Dubious Inheritances & Regulatory Ruckus | 4M #166

Welcome to the hundred-and-sixty-sixth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #166, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!

A tisket, a casket …

We know that the UK term for the six-sided box in which bodies are buried is “coffin,” while over on this side of the pond, we call our similar, four-sided receptacle a “casket.” Still, though, when most people — no matter where in the world they live — hear the word “casket,” they think of a burial box, even if they’re more familiar with coffins. So we were a bit perplexed to learn that Golden Casket, a family-owned firm in Scotland that recently celebrated its 65th anniversary, is not a coffin manufacturer or even a funeral home. Nope. Golden Casket is a confectionary company — they make candy, not expensive burial boxes (like this $217,000 solid 14-kt gold model from a Malaysian manufacturer).

Bring on the caisson horses

Veterans’ families and government officials are calling for the return of the Caisson Platoon at Arlington National Cemetery, which was suspended in May 2023 after an investigation found that the horses were not receiving proper care. More than 2,000 veterans have been buried in the iconic cemetery without this option, and 34 families have delayed burying their loved ones until they can be honored with the horse-drawn procession. Now, more than a year later, a committee has asked the Army to diligently pursue paths to reinstate the caisson corps — which would entail securing adequate pastureland, roomy stables, and much-improved training for the handlers.

Gee thanks

A recent Debt.com survey of 1,097 Americans has found that 55% of them think they’ll leave behind debts when they die — and 49% believe that debt will amount to between $5,000 to $20,000. Even worse, another 25% of unlucky heirs will be saddled with up to $30,000 of their loved one’s bills.

He don’t need no stinkin’ regulations

A funeral director in Baltimore is so pleased that he can now offer alkaline hydrolysis to the families he serves that he invited members of the local media to his facility for a press conference and tour. However, instead of focusing on the opportunities that have now opened up for their community, the press zeroed in on the fact that the director is offering AH before the state’s board of funeral directors has finalized AH regulations. Maryland’s AH law went into effect in October, so technically, the AH dispositions that have been performed were legal; the lack of regulations, though, has created a temporary “legal gray area.” Hopefully, this coverage will serve its original intended purpose of introducing this new service to the people of Baltimore, and perhaps also hasten the finalization of those regulations.