Funeral homes and funeral services FAQs

The first thing you should do is choose a family representative to contact us, the best way to do this is by phone, and this can be any time of the day or night. If someone has died at home, you will also need to contact their doctor as they will need to visit and certify your loved one’s death, if they have died in a rest home or Hospital, the staff will contact the doctor for you. Once a doctor has certified the death, a funeral director will uplift your loved one and transfer them back to the care of the funeral home.

19 Cooper Street, Havelock North

509 Queen Street West, Hastings

Most funeral homes are independent which means they all have own unique way in which they operate, this can mean their pricing and services they offer may each differ too. It pays to research first about exactly what you’re getting before you engage them.

Yes of course, and in most cases a funeral can be arranged without ever visiting the funeral home, which means we come to you. We also hold very strong relationships with venues all around Hawkes Bay making it possible to hold a funeral at a place that has meaning to you.

Yes, there are several avenues which are available when applying for financial assistance. Your funeral director will be apply for these on your behalf and can explain how each grant works and how its paid out.

• WINZ funeral grant $2,128.10 (this is asset and means tested).
• ACC Grant $6,471.17 For anyone who has died accidentally.

Burial

Burial is the most traditional form of disposing of a loved one, the oldest known burial is over 100,000 years old. Burial involves digging a grave approx 2-3 meter deep and placing your loved one (in a casket) at the bottom and backfilling the grave with soil. The body slowly and naturally returns to the earth. Because you are essentially purchasing a small piece of land (known as a plot) burials can cost from $2500-4500 excluding any other funeral related cost eg casket, hearse, flowers, minister etc

Cremation

Cremation is now the most common form of disposing of a loved one with 85% of New Zealanders choosing it over burial. Cremation is the process of using intense heat to reduce a body (and casket) to ashes. This process can only be done are certified crematoriums and take around 1-2 days before the ashes are returned to your family. There are a vast amount of options for what you can do with the remaining ashes, such as interring them (burial), scattering, placing small amounts into jewellery, splitting them amongst family, or even growing a plant or tree with a special kit.

When a death is sudden or unexpected the Police are initially called to the place of death to determine what the circumstances are, and if further investigation is needed. Every death is NZ needs to be explained and if it cannot be explained by a doctor (eg from extensive medial history) then the Police refer the death to the Coroner. The Coroner’s job is determine what caused this death, and then (if required) make any recommendations to prevent this type of death occurring again. To determine a cause of death, your loved one will need to undergo and exam from a pathologist, and this can day several days. Your funeral director will be able to step you through this process and keep you updated during this time.

Yes of course, every decision is made by you and your family with the funeral director and the celebrant. You will always have time and space to make decisions as you see fit and your funeral director can help guide you on the available options.

The words ‘Funeral Service’ can mean many different things, and so its important to clarify this. Funeral Service really means doing something for your loved one after they pass away, and this can range from gathering a few friends and family at the funeral home to a small private gathering at home, it can be a public funeral at a church or venue, it could just be a graveside gathering or simply at the crematorium. The words funeral service mean “do something rather than nothing’ . The answer to this question is of course, no you dont need to have a funeral service, and if your preference is to do absolutely nothing for your loved one, then our funeral directors can explain that option along with the implications of this on you and your families grief.

Bring your immediate family, its important that everyone is involved in arranging a funeral. Most of the questions you get asked you will be able to answer without reference material but there are a couple of questions we ask for the death certificate which can be helpful if you have your loved ones birth and marriage certificates, although this is not required.