Services

When a death occurs, the family should contact a funeral home to give them responsibility for the funeral arrangements. The latter, with the authorization of the family, will transport the deceased to its facilities and will then meet the family so that they can choose the goods and services that suit them. The funeral parlor also takes care of several legal procedures to help the family with their administrative responsibilities following the death of a loved one. This will therefore require bringing to your appointment several pieces of information about the deceased and their spouse, if applicable.

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Notifying the funeral home of an impending death can allow the family to prepare for the various steps to be taken following the death by obtaining several relevant information before the emotional charge linked to the loss of the loved one becomes too strong. However, this approach is not mandatory, as funeral homes are trained to act quickly when a death occurs.

Yes, it is possible to carry out an exhibition or an identification of the body before proceeding with the cremation of the latter. However, embalming may be required depending on the time between death and exposure in order to act in accordance with the Funeral Activities Act.

This is a question many families ask themselves. First of all, it is important to clarify that these two services are not at all incompatible. It is quite possible to embalm the body of a person and then cremate it afterwards. But you can also choose only one of the two. By choosing embalming, it allows you to see and present the body of your loved one by exposing it to loved ones. It has been shown by several bereavement specialists that seeing the deceased facilitates the grieving process by making it possible to become aware of the reality of the death. However, please note that the exhibition of a body in an open casket is only possible within 30 days of its death. By choosing cremation without prior presentation of the body, it should be brought to your attention that this is an irreversible action. Once the cremation has been carried out, it is, of course, impossible to go back. However, cremation makes it possible to postpone the date of visits and/or service more than with embalming, since no legislation obliges the family to commemorate the loved one in the presence of their ashes within an imposed deadline. The final disposal of the ashes is also less strict in terms of regulations, since the ashes can be buried, scattered, kept at home or placed in a niche in a columbarium, whereas in the case of an embalming that would not be followed by a cremation the coffin must be buried in a cemetery.

Many documents have similar names in the funeral world. However, they all have a different specific function. The death certificate is the document signed by the doctor who certifies the death of a person, it is the first document which is produced following death and it is the one which will be used to produce the other legal documents in connection with subsequent deaths. It is also required in order to transport the deceased person. Without this document, a funeral home cannot legally pick up a deceased at their place of death. The proof of death is a document produced by the funeral home, which attests to the death. It has no legal value, but it is useful for completing or initiating certain procedures while waiting to receive the official civil status document. For example, proof of death is sufficient to make claims with most life insurance companies, to transfer the registration of a vehicle or to cancel accounts such as Hydro-Québec or a cell phone, among others. The death certificate is the official document that certifies the death. It is produced by the Directeur de l’éat civil of Québec, it is ordered by the funeral home and is sent to the declarant of the death, that is to say the person responsible for the funeral arrangements. It is this document that allows you to complete all the steps related to the succession. However, relatively long delays are to be expected for the receipt of this document, which is why proof of death is provided in the meantime. Finally, an obituary is a text announcing the death of a person. It has no legal value, it is simply published on the Internet or in newspapers to notify relatives of the death and the arrangements that have been made (date and times of visits and service, etc.).

Pre-arrangements are contracts binding the funeral home to the beneficiary. In this contract, we include the details of certain desired goods and services in addition to identifying the beneficiary. This allows surviving relatives to have “peace of mind” in the sense that the major decisions will have already been made and the majority of the related costs will have already been paid. Grieving is a difficult and emotional stage of life, pre-arrangements can relieve families of having to make important decisions at the time of death of a loved one. It should be noted, however, that certain goods cannot be included in this type of contract. Costs such as bookmarks, flowers and catering will be planned at the time of death if the family wishes to add them.

No. It is impossible, in addition to being illegal, to cremate more than one person at a time. The cremation unit, because of its size, does not allow the introduction of more than one container. In addition, the legislation in force provides that a unique number, presented in the form of a metal token, follows a person’s ashes at all times, in order to attest to their identity. The body is therefore indeed the only one in the cremation unit, and its identity can be verified at any time with the token.

Some funeral homes have an adjoining cemetery, so it is possible to purchase a plot directly with them. However, this is not the case for the majority of funeral homes. In these circumstances, your counselor will provide you with the contact details of the parish in charge of the concerned cemetery (or directly with the cemetery if necessary). The costs related to the purchase of a plot or the digging of a pit varies from place to place and will be charged by the parish in question. No fees will be charged to your funeral arrangement contract by the salon.

A columbarium is a place where it is possible to keep the urn of a loved one. It can be located in a funeral home or in a cemetery. The operation of a columbarium varies from place to place. At Poissant & Fils funeral home, we have three columbariums, two in our Saint-Constant branch and one in Saint-Rémi. They are open every day of the year during regular show opening hours, including holidays. In the case of Saint-Rémi, it can be opened on request, free of charge. Columbarium contracts are for 25 years. Fees vary by location and size of the niche. It is not possible to display a wooden urn in our columbariums, nor to insert personal effects in the niches. Only porcelain medallions with the photo of the deceased are permitted. For more information and detailed costs, do not hesitate to make an appointment with one of our advisors.

Some funeral homes allow families to bring an urn themselves to place the ashes of the deceased. This is the case at the Poissant & Fils funeral home. However, getting the urn directly from the parlor allows for a wide choice of models and materials. The salon always ensures that the dimensions of the urn meet the needs and also guarantees its quality. When the urn is provided by the parlor, their staff will ensure careful handling of the ashes in order to fill it for you. The same goes for reliquaries and other commemorative jewelry.