Cemetery and Burial Planning

If your family already owns property, bring the deed or the cemetery's paperwork and we will confirm what is recorded — how many spaces remain, whose names are on them, and what that cemetery requires.

If you are choosing for the first time, it is worth visiting in person. Consider:

• Distance, and who will realistically be visiting twenty years from now
• Whether relatives are already buried there
• Church or denominational affiliation, if that matters to your family
• Whether the section allows upright monuments, or flat markers only
• Whether spaces are available side by side, and whether you want to reserve more than one
• What the charges cover: the space itself, opening and closing the grave, perpetual care, and recording fees

Cemetery charges are separate from funeral home charges and are paid to the cemetery. We will tell you plainly which is which.

Nothing about a monument has to be decided during the week of the funeral, and most families are better served waiting. Graves are commonly marked with a temporary marker until a permanent stone is set.

When you are ready, the cemetery's rules come first — some sections permit only flat granite or bronze markers, and most set limits on size and material. From there the choices are the stone and its finish, upright or flat, single or companion, the lettering, and whether to include an emblem, a portrait, or a line of text that sounds like the person. Read the proof carefully before it goes to the carver: dates and spellings are cut once.

Veterans may be eligible for a government headstone, marker, or bronze medallion furnished by the VA. See Veterans Services.

Setting a stone often takes weeks or months after the funeral, between fabrication and the cemetery's schedule. Ask the cemetery office where the grave is located, and how to find it, before the marker is in place.

Most cemeteries also have rules about what may be left at a grave and when it is cleared — fresh flowers, artificial arrangements, shepherd's hooks, flags, and glass or breakable items are all treated differently, and grounds crews remove items seasonally. Asking first spares a family the shock of finding something gone. Perpetual care covers mowing and general upkeep, not the cleaning of an individual stone; the cemetery can tell you what is safe to use on granite or bronze.