FREQUENT  QUESTIONS

The funeral director's job is to assist the bereaved in various ways to help them through the loss of a loved one. A funeral director provides bereavement and consolation services for the living, in addition to making arrangements for the cremation, burial, and memorial services for the deceased. He fulfills the role of funeral arranger, funeral director, funeral attendant, and embalmer.

The following list is not all-inclusive, but describes some of the major tasks of a funeral director: 

•     Removal and transfer of the deceased from the place of death to the funeral home
•     Professional care of the deceased, including embalming, casketing, and cosmetology
•     Consulting with family to make arrangements for the funeral service
•     Filing certificates, permits, and other required forms
•     Obtaining copies of the death certificate
•     Arrangements with the cemetery, crematory, or other places of final disposition
•     Creates and publishes the obituary
•     Arrangements for clergy, music, flowers, transportation, pallbearers, and special fraternal or military services
•     Directs and manages the funeral service and the funeral procession
•     Assists the family with death-related claims, including Social Security, VA insurance, grief counseling

In short, the funeral director takes care of the details, so you can focus on yourself and your family without the added stress of all of the above tasks. The funeral director is the professional you hire to do the work for you.

A funeral or memorial service provides an opportunity for the living to show respect for the deceased and pay tribute to their life. It provides a framework to freely and openly express our beliefs, feelings, and thoughts about the death of our loved one. It gives us permission to grieve our loss, share in solidarity, and gain strength from others who are experiencing the same loss.

A traditional funeral involves a number of services which add to the total cost. Besides a non-declinable basic services fee, other charges may include removal/transfer of the body to the funeral home; embalming; other preparation of the body; use of facilities and staff for viewing; use of facilities and staff for the funeral ceremony; use of a hearse, service car, or van; a basic memorial printed package; casket; and a vault or grave liner. Items from parties other than the funeral home can significantly add to the costs as well, such as newspaper obituaries, flowers, and cemetery expenses. See our "How Much Does a Funeral Cost?" page for more information.

The four main types of funeral services include the traditional funeral service, the memorial service, the committal service, and the celebration of life. Funeral services are structured events with the body present. Memorial services are structured events without the body, such as after a cremation. Committal services, or "graveside" services, take place at the cemetery. A celebration of life is typically an unstructured, informal gathering.

First, we should point out that this isn't really dependent on whether you're having a viewing or not. Regardless of whether the body will be viewed, you should really take into consideration the number of attendees you would expect.

If you anticipate having a large service, than you should strongly consider having that additional visitation time in the evening, in order to accommodate your visitors. An hour prior to the funeral is simply not enough time to comfortably receive and speak with a large number of attendees, and families often end up feeling overwhelmed. 

On the other hand, if you expect a smaller service, than an hour of visitation time prior to the service may be perfectly sufficient.

Adding additional visitation time during the day, immediately prior to the service, often does not alleviate the issue of not having sufficient time to greet all visitors. When the visitation is leading up to the service, regardless of how many hours of visitation are scheduled, the bulk of the attendees will come shortly before the start of the service. If you are concerned about having enough time, a wake the evening prior is the best solution.

Generally speaking, yes - but this is a broad question with a broad answer. All other factors being equal, if you are opting for a direct cremation prior to services, than yes, the services will ultimately be less expensive than they would have been if burying, or even if cremating after services. 

Service options vary greatly, however; it is not uncommon for a direct cremation service with burial of ashes at a cemetery, an expensive urn, lengthy obituaries, numerous and/or floral arrangements, and other such optional items ultimately be more expensive than a simple direct burial with an inexpensive casket and vault. 

For side-by-side comparison of different service prices, see our Comparing Funeral Prices page.

Yes, all funeral homes do cremations! "Cremation societies" are just funeral homes operating under a different name for marketing purposes. They are licensed by the State of Minnesota as funeral providers in exactly the same way as Mueller-Bies and every other funeral home in the state.

As for "memberships" - that is simply the funeral home - err, cremation society - charging you a fee to put your prearrangement on file. We will gladly help you preplan, without charging you a fee for a made up "membership"!

Because we offer more and do more, and do it right.

Many of the discount creamtion providers out there will simply do nothing more than pick up the body and cremate it for their advertised price. Often times, these prices are "starting from" prices, which never remain where they start from. 

Lengthy delays and paperwork issues can be common with these providers. Many are known to leave the body in the county or hospital morgue for a week or more until they finally get around to the cremation. Several are just offices, with nowhere to hold a memorial. You are often completely on your own for anything and everything regarding service planning, cemetery arrangements, obituaries, etc. If you do receive assistance with these matters, it can come at hefty additional fees. Often you will be pressured and upsold into those additional fees, because the discount provider wasn't straightforward in their pricing, lured you in with a low up-front charge and is now trying to make up for it.

We are more expensive because we are full-service. We have all-purpose facilities ready for whatever you may need. Because we have seven licensed funeral directors, ensuring we take care of you promptly. Because we have an experienced staff that has dealt with the twist and turns that arise. Because we can go anywhere, anytime to assist you. Because you deserve to be taken care of promptly, courteously, professionally, and competently. 

Most of all, because you deserve to be taken care of, period.

Yes, cremation or burial is merely the disposition of the body. There is a distinction between a funeral service and a memorial service, though; a funeral service is one at which the body is present, and a memorial service in one at which it is not. You may either choose to have a funeral service followed by cremation, or a cremation followed by a memorial service. Ultimately, it's about choosing the best way to honor and remember your loved one, regardless of disposition.

It's not required at all! It can be helpful, though, for a number of reasons. It can help you state your wishes; ensure necessary information  and paperwork is available at the time of death; simplify the process for your survivors; and even save you and your family money. See our Planning Ahead page for more information.

Pre-arranging funeral services can be done regardless of the final disposition. Pre-arranging is simply recording your wishes with the funeral home and prefunding if you choose to do so.

• Advance Directives - If the deceased left any written advance directives concerning the disposition of his remains and memorialization, you need to bring them with you. These instructions may be found in a will, or there may be a formally witnessed disposition directive, funeral pre-arrangements, or a pre-need contract.
• Military Discharge Papers
• Details on any cemetery property owned by the deceased or the family (grave plot, columbarium space, etc.)
• Recent photograph of the deceased and any personal effects that you wish to be included in the viewing or burial
• Specific information on the deceased: 
•     Full legal name
•     Address
•     Marital status
•     Social Security number
•     Date of birth
•     Place of birth (city and state)
•     Educational history (number of years of schooling)
•     Armed Forces service dates and serial number
•     Occupation or profession
•     Parent's names, including mother's maiden name
•     Next of kin and other survivors

Not at all. A body must be disposed of (buried/cremated/donated) in accordance with state law; everything else is the decision of you and your family.

If you do not wish to have any funeral or memorial services associated with the burial or cremation, and your survivors are comfortable with that, than that is perfectly acceptable.

This is a personal decision made by you and your family. Both burial and cremation are simply means of final disposition of the body - and neither choice affects your ability to have a viewing first.        

Many of us say that we don't want people "making a fuss" over us when we're gone, spending a lot of money on the funeral, or that we don't want people looking at us. These are natural and fine sentiments of humility - but it is also important for us to remember that the funeral is not just about the deceased, but also about the opportunity for those close to us to say goodbye. It's important to balance our needs and desires with what will best help those who care about us to grieve, gain closure and move forward.​

A viewing can help those that care about do so by confronting and accepting the reality of the death. Also, those outside the family, such as friends, coworkers, neighbors, and other associates may not have had the opportunity to see us before we passed, and appreciate the opportunity to see us one final time. This might also be true for members of the family who don't live in the area, given how we are becoming more and more spread out geographically.

Additionally, the processes of embalming and cosmetizing can help reduce the ravages of illness or age, restoring a more peaceful appearance; this can help leave a more peaceful, serene image of the deceased in the survivors' minds. 

Cost, of course, can certainly be a concern. Perhaps viewing or burial is simply not cost-effective for you or your family, and thus other ways to memorialize can be found.​

Only if you choose services that require embalming. It's only required by Minnesota law in certain circumstances, such as:

• If the body will be publicly viewed
• If the body will not be buried or cremated within six days
• If the body will be transported by common carrier, such as air, train, etc
• By order of the State, for public health protection (i.e. dangerous communicable disease)

Essentially, if you're having a viewing, or not cremating or burying within six days, then yes, embalming is required. 

If you choose direct cremation, direct burial, or closed casket services that will take place within six days, than it is not.

It all depends on your cemetery's policies. They are not required by law, but they are required under many circumstances by most cemeteries.

Burial vaults prevent the eventual degradation of the casket or urn and collapse of the grave, reducing cemetery upkeep costs and thus also reducing the cost of the grave property and grave opening.

With very few exceptions, almost all cemeteries require burial vaults for casketed burials. 

Urn vaults are often not required; many cemeteries that do require them include them in their charge for urn burial.

No. Although it is customary to notify people of the death with an obituary announcement, and may be necessary to publicize the date/time/location of services, it is not required. 

An ever-increasing number of people are choosing to forego publishing expensive newspaper obituaries, and opting to solely rely on the obituaries on our website instead, which we provide at no additional charge.

Yes - provided you were honorably discharged and have committed no capital crimes. You must, however provide a copy of your DD-214 (or equivalent document, for WWII veterans) to the funeral home in order to arrange for the burial. If you do not have a copy of your DD-214, you should contact your local Veterans Service Office. 

All burial services at Fort Snelling are provided at no cost to you and your spouse by the VA, including grave, interment, and monument (or wall niche, if desired, for cremated remains), as well as a minimum grave liner. You are permitted, if you desire, to purchase an upgraded burial vault, and the VA will reimburse you $250 of the purchase price.

See our Veterans Services page for more information.