More bodies go unclaimed as families can't afford funeral costs

[Liberal_in_LA]

More bodies go unclaimed as families can't afford funeral costs

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
July 21, 2009

The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.

At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.

L.A. County morgueThe county morgue, which is responsible for the indigent and others who go unclaimed, saw a 25% increase in cremations in the first half of this year over the same period a year ago, rising to 680 from 545.

The demands on the county crematorium have been so high that earlier this year, officials there stopped accepting bodies from the coroner. The coroner's office since has contracted with two private crematories for $135,000 to handle the overflow.

"It's a pretty dramatic increase," said Lt. David Smith, a coroner's investigator. "The families just tell us flat-out they don't have the money to do a funeral."


Once the county cremates an unclaimed body -- typically about a month after death -- next of kin can pay the coroner $352 to receive the ashes. The fee for claiming ashes from the morgue is $466.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-unclaimed21-2009jul21,0,2534079.story

[YOY]

1. Something very "Grapes of Wrath" about this...

n.t.

[Taverner]

2. Hey - as long as Ahhhnold can sit in his hot tub and have a stogie

Then I don't worry

And do I really need the :sarcasm: tag?

[valerief]

3. Noop! Not necessary at all. nt

[Captain Hilts]

4. It cost us $600 to register as heirs at the clerk of court office in Va. Beach. Terrible. nt

[SoCalDem]

5. When my best friend's son was killed in a car accident a few years back

she had to come up with CASH, to bury him.. She had no credit limit high enough to buy a cemetery plot and pay for the funeral home. She tried to cut corners as much as possible, but it still ended up costing her close to $7k. She went to bed on a Wednesday, with everything normal, and by Sunday she needed to come up with $7k. Most families cannot come up with that money in a hurry. She was lucky enough to have the "nat'l bank of friend", but if we could not have helped her, I don't know how she would have done it.

[lindisfarne]

6. Funerals at home, plus cremation, don't have to be expensive. See this thread with link to article:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6113206&mesg_id=6113206