Understanding Cremation

Cremation now accounts for the majority of arrangements in the United States, and families choosing it for the first time tend to arrive with the same handful of questions. This page answers them plainly.

For the options and merchandise we offer, see Cremation Services, or call (478) 733-6469.

What Cremation Involves

Cremation reduces the body through heat to bone fragments, which are then processed into the fine, sand-like remains a family receives. The cremation itself takes a matter of hours; the timeline families actually experience is set mostly by paperwork.

Georgia requires authorization signed by the legal next of kin, along with a filed death certificate and a permit, before a cremation can take place. Where a medical examiner or coroner is involved, that review adds time. The remains of an average adult weigh roughly four to six pounds and are returned in a temporary container unless you have selected an urn.

Ask us who performs the cremation and how identification is tracked throughout. You are entitled to a straight answer, and any funeral home should give you one.


A Service Is Still Possible, Before or After

The most common misconception about cremation is that choosing it means going without a funeral. It does not. Families hold visitations, church funerals, graveside committals, and military honors with cremation just as they do with burial. The real question is only whether the gathering happens before the cremation, with your loved one present, or afterward, with the urn.

Holding the service later carries a practical advantage: relatives have time to arrange travel, and the date can fall on a weekend, or on a birthday or anniversary that means something. Nothing requires a family to gather within a week.


Keepsakes and Ways to Remember

Cremation leaves a family with choices about what to keep and where to return.

  • An urn kept at home, buried in a family plot, or placed in a columbarium niche
  • Keepsake urns or cremation jewelry, so that more than one household has something
  • A memorial bench, plaque, or engraved marker at a cemetery, even where there is no burial
  • Scattering — on private land with the owner's permission, or in a place that mattered; check with the cemetery, park, or landowner first
  • Ask us about fingerprint jewelry, memorial glass, and framed portraits

Many families split the difference: inter or bury a portion so there is a place to visit, and keep a keepsake portion at home. There is no single correct answer, and no deadline for deciding.