Families often ask about the Cremation Process, or what happens when someone has died and the have requested a cremation. Below is some helpful information surrounding the cremation process. There are more details that maybe helpful in our Frequently Asked Questions.
The majority of funerals in Christchurch are followed by cremation. There is general consensus that cremations have become the standard option due to cost. The cost of cremation is more affordable than a funeral followed by burial, but not by much. A Cremation Fee in Christchurch can be up to $1250. We offer cremation services from $2495 and burial services from $4,500 (plus the plot and burial fees) A Burial Plot is often not much more ($2009 at Christchurch Council Cemeteries, $1000 at Kaiapoi in 2025) plus burial fees. When making a decision on Cremation or Burial, families need to keep in mind that a burial plot (for a body) can also have multiple sets of ashes buried in the same plot, at a later date.
When the family have decided on the Funeral Director, we are called and we make contact where the person has died. That could be the Hospital, Resthome, Hospice or at the Family Home. If the death is unexpected, the coroner will be called and the coroner will arrange transport to the Christchurch Hospital Mortuary where the pathologist (on behalf of the coroner) will investigate the reasons that have caused the death. Once the Doctor has given the approval for the funeral home to transfer (the deceased) to the funeral home, a time is made for the transfer. Once the transfer is complete, we keep the deceased cool until we have made suitable arrangements with the family or next of kin as to what is going to happen.
The Funeral Home will usually meet with the family sometime after initial contact has been made. This is usually not the day of the passing, but maybe the following day or the following business day (if passing occurs on a weekend).
At the funeral arrangement, generally speaking, the family or next of kin will often have an idea of what kind of service they would like for the deceased. The Funeral Director will go over options that the have in mind, and usually ask questions and offer options so that the family are fully informed about what the options that they have are. The Funeral Director usually will discuss with families what options are available to them. As an example, some families request a cardboard casket, but the deceased might be too tall for the cardboard caskets that are available at the time. This scenario may seem trivial but the arrangement is about discussing families needs and what is realistically possible.
Once the family or next of kin have decided on the type of service they are requiring, paperwork is completed and the appropriate steps are taken to facilitate the service.
On the day of the service (or the Simple Cremation, if no service is being held) the deceased is transferred into the care of the crematorium where the cremation will take place. The funeral home is then able to register the death with Internal Affairs and order an official Death Certificate. The Death Certificate usually takes between 10 – 15 business days to be posted out to the recipient directly (during the arrangement the family will identify where they would like the original Death Certificate posted too). One Death Certificate is included in all of Just Funerals’ packages. As of 2025 a Death Certificate can be couriered from Internal Affairs at a cost of $5.00 for the courier. Additional Death Certificates can be ordered for an extra $33.00 each.
We are asked by family members if they get back the ashes of their family member. Families always receive only the ashes of the deceased. Cremations take place throughout the day and each cremation usually take between 120 – 180 minutes. Every crematorium has processes in place that track the deceased before, during and after the cremation process takes place. People are cremated separately and cremains are removed once the cremation process is complete. The crematorium chamber needs to be turned off for a time once the process is complete to remove the ashes. Only one body is ever cremated in a chamber (with the exception if a Mother and Baby are in the same casket). Following the cremation process the ashes are placed in an urn to be returned to the family.
If a scattering urn is required, this can be organised with our funeral directors in Blenheim Road, Christchurch.
For our pricing for cremation services, please click here.