delegate special needs of the household, such as cleaning, food preparation, etc., to friends and family who offer their help.

  11. Arrange for child care, if necessary.

  12. Arrange hospitality for visiting relatives and friends.

  13. Select pallbearers and notify the funeral home. (People with heart or back difficulties may be named honorary pallbearers).

  14. Plan for the disposition of flowers after the funeral (to a church, hospital or rest home).

  15. Prepare a list of distant friends and relatives to be notified by letter and/or printed notice.

  16. Prepare a list of people to receive acknowledgments of flowers, calls, etc. Send appropriate acknowledgments, which may be a written note, printed acknowledgments, or both. Include "thank you's" to those who have given their time, as well.

  17. Notify insurance companies of the death.

  18. Locate the will and notify the lawyer and executor.

  19. Carefully check all life and casualty insurance and death benefits, including Social Security, credit union, trade union, fraternal, and military. Check on possible income for survivors from these sources.

  20. Check promptly on all debts and installment payments, including credit cards. Some may carry insurance clauses that will cancel them. If there is to be a delay in meeting payments, consult with creditors and ask for more time before the payments are due.

  21. If the deceased was living alone, notify the utility companies and landlord and tell the post office where to send the mail.

  22. Your Funeral Director will prepare the necessary Social Security forms.
DEATH AWAY FROM HOME

When funeral arrangements must unexpectedly be made away from home, and family hearts are filled with mixed emotions, it is difficult to consider costs. If you want to limit costs, the best practice is to contact the funeral firm in the area where the funeral service and burial is to take place.

WHAT TO DO FIRST

CALL Moore and Snear Funeral Home AT 610-828-0330 day or night.

We take charge from then on and make all the arrangements for conveying of the deceased to the local funeral home for embalming and preparation for return to their home state. You only need contact us with some basic information and call us when you return to set a time for an arrangement conference. For us to assume the costs as outlined, the death must have occurred in one of the forty-eight contiguous states and you must call us direct so we can engage our representatives at the place of death. (DO NOT contact a funeral firm where the death occurs. We will do this for you.)

The standard receiving policy in most other funeral homes is to give you a credit for the embalming against their standard prices. You must pay all other charges such as transfer casket, transfer container, out-of-town funeral home facilities, professional and staff services, transfer documents and transportation charges. These costs can easily mount up to $1200 dollars or more, depending on the cost of transportation and charges of the out-of-town funeral home. Transportation costs differ and fees are not uniform from funeral firm to funeral firm, so we cannot say exactly how much this might be.

WHAT DO YOU SAVE?

We pay all most normal out-of-town costs except cash advances. These normal charges include out-of-town removal service, standard embalming, transfer of remains to airport, outer transfer container, all documents for transfer and burial, out-of-town funeral facilities, professional staff and services. This means your only additional costs are transportation and transfer of remains to the funeral home from the airport. Since we use a light weight transfer casket and outer container we help to keep the air fare to a minimum.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

If a family member dies while traveling outside the United States, the U.S. Embassy will come to your assistance. You should call us immediately when a death occurs abroad. We are well-versed in the procedures for returning the deceased to the United States

OTHER CONDITIONS

If the death occurs outside of the forty-eight contiguous states or your family has already engaged another funeral firm, Moore and Snear Funeral Home will apply liberal credits to services provided by others when selecting one of our complete full-service funerals. Our membership in the National Funeral Directors Association as well a memberships in other national organizations provide us with funeral service contacts world wide.

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