Ashes in the mail: Dealing with the loss of a loved one has changed in the covid era

Jason Oszczakiewicz, a Pennsylvania funeral home director known as “Oz,” has become accustomed to delivering the ashes of recently deceased person as it has begun to occur about 9 or 10 times a month. 

Oz stated, “I seem to be mailing a lot to Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, New York.”

The pandemic has changed not only changed how things are done during in, but also in death. 

Memorial services have been postponed, eulogies delivered over zoom, and many people are moving towards cremation in order to skip the process of burying bodies. Since out-of-state relatives have been unable to travel and pick up remains, the U.S. Postal Service has become the middle man in delivering ashes to doorsteps. 

In order to safeguard the remains, you must send them Priority Express Mail, and they require a signature. 

This process has become so popular that the USPS is having a hard time keeping up with their bright orange sticker that reads “CREMATED REMAINS.” 

See Mary Jordan, Ashes in the mail: Dealing with the loss of a loved one has changed in the covid era, The Washington Post, March 3, 2021. 

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.  

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2021/03/ashes-in-the-mail-dealing-with-the-loss-of-a-loved-one-has-changed-in-the-covid-era.html