California County Funeral Service Assistance

Glossary

Funeral and cemetery terms

The words a funeral director, cemetery or coroner will use, as defined by the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.

Autopsy

A post mortem examination of the deceased remains by a forensic pathologist to determine cause and manner of death. Often times, it involves a surgical procedure to allow for internal examination of the deceased remains.

Casket/Coffin

A box or chest for burying human remains. Caskets come a variety of materials and styles. They can be very affordable cardboard to more expensive wood and metal.

Cemetery Property

A grave, crypt, niche, or defined area for scattering cremated remains.

Cemetery Services

Opening and closing graves, crypts, or niches; setting grave liners and vaults; setting markers; and long-term maintenance of cemetery grounds and facilities.

Cemetery Maintenance Standards

Establishes the minimum standards necessary to prevent the offensive deterioration of an endowment care cemetery licensed by the Bureau. Cemeteries must follow a minimum list of items (exception provided to certain items for natural condition sections), or may choose to incorporate those items into their rules and regulations. Cemeteries must provide consumers with a written copy of their maintenance standards upon request.

Columbarium

A structure with niches (small spaces) for placement of cremated remains in urns or other approved containers. It may be outdoors or part of a mausoleum.

Cremation

Exposing human remains and the container holding them to extreme heat and flame and processing the resulting bone fragments to a uniform size and consistency. The remains may or may not be buried or kept permanently in an urn.

Crypt

A space in a mausoleum or other building to hold cremated or whole human remains.

Disposition

The placement of cremated or whole human remains in their final resting place. A Permit for Disposition must be filed with the local registrar before disposition can take place.

Embalming

The art and science of preserving human remains to make the deceased suitable for public or private viewing. Embalming chemicals/fluids are used to preserve and sanitize the human remains.

Endowment Care Fund

Money collected from cemetery property purchasers and placed in trust for the maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery. The State monitors the fund and establishes the minimum amount that must be collected. However, the cemetery is permitted to collect more than the minimum to build the fund. Only the interest earned by such funds may be used for the care, maintenance, and embellishment of the cemetery.

Entombment

Burial in a mausoleum.

Fraternal Cemetery

A cemetery regulated by the Bureau that is owned, operated, controlled, or managed by any fraternal organization in which the sale of cemetery space is restricted principally to its members.

Funeral Ceremony

A funeral service is a more structured celebration of life with the body present and is often led by a member of the clergy. A traditional funeral service may include a procession to the cemetary for a final goodbye and graveside service.

Funeral Services

Services provided by a funeral director and staff, which may include consulting with the family on funeral planning; transportation, shelter, refrigeration, and embalming of remains; preparing and filing notices; obtaining authorizations and permits; and coordinating with the cemetery, crematory, or other third parties.

Grave

A space in the ground in a cemetery for the burial of human remains.

Grave Liner or Outer Container

A concrete cover that fits over a casket in a grave. Some liners cover tops and sides of the casket. Other liners (vaults) completely enclose the casket. Grave liners minimize ground settling on the cemetery grounds.

Graveside Service

A service to commemorate the deceased held at the cemetery prior to burial.

Interment

Burial in the ground, entombment, or in the case of cremated remains, inurnment or scattering in a cemetery.

Inurnment

The placing of cremated remains in an urn.

Mausoleum

A building in which human remains are interred (entombed).

Memorial Service

A memorial service is a structured celebration of life without the body present. In some cases an urn with the loved one's ashes may be present.

Memorial Society

A nonprofit organization that provides information about funerals and disposition but is not part of the State-regulated funeral industry. May also be called a funeral consumer alliance.

Niche

A space in a columbarium, mausoleum, or niche wall to hold an urn.

Private Cemetery

A cemetery regulated by the Bureau which is described as a burial park for earth interments or a mausoleum for crypt or vault interments and is owned and operated by a private corporation.

Public Administrator

The local governing body with jurisdiction over the assets of the deceased when there are no known next-of-kin or where the deceased is indigent.

Scattering Urn

A closed container containing cremated remains that will dissolve and release its contents within four hours of being placed at sea.

Urn

A container to hold cremated human remains. It can be placed in a columbarium or mausoleum, or it can be buried in the ground.

Vault

A grave liner that completely encloses a casket.