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The obituary you write is one of the last rituals a licensed funeral director at Can-Trust-Funeral can assist a grieving family with as they make funeral arrangements, plan a cremations or celebrations of life in BC’s Lower Mainland. It may be read widely or held as a keepsake of the moment family and friends came together, in person or virtually, to honour and to remember their connection to the deceased.   

Every obituary tells some of the story of someone’s life — who their parents were, who their children are and where they’ve been and what they’ve done. An obituary may be the only time that person’s name ever appears in the paper, and it is through that obituary that a lasting record of a person’s life is written.  

Here are Can-Trust’s tips on what to include and also what not to share publicly: 

What to include in an obituary? 

An obituary is like a news article that reports:  

• The recent death of a person and typically an account of their life, family members, glowing tributes and noteworthy achievements. 
• Information about the funeral service, cremation or celebration of life such as time and location.  
• An obituary typically consists of only a few paragraphs that briefly tells the story of a person and is of greatest interest to those who had an integral role in the community the loved one was a part of such as: friends and neighbors, former classmates or fellow faith community members  

Unfortunately, the family of the deceased is vulnerable to possible scams, identity theft or fraud when posting details of funeral arrangements, services and people in attendance. Can-Trust’s team suggests specific protections in the process of crafting an obituary.  

When to announce a death through an obituary  

Traditionally, an obituary was sent to a publication such as a newspaper or community bulletin three days before the actual funeral. Today, obituaries can be submitted electronically by any family member of the deceased or by a friend or funeral director acting on behalf of the family. 

Obituaries must be verified before publication. This is done through the funeral home. At Can-Trust-Funeral, licensed funeral directors assist families with their funeral arrangements in Richmond, Surrey, New Westminster and Burnaby, and include direct help in crafting an obituary worthy of the deceased as part of their service.  

Where to share an obituary 

Print publications such as newspapers and community bulletins. These are temporary and may be discarded or damaged.   

Online obituaries are more permanent and can be printed off by family and friends to keep. They are also often far more appealing visually to readers as colours, photos and graphics and videos can be economically added – making it feel more interactive.  

Online obituaries can be accessed in perpetuity from anywhere at any time, and easily shared as a  

website link or email or as a social media page. Another plus is that the text is virtually, unlimited and very low cost.  

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.  

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.  

Our Can-Trust team of professional and licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.  

Phone: 604-376-7975  

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com  

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral  

Visit us online for more information.  

Despite the current pandemic’s requiring us all to modify funeral rituals, our needs as humans to observe and participate in symbolic activity that helps us process feelings and express our emotions at the passing of a loved one, remains constant. Can-Trust-Funeral’s death care professionals, licenced funeral directors serving BC’s Lower Mainland, have only seen human needs intensify in the families they help guide through the passing of their loved ones.   

“It may be difficult for friends and family to seek solace or to offer comfort to each other these days. Gathering to observe familiar rituals is disrupted in the face of COVID-19 cautions in place to protect our communities,” says Can-Trust’s Funeral Director, Tony Chan.  

“Our close knit team of funeral directors helps families negotiate the new standards. In some cases it means we help them recreate some of the rituals to express their belief, feeling and thoughts about the deceased.   

We sit together to plan memorials, cremations, celebrations of life or to arrange funeral services that honour the person who passed.  

For the living, as professional funeral directors, we offer continuity and hope at a sensitive time with these elements in mind:  

1. An open approach to healing  

As social beings, the in-person experience of the funeral ritual assists in the steps towards healing. All kinds of WHY questions come up for families. Even if those questions go unanswered, a licensed funeral director can help people shift towards healing. Mourners move from the natural tendency to try to find solutions with the head, to acknowledging with the heart and in so doing being open to the emotions that will be felt and must come.     

While ongoing support will come from others, the process of planning and arranging the funeral brings critical moments of hope and support.  

2. Design meaningful funeral ceremonies 

These help mourners acknowledge the reality of the death, accept the loss and begin to move through the pain of the loss towards and to begin healing.  

Today, with modifications being required, families have more say in creating new rituals and moving from the lost loved ones presence to their memory. 

3. Looking forward 

At the time of loss, grieving families may feel overwhelmed and unable to forge a vision for their future. This takes time. A professionally prepared funeral director can by their demeanor and training create the rituals and experience that may help families as they move towards a new self-identity.  

They can either provide or recommend an ‘after care and support specialist’ 

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always. 

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated. 

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland. 

Phone: 604-376-7975 

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com 

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral 

Visit us online for more information. 

“Grieving families and friends, now restricted due to mandated COVID-19 precautions at funeral services and gatherings for memorials, celebrations of life or cremations can exercise another option,” say the funeral directors at Can-Trust-Funerals. “We have seen some families use live streaming as a way to include the people who normally expected to say good bye to a loved one, together and in person.”  

Live streaming of funeral services means that mourners can participate and be present, even at a distance. Distancing can be due to safety protocols limiting the number of people allowed to attend in person or due to the pandemics limiting travel from other regions for people to come in and support the grieving family, and to experience their own emotions at the loss, fully. 

To help participants joining remotely a more fulfilling experience, Can-Trust-Funerals offers these tips:   

Record 

• Bereaved families at the ceremonies can use their own electronic devices (DIY). 
• Designate one trusted family member to record 
• Hire a professional (your funeral director can secure this service for you) so that the family in attendance can be fully present without the distraction of recording either indoors at the funeral home or graveside. 

Share  

Share as a livestream or the recorded file to help family unable to attend with a virtual experience or as a keepsake. Easily use popular apps such as Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp or Facebook Live or similar.    

Include  

Consider more than one recording device and angle so that virtual participants can see all the people and the faces of those present. This enhances the remote viewing experience and helps people participate more fully by seeing the emotions of those present and it helps everyone share their own feelings.  

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on all options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always. 

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated. 

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland. 

Phone: 604-376-7975 

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com 

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral 

Visit us online for more information. 

Why not be as unique in your funeral arrangement choices as you are in your life? Every family is different, and not everyone wants the same type of funeral. In the experience of Can-Trust-Funerals that provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Surrey, New Westminster, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland, different factors determine whether people choose traditional full funeral services, graveside burials or cremations to honour a loved one who passed. 

Religious and cultural traditions, costs and personal preferences may determine if a funeral is going to be:  private or public, simple or elaborate, secular or religious or secular as well as where the funeral service will be held.

They may also vary in whether the body is present at the funeral or if the family will allow viewing or visitation. Will it be an open casket or closed? Will the remains be buried or cremated?

A professional funeral director can guide you. First, there are the choices of what kind of funeral you actually want to have, and then there are the many details to finalize in the choice you settle on. 

The top 3 funeral arrangement services are:

Traditional

This full-service funeral may be what we are most accustomed to attending. It features a formal service and can include a viewing or visitation at the funeral site.

In the category of elaborate, this may be one of your most expensive options. It usually includes a funeral home’s basic services fee, rental of the funeral home, embalming and dressing the body costs of there is to be a viewing or visitation chosen, use of a hearse to transport the family and the body, and any planned guest receiving events. You should also count in casket, cemetery plot, or crypt and other funeral goods and services.

Grave side burial

A simpler, popular choice today as the body is buried shortly after death, usually in a simple container. No viewing or visitation is involved, so no embalming is necessary. A memorial service may be held at the graveside or later. Again, costs will include the funeral home’s basic services fee, transportation and care of the body, a casket or burial container and a cemetery plot or crypt purchase. There may be an additional fee for a graveside service.

Cremation

The body is cremated shortly after death, without embalming. The cremated remains are placed in an urn or other container. There is np viewing or visitation but a memorial service may be held, with or without the cremated remains present. The remains can be kept in the home, buried or placed in a crypt or niche in a cemetery, or buried or scattered

A licensed and reputable funeral director will have your best interests at heart as funerals can rank, for some, as one of their biggest expenses in life. It is a very emotional time whether planning pre-need by an individual or at need by the grieving family.

Can-Trust’s funeral directors provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral

Visit us online for more information.

Is it unusual for a person to plan their own funeral? What steps do people interested in making their own funeral arrangements take to plan their funeral, design their funeral preferences? Is advance payment a good idea for those who see funeral arrangements as an extensions of their will and estate planning? All these questions come under the umbrella of pre-need planning, and here’s what might help you decide if this is a funeral service option for you in BC’s Lower Mainland:

Advantages of pre-planning (Pre-need)

With pre-need planning of funeral arrangements, a person relieves their family of decisions at a time of grief and turmoil at-need.  It gives more time to consider specific items they’d like to choose for their funeral, cremation, memorial service or celebration of life.  There is time to compare costs and also quality of funeral service providers without the time pressure of a sudden death or after a great deal of trauma.

And, by designating their funeral preferences, and sometimes even paying for them in advance they eliminate misinterpretations of what they would want. They see funeral planning as an extension of will and estate planning.

A consumer might say they have time to make BETTER decisions. The licenced funeral directors at Can-Trust-Funerals may add that their final funeral arrangements become UNQUESTIONABLE. With wishes clearly expressed and already taken care of there are no questions as to what the deceased truly would have wanted at their funeral or celebration of life.

How to work with a funeral home to get it right 

A professional funeral director helps you with what you need to consider. They can help answer your questions like:

Is it a good idea to buy a cemetery plot or a niche in advance? It is an individual choice. What’s good for one family may not work well for another as each family will have its own unique needs and reasons for what they do.  Cemetery plots are more expensive now as land is scarce or limited. 

Your plot purchase options are to:

1. Buy a plot from a private seller, such as families who already own plots but wish to sell them

The cost is often less than buying it directly from cemeteries. 

• Buy directly from the cemetery.
• Consult Can-Trust-Funeral as they do have private plots or niches for sale. 

If I arrange in advance, does it also mean I pay in advance? Absolutely in one way or another. Pre plans may be financed through installments and clients can put a down payment. One may also do this by creating a living will.

Should I inform my family of my wishes?  Yes, it is advisable. When a family is preparing for a loss or grieving, there are many emotional dynamics in play. So instruction or last wishes may be lost. Having a final written word, especially a legal document ensures things run smooth after you pass.

Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families caring guidance on options in the Lower Mainland community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral

Visit us online for more information.

There is an element of protection and service regarding costs that a grieving family may not be aware of when they engage the help of a funeral director to help them plan a memorial or navigate the regulations of a cremation in the Lower Mainland of BC or to make funeral arrangements or hold a celebration of life.  A licensed funeral home and the funeral services team are duty bound to guide a family, ethically and honestly. Families are faced with a myriad of options at a difficult time. They are very vulnerable and can be taken advantage of when it comes to expenses associated with funeral arrangement expenses. 

Recently, the bounds of these practices in the industry were challenged by Richmond based Can-Trust-Funeral who reported an example of a predatory practice in the Lower Mainland.

Can-Trust cautions that overcharging practices typically show up in:

• Products: caskets and casket items, urns, flowers
• Equipment: graveside, transportation costs, decedent care, hall rentals
• Staff and administrative fee, service fees

Can-Trust-Funerals lodged a formal complaint on behalf of a family they saw were being overcharged – first for a headstone then staff to supervise its placement and an extra fee for the use of added equipment to complete the funeral services, for no valid reason.

Seamless support and cooperation for families

Families are assured that a network of funeral service providers, often come together to fulfill all the goods and services a family may need to properly honour or lay their loved ones to rest.  Integrity behind all the scenes is key. Can-Trust’s complaint on behalf of the family they were guiding, led to significant costs to be refunded, and that other company to end that practice.

Protections in place for consumers

Families should also know that professional funeral directors and licensed funeral homes and funeral services uphold a high standard of case. Yet, as consumers they always have recourse as well as the opportunity to review resources available especially for them at any time in the funeral planning process —   Consumer Protection BC.

Duty and personal dedication

Each of the funeral directors at Can-Trust are committed to the client who is absent – the deceased – and to the family who is present to experience and to take away memories of the funeral event. They feel it is a sacred duty they undertook with the service.  

Their mission is to relieve families of undue emotional stress of dealing with the planning of funerals, cremations, memorials or a celebration of life. In addition, they safeguard the reputation that represents the trust in the ethics and integrity of the advice and the support they give to families.  They follow the guidelines of the British Columbia Funeral Association.       

“This incident”, says Can-Trust-Funeral’s Director, Tony Chan, “shows that if a family thinks they have been mistreated by a funeral provider, if they are in any doubt they should contact the Consumer Protection service in BC(CPBC) and get support.  

We are here to help. Can-Trust-Funerals Ltd. provides reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.”

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975 E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com WeChat: Cantrustfuneral Visit us online for more information.

Families faced with a loss in these days of Covid19 recovery, wonder how they will plan funeral arrangements, cremations, memorials or a celebration of life. As British Columbia continues to open and funeral homes are allowed to resume funeral services, Can-Trust-Funerals serves with its signature compassion. Professional funeral directors guide families experiencing loss in the lower mainland of BC with special attention to their needs and to the new conditions of care. 

Can-Trust protects bereaved families, guests, pallbearers, staff and celebrants officiating at events. All are kept safe from transmission of any infection with additional protocols.

Funeral directors at Can-Trust comply with the strict guidelines set out by WorkSafe BC and Regional Health Authorities.

These modifications are some of the actions responsible funeral directors can make to lessen undue stress on grieving families and to ensure precautions are taken for safety:

 Attending to family 

• Maintaining familiar features of funeral services and expectations of guests attending funeral home events while observing social distancing
• Ensuring all surfaces are cleaned and sanitized prior to the arrival of family, guests, workers and volunteers. Hand sanitizers use is encouraged for individuals performing any rituals or graveside duties. 
• Encouraging individuals in attendance to wear a properly fitting mask especially those who are at higher risk (such as aged 65+ or with chronic Illness)

Funeral procedures, pallbearers 

Families get help navigating new procedures which include:

• Only members of the same households in any one vehicle and discouraging personal contact, unless members are living in the same residence 
• Placing receiving cards and other items for the family in a separate enclosure and minimizing contact for a period of 24 hours

• Not calling on pallbearers, at this time as it eliminates social distancing. If they are to be present, using facial masks and not combining funeral home staff and family or friends in performing the duty. 

Funeral processions, reception of guests

New observances as family and friends come together at a time of loss ensure that: 

• Funeral limousines should have a barrier separating staff and attendees
• All chauffeur vehicles for the family comply with safety guidelines including the driver of the hearse carrying the deceased.

Families can still welcome guests after a celebration of life, graveside ceremony, memorial or cremation with food and beverages. 

Refreshments should be in single service packages. This may be pre-packaged food prepared for guests in disposable containers, disposable beverage cups, cutlery, and napkins. This practice lowers the risk of spreading contagion.

Rely on the help Can-Trust’s funeral directors offer families to negotiate all regulations and changes due to Covid19’s presence in our community. We provide reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.

Our Can-Trust team of licensed funeral directors, provides funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral

Visit us online for more information.

When a death happens, difficult decisions may follow and in a very short period of time. Whether the passing of a loved one is anticipated or happens in sudden circumstances, the compassionate support of a professional funeral director can help. As important is the reliable guidance of a reputable funeral home whose team members are compassionate yet also competent and licensed to perform the services that bring your loved one to their final state of rest. One of these critical behind the scenes services is the proper transfer of the deceased. 

Can-Trust-Funeral’s Richmond based funeral home services attends to the unseen details pertaining to the transport of the deceased. The team of professional funeral directors serving the Lower Mainland advises on these points of care in transport whether you are fulfilling your loved ones request for a funeral arrangement   burial, cremation, celebration of life or their wish to have their  remains laid to rest in another country.

The funeral director is responsible for the transfer of the deceased. These are some of the services you should be able to count on a reputable, reliable and licensed funeral home to handle for you with respect and integrity:

Transfer after death

The deceased is transferred, usually from the hospital, by either the funeral home’s own in-house transfer by a funeral director or licensed staff member, or a proven, decent transfer company.

Ensure first necessary documents are secured in the transport

The funeral director needs to get signed permission from the executor for the hospital to release the remains to the funeral home.

This form is normally signed at the initial arrangement meeting at the funeral home.  After this is signed, the funeral director calls the hospital or care home to see if the remains have been released by the doctor. They are then able to transfer the deceased into the care of the funeral home itself.

Other essential paperwork is often transferred at this time. Find a previous post regarding paperwork here.

Transport within the city to procedures

A licensed funeral home with professional funeral directors will oversee a family’s needs for preparation of body, cremation, venues for rituals, wakes or other arrangements discussed with the executor.

What if arrangements must be made to transport the body beyond the region or out of country?

Repatriation to or from other countries requires a lot of documentation. The documents are created in the communications between the funeral director and consulate of the country.

A properly licensed and trained funeral director can handle all the relevant documentations and meet all the regulations. This may include obtaining all permits for other jurisdictions, Transport Canada licenses to transfer the body and ensuring the vehicle, a leak proof container, and all protocols are satisfactorily met for regional or international transport.

We are here to help. Can-Trust-Funerals Ltd. provides reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.

Can-Trust’s team of licensed funeral directors, provide funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral

Visit us online for more information.

The properly drawn and executed will your loved one leaves on passing is their final word on everything in their power. It guides your grieving family on how to distribute all they possess and instructs you on their choices regarding a funeral, cremation, memorial or celebration of life. For the professional funeral directors at Richmond based, Can-Trust Funerals Ltd., a will is critical to the service they provide in helping families in the Lower Mainland meet both their responsibilities to the deceased and to meet the legal requirements of British Columbia. 

This is what you need to know about why a will is one of the first documents a licenced funeral service provider will ask for when it is time to make funeral arrangements:

Duty to verify legal responsibility.

Your funeral director must verify who is legally responsible for the deceased and who is legally responsible to be making the arrangements. 

The will makes it clear who can act in accordance with the will to close the affairs and carry out final considerations for the deceased.

What documents must be requested

Not all the pages of the will must be disclosed. The funeral services provider is not interested in all the details of the distributions.

What they need to see are the pages stating executorship and signatures, as well as the executor’s ID. The funeral director with photo copy the necessary documents for their files and then proceed to the funeral arrangements.

What can be done in the absence of a will?

There is no substitution for a will with clear instructions. It can save a grieving family a great deal of turmoil, yet what if there is no will?

A professional funeral director can arrange the cremation, celebration of life, memorial or funeral the family wishes, even in the absence of a will.

Someone must step forward.

It can be family member – surviving spouse, child or an appointed executor that may or may not also be a relative. In BC the priority listing of the legal representative when no personal representative is named, is extensive and very specific.

Can-Trust-Funeral’s team of professional funeral directors follow the Funeral Services Act closely. The section of the act that recognizes who has the right to control the disposition of a loved ones’ remains is found here.

At Can-Trust-Funerals we have seen what happens when people put off writing a will because there is no urgency. Yet, life unfolds. There may be illness and death following or a sudden loss through an accident or extreme illness with little time to make final wishes known.

You may find these additional resources in BC’s legal Acts helpful to know or to plan ahead: 

1. 23 (5) of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act;
2. If the minister under the Employment and Assistance Act, or if the Public Guardian and Trustee is administering the estate of the deceased under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, the Public Guardian and Trustee;

We are here to help. Can-Trust-Funerals Ltd. provides reliable, straightforward and affordable service, and with compassion, always.

Before you engage with any funeral homes, please call Can-Trust-Funeral at 604-376-7975 or email to book a free professional consultation. You are never obligated.

Can-Trust’s team of licensed funeral directors, provide funeral services in Burnaby, funeral services in Richmond, Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland.

Phone: 604-376-7975

E-mail: can-trust-funeral@outlook.com

WeChat: Cantrustfuneral

Visit us online for more information.