| This page, and the one on cremation, may be especially difficult for you, yet deciding between burial and cremation is one of the first choices you must make. |
| It’s your decision |
| Disposition is the term used by the funeral industry to describe the final handling of the deceased’s remains. |
| Although your initial decision for the disposition of the body is between burial and cremation, there are several variations on each. |
| Whichever choice you make, the body will eventually return to its natural elements. |
| Burial Choices |
| If the body is buried… |
| 1. It can be interred (earth burial). |
| 2. It can be entombed in a crypt within a mausoleum (above-ground burial). |
3. It can be buried at sea.
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| Why people choose burial |
Although the trend is moving toward cremation, the majority of North Americans still choose to bury their dead and to be
buried themselves. |
| Here are some reasons you might choose burial. |
| • Burial is traditional within your family, religious group, or geographical area |
| • For instance, in the United States today, about 79 percent choose burial. In Canada, the rate is about 64 percent.
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| • You do not like the idea of the body being "burned" |
| • You prefer to have the body slowly return to the elements. |
| • You want to erect a monument on the grave |
| Perhaps you want to visit the grave in the days to come, and you find a cemetery more appealing than say, a columbarium. |
| Decisions You Must Make If You Choose Burial |
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• Whether or not the body is to be embalmed
• Which kind of casket (or coffin) will house the body
• Whether to buy a casket, rent one, or build your own
• Whether or not the cemetery requires a vault or grave liner
• Which cemetery to use
• What kind of plot
• What to put on the gravestone
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