What a great description of how much it all costs! Can be crazy, huh?
Cremation in MD is certainly the least expensive and simplest. Then you can take the ashes (car, train, plane) to GA to be buried next to or sprinkled over dad.
If you're going to go with cremation, contact the MD FCA office:
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland and Environs
9601 Cedar Lane
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-564-0006
www.mdfunerals.org
They can point you to a funeral home that goes statewide and does a simple cremation for as little as
$920.
However, if you would much prefer burial, you could find a funeral home in GA and/or MD that would do the transportation and burial for a lot less than $18,000. Chains tend to be more expensive (and have a lot of other problems).
You can contact the GA FCA affiliate. I'm not sure if they're near enough your family cemetery to help you, but it's worth a shot.
The Memorial Society of Georgia
1911 Cliff Valley Way NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
404-634-2896
info@memorialsocietyofgeorgia.org
www.memorialsocietyofgeorgia.org/
Middle Georgia Chapter
5276 Zebulon Rd.
Macon, GA 31210
Members of MSOG pay "No greater than $1,950.00 Simple Burial includes removal of body; care, dressing and casketing of body; filing of paper work; transportation to cemetery. A cloth covered casket is included. Simple burials and simple cremations do not include space and time at funeral home for memorial service. You can arrange this service with the funeral director or at a place of your choosing. Simple Burial does not include cemetery plot or opening of the grave, (although the funeral directors will make the contact for you) committal service nor embalming."
Of course, that's just the funeral home cost and you know about the other charges involved.
As for getting the body to GA from MD, read our pamphlet "Death in One State, Burial in Another." Excerpt: "If ... there is no need to have services with the body present in the area where death occurred, you will generally save money by working through a funeral director located where the body is to be shipped, and not a funeral home near the place of death. Call a mortuary in the location where you want the body buried and ask them to use a shipping service such as Inman Nationwide 1-800-321-0566 (this number is for undertakers only; the company will not talk with consumers). At the time of this writing, Inman charges funeral homes $830 to pick up a body, get permits and the death certificate, embalm, and deliver to the airport. There may be an additional mileage charge if the Inman agent in your area must travel any great distance. By comparison, the charge for this service can be anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 or more when approaching a local funeral home directly. NOTE: The airline ticket itself is an additional fee."
Please note that no casket or vault will protect a body from the elements forever. Please do not be fooled into buying a more expensive sealed casket. In fact, consider letting her return to the earth naturally (ashes to ashes, dust to dust) and get an inexpensive grave liner. They can put holes in the bottom or put it in upside down with no lid (still keeps the grass nice and level for mowing).
As for the earlier questions; when mom dies, a local MD will need to do the pronouncement. If she's declining and losing weight, call your local hospice to see if she's eligible. Not only do they provide great services, they will do the pronouncement at home.
Good luck!
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