Your Florida Mortuary Shipping Experts

International shipping starts at $5,995 and includes the removal, refrigerated sheltering, embalming and preparation, a sealing casket, the air tray the airline requires, every document the destination country asks for, consular legalization with the fees paid on your behalf, the airline booking, and confirmation with the receiving funeral home. Domestic shipping starts at $1,990 and includes the removal, sheltering, burial transit permits and transport to the funeral home you choose. Airfare is not included in either: the airline sets it, it depends on destination, carrier and weight, and it is billed to you at cost with no mark-up or commission.

Florida law recognises a specific order: a person named in a signed pre-need designation, then the surviving spouse, then adult children, then parents, then siblings. A power of attorney does not carry over, it becomes void at the moment of death, which surprises most families. If the authorized person cannot handle the arrangements themselves, they may sign a document authorizing someone else to act on their behalf. We establish who that person is on the first call, because nothing can move until we have.

Call us first, and name Legacy as the funeral establishment. We deal with the facility directly from there. We will need to identify the legal next of kin and obtain their signed release, which can be done electronically from anywhere in the world. Once we have the biographical details we begin immediately; you do not need to visit the facility or collect anything yourself.

Most shipments depart within three to seven days of the first call. No shipment happens without the destination consulate’s approval, and that approval is what sets the timeline, not the flight. The other variable is how quickly the Florida county issues the death certificate. We start both on the first call and tell you honestly where yours stands rather than quoting a date we cannot keep.

We suggest ordering between six and ten certified original copies. Most agencies will accept a photocopy, and where they do we recommend giving them one and keeping your certified originals in reserve. Some institutions, typically banks, life insurers, pension administrators and anything involving a property or vehicle title, will insist on a certified original and will not return it. We order the copies at the time of filing rather than making you go back to the county health department later.

We do, and no. We handle every consular compliance requirement and book the carrier ourselves, with the airline’s specialty desk. The air transportation cost passed to you is exactly what the airline charges: no commission, no handling fee, no mark-up. You are shown the airline’s figure. Marking up airfare is common in this industry and it is the single charge families are most often surprised by.

An honorably discharged veteran is eligible for interment or inurnment in a national cemetery at no cost to the family, which includes the gravesite or columbarium niche, the headstone or marker, a burial flag, perpetual care and a Presidential Memorial Certificate. A spouse and dependent children are generally eligible alongside them. Military funeral honors can also be requested. We need the DD-214 or equivalent discharge paperwork, and we handle the filing on your behalf.

For most international destinations, yes. The receiving country and the airline generally require embalming along with a sealing casket, and the certificate signed by the licensed embalmer travels with the shipment. Domestic shipping is more flexible: some routes and receiving funeral homes accept refrigeration instead, particularly where the journey is short. Because the rule depends on the destination and the carrier, we confirm it for your specific case rather than applying a blanket answer.