What is the difference between a cemetery and a funeral home?
Funeral homes are responsible for care of deceased individuals from the place of death to the place of final disposition. The funeral director should also contact whichever cemetery the family has chosen. The funeral director arranges funeral or memorial services at the funeral home, place of worship, or cemetery. It is also the responsibility of the funeral director to transport and prepare the deceased for burial, entombment, or cremation, and post death certificates and obituary notices.
Cemeteries do not transport or prepare bodies. Cemeteries, including crematories, are places of final disposition. Usually at the conclusion of a funeral service, cemeteries receive the deceased in caskets or cremation containers from funeral directors and effect the final disposition as authorized by the next of kin. When caskets are purchased from the cemetery, the cemetery delivers the casket to the funeral home of the purchaser’s choice. (The funeral director is required by law to use whichever casket the family purchases, without applying a fee for a third-party casket).