How to Handle an Out-of-Town Death

Cremations are among the cremation services offered in Sun City, AZ. It’s always difficult when a loved one dies, but having a loved one die while they are out of town can be much harder to handle and can seem much more complicated.

As people travel on extended business trips and vacations to places that are far away or exotic, or they move to warmer climates for a few months during the coldest parts of the year, the odds increase that more people will die when they are out of town and away from their permanent residences.

Here’s what you need to know if a loved one dies while they are out of town.

The first thing you’ll need to do when a loved one dies away from home is to contact your local funeral home to let them know of the death. The funeral director will take care of making all the arrangements, by working with local authorities and a local funeral home where your deceased loved one died, for transporting the body back to the funeral home in their hometown.

If your loved one died in a location that is not a great distance away from their hometown, transportation will most likely be by a vehicle or a train from the funeral home where they were to their hometown funeral home.

If the vehicle or train will be crossing state lines, it is very likely that your loved one will need to be embalmed at the funeral home where they died. Your funeral director will know all this information and will be able to give your guidance as to what is required by law.

If the location where you’re loved one died is too far away to make vehicle or train transportation feasible, then they will be transported by plane back to their hometown funeral home. Your funeral director will be able to help out with this and ensure that the transport goes smoothly.

If your loved one dies while they are traveling or living abroad, you will need to contact the U.S. Consulate in the country where they died. The U.S. Department of State should also be contacted for help on what needs to be done administratively to return your loved one to the United States.

Both America and foreign countries have rules and regulations regarding how the remains of U.S. citizens are returned to the United States. There will be paperwork that needs to be completed before your loved one can be transported back into the country. Your funeral director can help you with both the paperwork and making the arrangements for bringing your loved one back home.

One thing you will want to consider is whether you want to bring your loved one back home before making plans for final disposition or whether you want to have them cremated where they died and have their cremated remains returned home.

Either way you decide to go is okay. Some families don’t want to make a decision in haste that they may regret in time, so they bring their loved one’s body back home. Other families may know that their loved one’s wishes were to be cremated, so they will opt for cremation where their loved ones died with the cremation remains returned to the hometown funeral home.

For more information about out-of-town deaths and cremation services provided in Sun City, AZ, our compassionate and experienced team at Simply Cremation & Funeral Arrangements is here to help. You can come to our funeral home at 16952 W. Bell Rd., #303, Surprise, AZ, 85374, or you can contact us today at (623) 975-9393.