Curious Iowa: Is cremation more popular than burial in Iowa?

Has cremation surpassed casketed-burial in popularity in Iowa?

That’s one of several questions a Cedar Rapids resident asked Curious Iowa — a series from The Gazette that answers readers’ questions — about the death care industry. They also wondered what happens when someone dies in a different state after they have planned funeral arrangements in Iowa.

To answer the reader’s questions, we looked into trends in the death care industry and what local funeral directors are experiencing.

Is cremation more popular than burial in Iowa?

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Licensed funeral directors Brad Kurtz, of Cedar Memorial, and Amy Hart, of Murdoch Funeral Homes & Cremation Services, agreed that cremation has grown in popularity in Iowa. Hart estimated that about 60 percent of families she cares for choose cremation, with about 40 percent choosing casket burial.

The year 2015 marked the first time in U.S. history that the national cremation rate surpassed the casketed-burial rate, according to the 2024 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Cremation and Burial report. According to the report, the U.S. cremation rate is projected to increase from 61.9 percent in 2024 to 82.1 percent in 2045. Cremations in Iowa are projected by the NFDA to reach 77 percent by 2035.

According to the NFDA’s 2024 Consumer Preference Study, respondents said they would choose cremation for themselves because it is more cost-effective, more convenient, and it’s their personal preference or a family tradition.

In addition, Hart said that it’s become more common for younger generations to have geographic separation from family members.

“They’ve moved around, and so rather than having a burial in one designated spot, we’re seeing families who prefer to bring their loved ones’ cremated remains with them,” Hart said.

Kurtz said that cremation may be more convenient for family from out of state to make travel arrangements, but he added, “just because you select cremation doesn’t mean you can’t have some of the services and different choices to be able to honor that life.”

“I would say maybe that used to be the feeling in the past where someone would say, ‘Oh, are they being buried? When’s the service? Or are they being cremated?’ and the subtext there was that if they were cremated, then that was it, there wasn’t going to be anything further,” Hart said, “but I think families nowadays have realized that even when they select cremation, it doesn’t mean that there can’t be anything else after that.”

Many families will plan a memorial event, whether that’s an open visitation, a faith-based service or a celebration of life.

The NFDA reported that in 2023, 49 percent of cremations performed were direct cremations; 32 percent were cremations with memorial services; and 19 percent selected a casketed adult funeral with viewing and cremation.

Kurtz said a common misunderstanding is that if cremation has been pre-selected as the form of disposition, the cremation happens immediately after someone dies.

“Iowa law requires that we have the next of kin authorize for disposition to happen, and then we also have to get a permit from the medical examiner, so it is a few days at minimum,” Kurtz said.

What happens if you die in another state?

The reader who wrote to Curious Iowa wanted to know what happens when Iowans die while snowbirding during the winter months, or on vacation in another state.

Kurtz said that even if arrangements had been planned with a specific funeral home in Iowa, the deceased is prepared in the state and the location where they die.

“Some of that has to do with state-specific licensing requirements that a licensed funeral director in that state or licensed person has to be the one to bring the person into their care,” Kurtz said.

What should families do if their loved one passes away while in Florida, for example? Hart said that in that scenario, the family should call the Iowa funeral provider where pre-arrangements were made.

“Our staff will be able to coordinate with the provider to wherever they’re located in Florida to either facilitate cremation there locally or to facilitate the embalming and then the transportation of the remains back to Iowa for those services,” she said.

“The reason for doing it that way, rather than the family calling a funeral home in Florida is that, especially with our pre-arrangements, we can guarantee still the cost of the preparation and we would absorb the cost of the Florida funeral home into what we’ve already arranged with the family.”

This also ensures that the family will have one point of contact for arrangements and one bill.

If the distance between where the person died and the home state requires the remains to be flown home, there are limitations on which airports can transport human remains.

“In Iowa, currently, the only airport that can accept (human remains) is Des Moines. So every funeral home in Iowa essentially has to go to Des Moines ... in some instances, if they’re further north, maybe Minneapolis is closer, but the actual one in Iowa is in Des Moines.”

If arrangements were made for cremation immediately following death, the cremation would take place in the location where the person died, unless the person was going to be viewed in Iowa. The cremated remains would be sent back to Iowa or an authorized family member could pick up them up.

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How do funeral homes ensure loved ones are returned to their families following cremation?

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In 2020, an Illinois funeral home was sued after a family received the ashes of a 72-year-old woman instead of the ashes of their 4-month-old daughter.

Kurtz said Cedar Memorial follows an “extremely strict tracking procedure” where individuals are tracked by their name and an identification number. A steel disc with the ID number follows the body throughout the cremation process and it is attached to the cremated remains afterward. Digital fingerprints also are taken from the deceased in the event they are ever needed, he said.

Hart said the individual’s name and cremation ID number are also affixed to any smaller separations of the individual’s remains, like a pendant or blown glass keepsake, or portions that are intended for scattering.

“The thought process there is that even if that urn is later buried in a cemetery, and for whatever reason, there’s some question about identity, upon opening that urn, that permanent metal identification disc will still be present and ... can be traced to every single document related to that individual’s cremation that we would have on file,” Hart said. “So their identity always stays with them.”

The cost of casketed-burial and cremation varies greatly because the services and products are so customizable. According to the NFDA, the national median cost of a funeral with a viewing and burial in 2023 was $8,300. The median cost of a funeral with cremation was $6,280.

The Federal Trade Commission requires all funeral homes to disclose pricing in detailed lists.

How much of the process can be planned ahead?

Some Iowans may be surprised to learn that Power of Attorney ends at death in Iowa, and executorship doesn’t have any bearing on who makes authorizations when it comes to funeral services.

Iowa’s Final Disposition Act allows someone to select one person as a the legal designee for disposition. This is the person you want to be solely in charge of arrangements after you die. A secondary individual can be named in case the primary person can’t or won’t fulfill their duties at the time of death. Most funeral homes have the legal designee for disposition form on site.

Without a legal designee for disposition, the responsibility falls to the surviving legal spouse. If there isn’t a surviving or legal spouse, the adult child or children are responsible. According to Iowa law, if there are multiple people in the surviving class of kinship, each of those individuals has an equal right to make decisions about disposition. This is where things get complicated, Hart said. A majority of the surviving next of kin must come to an agreement.

“We’ve got to get everybody on the same page in order to move forward with the decision and that’s not only to protect the family, but it’s also to help protect the funeral providers too,” Hart said. “We don’t want to be in a position where someone authorizes cremation and perhaps there were other individuals of that same level of kinship who would have disagreed with it.”

Both Kurtz and Hart stressed that pre-planning can alleviate some of the stress that comes with the death of a loved one. For example, embalming is not required by Iowa law if the burial takes place within 72 hours of death. Without embalming, time constraints come into play.

“We have to have at least burial, cremation or refrigeration done within the first 72 hours after a person dies,” Hart said. “If a person is not embalmed, we can extend that time period by another 72 hours with refrigeration, but after that sixth day, by law, we are compelled to do something.”

“The law says at that point, if there’s not a decision made, that we must embalm the body or we must have the body cremated or buried without embalming within that time frame as well.”

Hart encourages families to make a plan ahead of time.

“Where we run up against issues with those time constraints is when a family doesn’t have a plan in place ahead of time. They’re making decisions, and we’ve gotten down to the wire sometimes on needing to know how to proceed, and it can be incredibly stressful for the families too,” Hart said.

Kurtz said there are 83 things the surviving family must do when a loved one dies. This includes securing vital statistics that are required for the death certificate and/or burial permit, collecting documents, and arranging items related to the memorial service and disposition of the deceased. Out of the 83 items, 53 can be pre-planned or pre-paid.

He said that pre-planning can be as simple as writing down basic biographical information about yourself, talking with your family about your preferences and sharing that with a funeral home so it is on file.

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Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com