Cremated remains
Also called: ashes, cremains
What is returned after cremation: dry, ground bone fragments weighing roughly 3 to 9 pounds. Despite the nickname, they are not ash in the everyday sense.
After cremation, what remains is bone, which is then processed into a uniform, sand-like consistency. An adult typically yields about 3 to 9 pounds. The remains are inert, sterile, and safe to handle, which is why families can keep them, divide them, scatter them, or bury them.
Remains come back in a plain plastic or cardboard container unless you buy an urn. There is no legal requirement to buy an urn from the funeral home — any container works, and urns are widely available for far less elsewhere.
- Cremation— Reducing the body to bone fragments and ash using high heat (about 1,400–1,800 °F) over two to three hours. The resulting 'cremated remains' weigh 4–8 pounds for an adult.
- Urn— The container that holds cremated remains. Required only if the family wants something more permanent than the temporary plastic container the crematory provides.
- Scattering— Releasing cremated remains in a chosen location — sea, mountain, forest, garden, sports field. Legal in most situations with a few specific rules.
- Columbarium— A structure with small niches for holding urns. Found in cemeteries and inside some places of worship. The cremation equivalent of a burial plot.
This definition is general consumer information, not legal, medical, or financial advice. Industry practices and regulations change occasionally; verify before relying on anything here for a specific decision.
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