Questions Families Ask

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.

Yes, and it is one of the kindest things a person can do for their family. We will lock in the service fee at today’s figure and put it in writing. Airfare cannot be locked, because the airline sets it at the time of travel, and it is calculated then at cost with no mark-up. Pre-arranging also settles the hardest question in advance: who is legally authorized to act, and which country and city the family is returning to.

No. Authorizations are signed electronically and every arrangement can be made by telephone and email, whichever state or country you are calling from. Most of the families we serve are not in Florida at all: they are the son in New Jersey, the daughter in Bogotá, the brother in London. Nothing about the process requires you to get on a plane.

A sealing casket is built with a gasket and a locking mechanism that closes the interior against air and moisture. Most countries require one for the international air transport of a body, and many airlines will not accept a shipment without it. Our international price includes the sealing casket rather than adding it afterward, which is the charge families are most often surprised by elsewhere.

It is a TSA status that governs who may tender cargo, including human remains, to a commercial airline. Booking through the airline’s specialty desk under that framework is what allows a shipment to move on a scheduled passenger flight rather than waiting for a freight arrangement. In practice it is the difference between your loved one travelling this week and travelling whenever space happens to appear.

Yes. A significant part of our work is trade service for other funeral homes and for insurance carriers: we handle the removal, the sheltering, the permits and the consular file in your name and return the file complete. You keep the relationship with the family, and your name is the one on the arrangement. Call and ask for trade pricing.

Yes, and it is considerably faster and less costly than repatriating a body, which is why we always tell families it is an option rather than letting them assume it is not. Whether it is right for you depends on your family’s faith and what relatives at the destination expect. If you need the cremation itself carried out in Florida, that is our sister company, Legacy Options Cremations, same family, and one telephone call puts you with the right side of the house.

No. A power of attorney becomes void at the moment of death, which surprises many families who assumed it would carry them through. Authority passes instead to whoever Florida law recognizes, generally in order: a person named in a signed pre-need designation, the surviving spouse, then adult children, then parents, then siblings. If the person in that role is out of state or out of the country, they can still sign electronically.

There is a one-time lump-sum payment of $255, paid to a surviving spouse who was living with the deceased, or to a spouse or dependent child who was already eligible for benefits on that record. It is modest and does not offset funeral costs, but it is worth claiming. A surviving spouse or minor child may also qualify for ongoing survivor benefits, which is the far more significant entitlement. We report the death to Social Security as part of the filing.