General Question

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Before I die can I ask not to be embalmed or cremated?

Asked by RedDeerGuy1 (24544points) 2 weeks ago
46 responses
“Great Question” (3points)

Are those normal requests?

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Answers

canidmajor's avatar

You need to check with your province/region as to what the laws are related to disposal of cadavers.

snowberry's avatar

Here’s a lighthearted option:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwRn7A-TWrQ

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

@canidmajor is correct. There are usually laws about these things.

LadyMarissa's avatar

I don’t know about Canadian laws, but here you must be embalmed unless you are being cremated & there must be an autopsy except for certain religious beliefs. Whoever will be finalizing your wishes is who you should be speaking with so they can get as close to your request as possible. Personally, I’m requesting cremation but I know that freaks out a lot of people. The embalming is important because the body decomposes so fast. You might want to add having a closed casket to your request due to the decomposition. As others have already suggested, do your research on your local laws so you know before you go. I’m guessing that your Mom will be the one taking care of your funeral. She’s going to be stressed to the max with grief & having to deal with making sure your final wishes are carried out will just add to her stress so it becomes even more important to know your rights!!!

jca2's avatar

Good idea to research the laws. Your mom might not be alive when you die, so someone else might be handling the arrangements.

I saw a documentary about a place, I think it was in TN, where you could be buried without a coffin, without being embalmed, and your remains would decompose and return to their natural state. That looked appealing however, your body would have to be transported there and it is probably prohibitively expensive to transport a body across state (or country, in your case) lines.

JLeslie's avatar

I would think so. In my religion we aren’t supposed to be embalmed or cremated, so my guess is the provinces allow the option for people. Will the province be making the decisions or a family member? You need to get your wishes heard. Can you plan your own burial so it’s all taken care of ahead of time?

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Here is the Tennessee “Body Yard” , where the have the Forensic Anthropology Center. https://fac.utk.edu/

jca2's avatar

Here’s the natural burial ground in Tennessee, that was featured in a documentary.

https://larkspurconservation.org/

KNOWITALL's avatar

Here you can put it in your ‘final arrangement’ ooklet with your DNR and details of your wishes. But the person handling those arrangements has final say as costs tend to be thousands higher for burial rather than cremation.
Here that is a $4–6k difference. So make sure life insurance or your personal accounts have enough to do what you want. And make sure the person who will handle it has access to those funds immediately upon death as in access to your bank accounts via TOD (transfer on death.)

zenvelo's avatar

You can let your wishes be known, and whoever is handling your affairs should carry it out.

However, since you don’t have kids or a spouse. the authorities won’t know what your wishes are. It’s not like you can file your wishes somewhere for the police to find.

If no cremation or embalming, you have to be buried pretty quickly because you start to spoil,

Forever_Free's avatar

If not embalmed or cremated, what are your wishes?

Viking funeral?
Shot into space?
Burial at sea?
Canned in a light olive oil?

Dutchess_III's avatar

6 foot under?
Call a funeral home with your questions.
Actual burial is thousands and thousands of dollars. I paid for my cremation last year and that price is locked in. It was $2400.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Forever_Free I would like every chance to wake up. I would like to be resuscitated, even if in pain. I believe that I am in a time loop, and it would suck if I came back as a pile of dust or embalmed.

Also thanks for the alternate ways to handle my death. Please list more.

Lightlyseared's avatar

You can ask…

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

@RedDeerGuy1 If you are still talking to a psychology student, this would be a great topic to discuss with them.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Hawaii_Jake I am reconnected to my psychologist. She will call me on Tuesdays at 4–5pm. I saw her in person yesterday for my panic attack.

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

@RedDeerGuy1 I’m very sorry to hear you had a panic attack. Those are so awful.

seawulf575's avatar

Just a thought: what did you want to have done after you die? Personally, I don’t care. Leave me for forensic studies, harvest the organs, cremate my body, embalm and bury it, don’t embalm and bury it, weight it down and dump it out to sea or blow it up. I’m no longer going to be using it so it makes no difference.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@seawulf575 I want to be on life support for as long as possible. I want to be given every chance to recover. I will relive my past. I just need time to go back. I’ve relived 26,500 plus years, and I have no reason that it wouldn’t happen again.

smudges's avatar

^^ Don’t forget, someone will have to pay for that: $2,000 – 4,000 per day and it can climb to $10,000/day. Good insurance may pay for some or all. That’s for the states; I imagine Canada is similar.

You may find the book Stiff interesting.

YARNLADY's avatar

I have donated my body to organ/research. They will do whatever needs done.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Why do you think you’ve lived 26,000 plus years RDG?

seawulf575's avatar

@RedDeerGuy1 That’s where you and I differ. I view death as just the next step of life. Whatever version of the afterlife you believe in, life all ends the same with death. If you believe in reincarnation, you have to die to be reincarnated. If you believe in the Christian God, you have to die to end up in the afterlife. If you are a complete atheist, you will die and that is it. All lives lead to death. My goal is to enjoy this life as much as I can while I’m here and then take that next step.

MrGrimm888's avatar

I’ve long been terrified of an autopsy. The process, including embalming, would be absolutely cruel for no reason.

Throw my Raiders jacket on my body, and just put me in a box, and burry me. Please.

I don’t have any jewelry, just tattoos. But it would be nice if I were allowed to be buried with a loaded pistol.
Maybe a small bag of almonds, and a bottle of water.
A knife on my side…

Nothing abnormal, about thinking about it.

Forever_Free's avatar

@RedDeerGuy1 There is cryogenic freezing. You will be in good company with Walt Disney and Ted Williams head.

Dutchess_III's avatar

^^^^ Didn’t MJ do that too?

Lightlyseared's avatar

You know we have successfully frozen and revived dogs so in theory it may be worth it

smudges's avatar

^^ Depends on your definition of “worth it”.

Cryopreservation for an entire body at Alcor costs at least $200,000, and it costs $80,000 to preserve just a brain, per Reuters. That doesn’t include transportation or funeral service costs.

While many pets have been cryopreserved, I couldn’t find anything saying any were successfully revived. And when they do perform it, the owners take the pet to the vet who removes the brain to freeze, and hopefully revive it in another animal’s body. There are, however, several instances of people who have frozen to death and been brought back to life – not the same as cryogenics though.

janbb's avatar

You certainly won’t be able to ask after you die, so you might as well try before.

jca2's avatar

Very logical, @janbb! It reminds me of when I was little, and my grandparents bought a watermelon. My grandfather put it on the floor. I asked him “why did you put the watermelon on the floor?” He replied, “so it won’t fall on the floor.” Hahahaha

kritiper's avatar

I think so, if what I know is correct. If one is not embalmed you must be buried within 24 hours.

Dutchess_III's avatar

How do you get out of a 6 ft. grave @RedDeerGuy?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Dutchess_III Time travel.

smudges's avatar

I’ll ask what @Dutchess_III asked earlier in this thread – Why do you think you’ve lived 26,000 plus years RDG?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@smudges I have over 1,300 sets of memories. All slightly differently incrementaly positive sets of memories.

It works for me. As I make fewer mistakes.
Also in case you were wondering, I tried bringing back the lottery numbers, and the ticket vanished.

I am willing to concider that I am in a holographic simulation , but it still doesn’t explain why I have lived so long? Maybe I or we are in in an alien zoo?

My goto theory was that I am an immortal trapped in a time loop or time resets.

When time resets than my body resets to
a typical time that time resets is in the summer of 2000.

I was in a car ride with a good friend, and I told her that I was suicidal, and she prayed something and the cycle began. Every interation I get to live a little bit more averaging 2 weeks where at the last two weeks it gets easier to make minor changes.

Right now I am focusing on spring cleaning, and tossing old and outdated food and utensils and supplies.

I have a psychologist who I share everything with. My next appointment is June 11th.

smudges's avatar

Interesting theories, and who am I to say they’re wrong. There’s so much we don’t know.

I need to do some of that spring cleaning. Feels good, doesn’t it?!

Thanks for answering! :)

Dutchess_III's avatar

Wait….why do you not want to be embalmed or cremated? I assumed it was to leave your body intact…?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Dutchess_III I would like every opportunity to recover. The opposite of a DNR directive. I don’t want to time travel if I can avoid it. My past is full of pain.

Dutchess_III's avatar

((( hugs )))

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Also I wonder if my behavior problems in university are a side effect of suddenly going off my medications from the future.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Wait… when you TT you have to start your life over from scratch?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Dutchess_III Yes from the summer of 2000. My body resets to the past. Then my hair is not grey anymore, and only vague memories of the future. I haven’t been able to raise my grades, but I keep trying. Maybe one day I will be able to have more freedom to change my past in other time lines.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Since you know painful things are going to happen, can’t you avoid them?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@Dutchess_III I try my best. The easiest way for me to change is to sleep in on a day that causes me pain.

I would like to avoid teeth rotting cola drinks in the university cafeteria. Right now I managed to only stop 10 months ago.

I told my university counselors my time travel. Also my student psychologist graduated, and is a provisional psychologist and only charges me $10/hour. I have telephone appointments. My next is June 11th.

My university counselors have moved to British Columbia and are out of contact. I can only talk to them in the past.

seawulf575's avatar

@RedDeerGuy1 So what happens when you travel back again? You’ve created a new existence with hundreds of other people you have interacted with. Won’t they have a memory? Do they just suddenly forget you were a part of their past? Wouldn’t someone, somewhere be asking questions?

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

@seawulf575 No one remembers. I barely remember any.

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