If you have a loved one at the end stages of Alzheimer's disease, you know they will pass away soon. If your loved one did not pre-plan for their funeral and you have no money saved up, this can be a stressful time.  Fortunately, there are many ways you can save money on their funeral, one of which is cremation. Below is information about this so that you can get everything set up. 

Cremation Process

Before a person can be cremated, all prosthetics, internal and external, have to be removed. This is because these things will not burn down to ashes. Your loved one can be cremated with their clothes on or their clothes off. 

The body is placed in a furnace that burns at extremely high temperatures. After the body is burned, a technician removes the ashes from the container. Because all bone will not completely burn to ashes, the technician has to manually remove the bone, so you are left with only ashes. Bones that don't burn are the thick bones, such as the thigh bone, the skull, and the femur.

The technician will place the ashes in a plastic, sealed bag and give them to you. They may also place them in a type of container with a sealed lid. If you purchased an urn, the technician will place the ashes in the urn you chose and give them to you.

Storing Ashes

If you do not want to spread the ashes, you can simply set the urn you purchased somewhere in your home. If you want to share the ashes with other family members, there are many ways you can do this. For example, you can have a small amount of ashes placed in a locket as a necklace for family members. 

If you do not want to keep the ashes, you could have a special burial for your loved one at a cemetery. You could save money and have the burial at your home or other place. You may want to spread the ashes in a special area your loved one enjoyed, such as in the ocean or a lake. You could plant a tree in their honor and put their ashes in the hole in the ground where you place the tree.

Talk with your other family members about cremation so that you can all come to decisions on how you want to honor a loved one's life.