A funeral with Solace
Supporting families to honour their person in a way that feels authentic.
At Solace, we make a point of working with families and communities to help them find the best way to honor their person, support their grief and bereavement. We believe that grief and bereavement is always best served when the arrangements made are authentic and honour the life of the person who has died. And none of this should cost the earth.
We are happy to work with people to support their decisions, guide them where needed and co create something special to help them bring their wishes to fruition.
We believe in honest communication and transparent pricing; all our costs are listed on the website. If there is something you are not sure about, please reach out and we will be happy to chat.
Family-led home funerals
Why should you consider a family-led approach to home funerals?
First and foremost, a home funeral is more about service than it is about place. What does that mean? It means that you get the space and the time to decide what feels right and you get to be in control as much as you wish.
This could mean that you want to be with your person when they die and not feel rushed after their death. It could be making sure that they have their favourite boots on or someone's hair is curled the right way.
Maybe you want to have your person at home for some time; hours or even days. They can stay until the time of a ceremony, burial or cremation.
Choosing to keep the body of your loved one at home allows for a home vigil. This provides the opportunity for a gentler approach to ‘letting go’. It also allows time for the family and community members to gather together, grieve, share stories and memories, comfort each other and if you so choose, plan a farewell.
All these things are acts of service and they can happen in the viewing room of a funeral home, a nursing home, hospital bed or hospice ward. Whatever your choices, we can work with you and support you throughout the journey.
Emotional empowerment
We have no say over when someone will die and those who live on can feel even more powerless by handing everything over to a business. The Family Led approach gives that power back to the family and allows them to be an integral part of the process rather than consigning it to an industry that may provide a beautiful, professional service but is less personal and has reduced family involvement.
More options
Family Led Funerals provide many more options for every aspect of the funeral process, where contemporary funeral homes often have a limited range of predetermined options. Make sure to ask what all your options are.
Lower cost
A Family Led process allows family and friends to be involved and the opportunity to cut expenses. While financial concerns are not always the case for everyone, increasingly people are feeling the strain and a family directed approach to end of life can reduce the cost of funeral processes and ceremonies.
What is involved?
What's involved in a family-led home funeral?
In a Home Funeral, you are in control of what happens.
There are legislative requirements which govern certain elements of the Home Funeral process but you will find that you have much more control than you may have with a traditional funeral home experience.
If you are considering caring for your person, please know that home does not necessarily mean your home. A Family Led approach to Home Funeral could mean working with a funeral director who will allow you to go to their premises to wash and dress your person, spending time there, perhaps even placing them in a coffin or wrapping them in a shroud.
If you choose to keep your loved one in your home, or their own home, after death, it allows time to consider and organise the practical and legislative requirements in a gentler way and in familiar surroundings.
If you do choose to have your loved one kept in yours or their own home after death, it allows time for the consideration and organisation of the more practical and legislative requirements and processes in a more gentle way and in familiar surroundings.
When a Funeral Director is responsible for all these arrangements it can seem rather hurried in a relatively short interview.
With a Home Funeral you can organise a Medical Cause of Death Certificate and register the death with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or you can ask a Funeral Director to do it for you. This and the Application for Search (which produces the Record of Death for you) can be completed and lodged at Service Tasmania.
You will also be required to complete a Burial and Cremation Permit (which may be available to you from the Crematorium or Cemetery Management) and then to make a booking for either Burial or Cremation and eventually transport the body to that place. Again, you can do this yourself or ask a Funeral Director to do it for you.
With a Family Led Funeral you remain in control of, and responsible for this entire process.
You are not alone
A family-led home funeral doesn't mean you're alone!
If you like the idea of a family led and community based approach but need some help, we offer an affordable End of Life service where we can be engaged before or after death, and we can help you with the practical assistance, emotional support and technical know-how to make your choices a reality.
We provide a peaceful presence, and are able to guide you through the process of creating your own Family Led Funeral.
Some of the things we can do:
- Consultation, planning, advocacy and support before death
- Vigil and compassionate family assistance during the dying process
- Assist with natural after-death care including cooling, washing, dressing
- Offering ceremony options and organisation
- Connection with service providers for burial and cremation
- Help you honour your cultural or spiritual requirements
- You can engage us to help you through the whole process or to do any one part of it for you
- Our goal is to leave you with the knowledge of what to do next time – in our perfect world, you’ll only need to engage us once
Learn more about home funerals in Tasmania.
The Australian Home Funeral Alliance has detailed information about having home funerals in Tasmania, including practical and legislative considerations.