Steps to take at time of death

This section explains what you should do when a death occurs. Depending on where the death occurs, you should take the following steps:

• Death in an Institution: When the death occurs at a hospital or nursing home, the medical staff should take care of all necessary legal steps. You just need to notify the medical staff that Titus Funeral Home is the funeral home handling arrangements so they can have you sign any necessary release paperwork.


• Anticipated Death at Home: Today, more people with terminal illnesses are electing to die at home under the care of hospice. In this situation, you just need to notify Hospice that Titus Funeral Home is the funeral home of your choice. They will then take care of all necessary legal requirements. Many times when someone has a terminal illness, the family will elect to make prearrangements with us so that they are not overwhelmed with the many important decisions at the time of death.


• Unanticipated Death at Home or Elsewhere: In these situations, immediately call 911. The police and emergency medical personnel will then determine the appropriate steps to be taken. Often, the police can release the human remains directly to our funeral home. However, in certain cases, the body may need to go to the Coroner's Forensic Lab so that they can determine the cause of death.


• Death out of state: If a death occurs outside of your home area, you should first call Titus Funeral Home at 574-267-3104. We will coordinate with a local funeral director at the place of death. We are a member of several national associations and can often save families money by having our firm make the arrangements.
   
   

Funeral Arrangement Conference

After we have been notified, we will call to schedule a mutually convenient time to begin planning funeral arrangements. Although the vast majority of funeral conferences are handled at our funeral home during normal business hours, we are available to come to your residence or meet in the evenings or weekends. One of our funeral directors is always on duty 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
When you come to the conference, you may want to bring with you the following items:

• Recent photograph for newspaper & preparation purposes


• Clothing - all normal items including undergarments, other than shoes. For women, an outfit closed at the neckline and long sleeves are preferred.


• Jewelry & personal items - these items can either be brought to the arrangement conference, or on the day of the visitation. You will be given a receipt for such items which will also list your requested disposition.


• Personal address book to be used in completing forms and to insure all desired friends and relatives are notified of the death.


• Cemetery information, if applicable.


• Funeral Planning Guide filled out to the best of your ability.


• Insurance Policy(ies)


• Military Discharge Papers (Form DD214), if applicable