a lot of myths and
assumptions that
have somehow
become an
accepted norm
Another case we heard about via the Good Funeral Guide
was of a man in Oxfordshire who took his local council to task
when they informed him that ‘all interments (of ashes)... must
be arranged by an approved professional firm’, resulting in
a potential additional cost of around £135 – £150 in funeral
director’s fees that the family would have to pay to bury the
ashes casket, on top of the £74 plot fee, £105 council interment fee and £90 grave digging fee.
Christopher Harris personally addressed Woodstock Town
Council and called upon it to strike out their requirement that a
funeral director be employed to supervise the interment of his
father’s ashes.
He dressed as an undertaker when he attended the meeting
to make his point that all funeral directors are self-appointed.
Following a withdrawal into closed session to discuss the matter - and with the local paper informed of the situation and
about to go to press, the following day - the Mayor of Woodstock announced that the council’s policy had been wrong and
that it would be changed.
It is not known how many families have been affected in the
past by this particular council’s policy, nor indeed how many
other authorities around the UK are operating similar inaccurate and unfair rulings.
Not only are there ill informed or ignorant people in authority
out there offering incorrect advice to bereaved families, there
are also a lot of myths and assumptions that have somehow become an accepted norm.
continued