Reference
Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms funeral providers, cemeteries, agencies and the Funeral Rule use.
48 terms. Type in the box to filter, or pick a kind. Definitions taken from a regulation link to it; faith terms are each body's own description. Each term links to the chapter that teaches it.
Terms
| Term | Meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator | The person a court appoints to settle an estate when there is no will, or no executor who can serve. Settling the estate is outside this manual. | After the service |
| Alkaline hydrolysis | Also called water cremation. The body is reduced with water, alkaline chemicals and heat; bone fragments are returned, as after flame cremation. Legal in some states only. CANA | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Alternative container | An unfinished wood box or other non-metal container without ornament or a fixed lining, made of fiberboard, pressed wood or similar material, used for cremation. A provider that offers direct cremation must offer one. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Autopsy | An examination of the body by a specially trained physician to learn more about the cause of death. NIA | The first hours |
| Basic services fee | The funeral home's charge for its services and overhead: the arrangements conference, permits, coordination. It is the only fee the rule lets a provider make non-declinable, unless another law requires one. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Burial allowance (VA) | A fixed amount VA may pay toward burial and funeral costs for an eligible veteran, with a separate plot allowance. VA decides eligibility. VA | Paying and benefits |
| Burial-transit permit | The state's authorization to bury, cremate or move a body, usually issued by the local registrar once the death certificate is filed. It travels with the body. Names and rules vary by state. CDC Funeral Director's Handbook | Information and papers |
| Cash advance item | Something the funeral home buys from someone else on your behalf, such as cemetery or crematory services, clergy honoraria, flowers, obituary notices or death certificates. If the home adds a charge, the statement must say so. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Casket | A rigid container, usually wood, metal, fiberglass or plastic, ornamented and lined with fabric. A provider must accept one you buy elsewhere without a fee. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Casket price list | A printed list of the caskets and alternative containers a provider sells, with prices, offered before you are shown any. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Celebrant | A person trained to design and lead a service around one person's life, usually after a meeting with the family. | The service or gathering |
| Celebration of life | A memorial gathering with fewer set parts, often informal and held weeks after the death. | The service or gathering |
| Cemetery deed | The paper showing someone bought the right to burial in a particular grave or niche. The cemetery reads it. | Information and papers |
| Certified copy | An official copy of the death certificate from the vital records office of the state where the death occurred. Agencies, banks and insurers usually ask for one; a photocopy may do for subscriptions. USAGov | After the service |
| Columbarium | A wall or building with niches that hold urns of cremated remains, usually at a cemetery. FCA, cremation explained | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Committal | The short final rite at the grave or place of burial. The USCCB's overview calls the Catholic form the Rite of Committal; VA holds committal services of about 20 minutes in a shelter at national cemeteries. USCCB overview; VA | The service or gathering |
| Consular Report of Death Abroad | The US record of a citizen's death in another country, prepared with the embassy or consulate. | The first hours |
| Coordinator | One person who keeps the task list and answers helpers' questions, so the person who decides is asked less. Our convention. | Sharing the work |
| Coroner | An official whose office investigates deaths that state law says need investigation. In most states a coroner does not have to be a physician. Some counties have a coroner, others a medical examiner. CDC, coroner and medical examiner laws | The first hours |
| Cremated remains | The bone fragments left after cremation, processed to a coarse powder; also called ashes. They may be kept, buried, placed in a niche or scattered. FCA, cremation explained | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Cremation authorization | The form a crematory requires before cremation, signed by the person with the right to decide. | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| DD214 | The Department of Defense certificate of release or discharge from active duty. VA, national cemeteries and the honors detail ask for it. | Information and papers |
| Death certificate | The state's legal record of a death. The funeral director usually files it; a physician, medical examiner or coroner completes the cause of death. CDC Funeral Director's Handbook | Information and papers |
| Death notice | A short notice, usually paid, in a newspaper or online, giving the name, the date of death and the service details. We use it for the brief announcement and "obituary" for a longer life story. Convention | Notices and telling people |
| Designated agent | A person named in a written document to make the decisions about a body after death. Washington's statute, for example, asks for a dated document signed before a witness; forms differ by state. RCW 68.50.160 Varies by state | Who decides |
| Direct burial | The rule's term is immediate burial: burial without a formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present, except a graveside service. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Direct cremation | Cremation without a formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Disposition | What finally happens to the body: burial, entombment, cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, donation to science or removal from the state, in the list Oregon's law gives. Oregon quick guide | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Embalming | Chemical treatment of a body by a licensed embalmer, usually for a public viewing. The Funeral Rule says it is not required by law except in special cases, and a provider must have permission before charging for it. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Endowment care | A cemetery fee set aside, often in a trust, to pay for upkeep of the grounds. FCA puts it at 5 to 15 percent of the plot price (2020). FTC, buying a cemetery site; FCA cemetery guide | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Estate | The money and property a person leaves. Settling it is a separate process this manual does not teach. | After the service |
| Eulogy or tribute | A short talk about the person who died, given during the service. | The service or gathering |
| Executor | The person a will names to settle the estate. The will goes to this person; it is not read as funeral instructions. | Information and papers |
| Forwarding remains | A funeral home's price for preparing a body and sending it to a funeral home elsewhere, often after a death away from home. It is a required line on the General Price List. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Funeral ceremony | A service with the body present. The rule contrasts it with a memorial service. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | The service or gathering |
| Funeral liturgy | In the USCCB's description, the central Catholic funeral celebration, usually a funeral Mass; when Mass cannot be held, a liturgy outside Mass at the church or funeral home. USCCB overview | The service or gathering |
| Funeral provider | Anyone who sells both funeral goods and funeral services to the public. A cemetery or crematory that sells both is covered by the Funeral Rule; one that sells only goods is not. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| General Price List | The printed list a funeral home must give you to keep when you ask in person about arrangements. It itemizes each good and service, with the required disclosures. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Grave liner | A concrete cover for the top and sides of a casket in the grave. Many cemeteries require a liner or a vault so the ground does not sink; the rule says a liner satisfies that requirement. FCA cemetery guide; Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Graveside service | A service held at the grave at the time of burial. | The service or gathering |
| Green burial | Burial without embalming, without a vault or liner, in a biodegradable container, a shroud or nothing. The Green Burial Council certifies hybrid, natural and conservation cemeteries. Green Burial Council | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Hesped | A eulogy given during a Jewish funeral service, in the Rabbinical Assembly's description. Rabbinical Assembly guide | The service or gathering |
| Hospice | Care for a person whose illness is expected to end in death, aimed at comfort rather than cure, often at home. A hospice has a 24-hour line for the time of death. | The first hours |
| Immediate burial | The Funeral Rule's term for burial without a formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present, except a graveside service. Also called direct burial. | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Informant | The person who gives the funeral director the personal facts for the death certificate, usually a spouse, parent, child or other relative. CDC Funeral Director's Handbook | Information and papers |
| Itemized statement | The rule's Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected: a written list of what you chose, each price, the cash advance items and the total, given at the end of the arrangements conference. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Janazah | The Muslim funeral prayer (Salat al-Janazah), brief and performed standing, after the body is washed and shrouded, in the descriptions of two US mosques. ADAMS; Masjid Ahlis Sunnah | The service or gathering |
| K'riah | The tearing of a garment or a black ribbon by mourners just before a Jewish funeral, left side for a parent and right side for others, in the Rabbinical Assembly's description. Rabbinical Assembly guide | The service or gathering |
| Legacy contact | A person an account holder names to look after an account after death. Facebook and Apple both use the term, with different powers. | Your arrangements file |
| Letter of instruction | An informal note listing a person's wishes and where their papers are. It is not a legal document. | Information and papers |
| Livestream | A broadcast of the service over the internet as it happens. Each platform sets its own rules. | The service or gathering |
| Lump-sum death payment | Social Security's one-time $255 payment to a qualifying spouse or child. Apply within 2 years of the death. SSA | Paying and benefits |
| Medallion | A bronze medallion from VA to fix to a privately bought headstone in a private cemetery, for an eligible veteran. | Paying and benefits |
| Medical examiner | An official whose office investigates deaths that state law says need investigation, such as sudden, violent or unattended deaths. Which deaths go to the office varies by state. CDC, coroner and medical examiner laws; CDC ME handbook | The first hours |
| Memorial service | A service without the body present. It can be held at any time after the death. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | The service or gathering |
| Military funeral honors | A short ceremony by uniformed service members, provided at no cost for an eligible veteran and requested through the funeral director. | Paying and benefits |
| Natural organic reduction | Also called human composting. The body is turned to soil in a vessel with wood chips, straw and alfalfa over several weeks. Legal in some states only. NFDA | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Obituary | A published life story. A death notice is the shorter, usually paid announcement with the service details. | Notices and telling people |
| Opening and closing | The cemetery's charge for digging and filling a grave, or opening and sealing a crypt or niche. It is not on a funeral home's price list. | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Order of service | The list of what happens in a service, in sequence, with who does each part and for how long. | The service or gathering |
| Organ procurement organization (OPO) | The federally designated group that coordinates organ donation in an area. In a hospital, the staff call it. | The first hours |
| Outer burial container | Any container placed in the grave around the casket, including vaults, grave boxes and grave liners. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Package | A set of funeral goods and services sold at one price. Under the Funeral Rule, a package can be offered only alongside itemized prices. | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Perpetual care | Ongoing upkeep of a grave and the grounds. Sometimes included in the plot price; otherwise charged as an endowment care fee. FTC, buying a cemetery site | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Plot or interment allowance | VA's payment toward a burial plot in a cemetery other than a national cemetery, under VA's conditions. | Paying and benefits |
| Preneed | Arrangements made, and often paid for, before a death. State law governs prepayment, and protections vary by state. FTC Varies by state | Your arrangements file |
| Presidential Memorial Certificate | An engraved paper certificate signed by the president, for the family of a veteran or reservist eligible for burial in a national cemetery. VA | Paying and benefits |
| Probate | A court process for transferring a person's property after death. Whether it is needed is a question for the probate court's self-help center or an attorney. | After the service |
| Pronouncement | The official declaration that a person has died, by someone with authority, such as a doctor or a hospice nurse. It lets the death certificate be prepared. NIA | The first hours |
| Receiving remains | A funeral home's price for accepting a body sent from a funeral home elsewhere. It is a required line on the General Price List. Funeral Rule, 16 CFR 453 | Funeral homes and your rights |
| Rental casket | A casket used for a viewing or service before cremation, with a removable insert for the body. | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Right of disposition | The legal right to decide what happens to a body and to arrange it. State law sets who holds it and in what order; Washington's order, for example, starts with a designated agent and then a spouse. RCW 68.50.160 Varies by state | Who decides |
| Right of interment | What a grave purchase buys: the right to be buried there, not ownership of the land. | Burial, cremation and other choices |
| Service-connected | VA's term for a death or disability VA links to military service. VA decides it. | Paying and benefits |
| Shivah | The seven days of mourning that begin after a Jewish burial, with condolence calls at the mourners' home, in the Rabbinical Assembly's description. Rabbinical Assembly guide | The service or gathering |
| Shmirah | Staying with the body so it is not left alone before a Jewish burial; the watchers recite Psalms. From the Rabbinical Assembly's guide. Rabbinical Assembly guide | The service or gathering |
| Survivor benefits | Social Security's monthly payments to some family members of a person who died. Social Security decides who qualifies. | Paying and benefits |
| Vault | An outer burial container that encloses the casket. A grave liner covers only the top and sides; either satisfies a cemetery that requires a container. | Goods, prices and the statement |
| Vigil | In the USCCB's description, the first part of a Catholic funeral, usually during visitation at the funeral home: a service of Scripture and prayers, where eulogies are usually given. USCCB overview | The service or gathering |
| Whole-body donation | Giving the body to a medical school or donation program for teaching or research. Programs set their own conditions and can decline a body. | Burial, cremation and other choices |
Limits
These are plain definitions, not legal ones. A state's law can define a term differently, and a funeral home or cemetery may use a word its own way; ask them what a line on their list includes. Faith terms are described as one body names them; practice differs between communities.