INDUSTRY INSIGHT
I
FUNERAL SERVICES
SPONSORED CONTENT
THIRD-PARTY CHARGES
recently saw a friend of mine from out of state. He said to me,
“You’re a funeral director — why wasn’t I told about all these extra
charges on my mom’s funeral bill? I didn’t expect them. I was really
surprised.” Answers immediately came to me. That funeral director
assumed: ”That’s the way we do things here,” ”It’s our standard
procedure,” ”It’s our custom.”
I can’t and don’t assume. People handle a close family funeral, on
average, once every 17 to 20 years.
Third-party charges are for items that some families have us
arrange prior to a funeral. Third-party charges are sometimes known
as cash-advanced items. These charges, which are not our funeral
home’s charges, can vary widely, both in amounts and scope. We help
families navigate through their options and final wishes. We also keep
the families arranging the funeral informed about those charges.
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE VARIOUS THIRD-PARTY
CHARGES WE HAVE TAKEN CARE OF...
NEWSPAPER NOTICES
Pittsburgh is rare in that there are two daily newspapers, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune Review. The cost for
each depends on length of the notice, number of days the notice
runs, and other things like photos or logos of various organizations.
There are also many local papers, like the Valley News Dispatch or the
Butler Eagle, that some families want to utilize. Some weekly local
papers run death notices. We also handle out-of-town publications.
Due to the cost of newspaper death notices, some families are
foregoing newspapers and simply using social media to announce
a death in their family. We run notices on the permanfuneralhome.
com website at no charge to families. Family and friends can leave
condolences, memories, photos and videos on an individual’s website
notice.
DEATH NOTICES VS. OBITUARIES
There is a difference. A death notice is the paid notice announcing
a death. An obituary is a news article that a newspaper can run about
people who have really interesting stories. There is no charge with an
obituary, and the family often has little say over it because it is a news
article.
CERTIFIED COPIES OF DEATH CERTIFICA