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More bodies go unclaimed as families can't afford funeral costs - Los Angeles ... - The Diigo Meta page

www.latimes.com/...ed21-2009jul21,0,2534079.story - Cached - Annotated View

Elena LaVictoire's personal annotations on this page

mydomesticchurch
Mydomesticchurch bookmarked on 2009-07-22 funerals death dying

Interesting article to me as we just went through my mother's funeral. Fortunately for us, she had pre-planned her funeral and pre-paid.

    • mydomesticchurch
      Mydomesticchurch on 2009-07-22
      She wouldn't have to fly out- ashes can be mailed. My father's ashes were sent via the USPS from New Mexico to Ohio!
  • The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.



    At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.
  • Once the county cremates an unclaimed body -- typically about a month after death -- next of kin can pay the coroner $352 to receive the ashes. The fee for claiming ashes from the morgue is $466.



    Christopher Agosta's ashes are among those waiting.
  • "I know that I can't afford to handle all this," Baker said. "I can't afford to fly out there and ask questions."



    Coroners and funeral directors around the country say they are seeing the same trend as cash-strapped families cope with funeral costs. Just claiming a body from the L.A. County coroner costs $200. Once a body is claimed, private cremations usually run close to $1,000, Smith said. Funeral homes charge an average of $7,300 to transport and bury a body in a simple grave, according to the National Funeral Home Directors Assn.



    "No one is immune from this," said Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Funeral Directors Assn. in Sacramento. "The economic malaise we're in is affecting everybody.


  • "Families are making different choices based on the economy, choosing different caskets or urns or holding shorter services," said Jessica Koth, a spokeswoman for the National Funeral Home Directors Assn. "They're cutting back on floral memorials. If they have a funeral procession, they're not having the family limousine."

This link has been bookmarked by 2 people . It was first bookmarked on 22 Jul 2009, by Elena LaVictoire.

  • 08 Aug 09
    will_fox
    Barry Summers

    The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.

    unclaimed bodies los angeles

  • 22 Jul 09
    mydomesticchurch
    Elena LaVictoire

    Interesting article to me as we just went through my mother's funeral. Fortunately for us, she had pre-planned her funeral and pre-paid.

    funerals death dying

      • Elena LaVictoire

        Elena LaVictoire on 2009-07-22

        She wouldn't have to fly out- ashes can be mailed. My father's ashes were sent via the USPS from New Mexico to Ohio!

    • The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.



      At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.
    • 3 more annotations...