Can You Keep Cremains at Home?

What can you do with a loved one’s cremated remains after a funeral home service in Washington Crossing, PA? There are many options from scattering and burying them to interring them in a columbarium.

You can also keep cremated remains at home. If you’ve got questions about keeping cremated remains at home, these common questions and their answers are here to help:

1. Can you keep cremated remains at home? Yes, you can keep cremate remains at home. There is nothing weird, harmful, or unsafe about keeping cremated remains in your home. Cremated ashes are clean and sanitary. The process of cremation has eliminated any potential contamination. What’s more, cremains are kept secure in a bag, making it very difficult for someone to tamper with them or spill them.
2. Is it legal to keep cremated remains in a house? It is not illegal to keep cremated remains in a house. There are also no laws against scattering or burying cremains on your personal property.
3. How long can ashes be kept after cremation? Cremated remains are sterile and static, meaning they don’t have any bacteria and will not decompose. This is because the high heat used to cremate the body is hot enough to kill bacteria and rapidly break down any substances that would decompose naturally over time. Therefore, you can keep cremated remains as long as you’d like.
4. What do you do if you don’t want the cremated remains? If you don’t want the deceased’s cremains, you can either have someone else bury them, scatter them, or otherwise inter them or you can leave them at the crematory or funeral home for them to dispose of.
5. Does the Bible say anything about keeping cremains at home? The Bible neither advocates nor condemns the act of cremation or keeping your loved one’s cremated remains in your home. The closest thing to keeping cremains at home that the Bible mentions is the story of King Saul’s men burning his son’s bodies to cleanse them and respect their memories.
6. Can the funeral home dispose of the ashes for me? Some funeral homes and crematories will dispose of cremated remains for you, but you must give them clear instructions as to what you want done with the remains.
7. Is it bad luck to keep cremains in your house? It’s easy to understand why some people might think it’s bad luck to keep cremated remains in their house, but it’s not. Certain religions or belief systems might discourage keeping cremains in a home, but that doesn’t mean its unlucky. Others might feel keeping cremains at home will bring in a bad energy, but still others find it makes them feel better to have their loved one close. It all depends on personal preferences and beliefs.

We are here to help if you want to learn more about keeping cremated remains at home or about Washington Crossing, PA funeral homes. Please give us a call or pay us a visit for more information on our services.