When a death takes place

 

Whether a death is unforeseen, or at the end of a long journey, the loss of a someone in our circle makes us feel emotional and overwhelmed. City Funeral Service and its staff will help you complete arrangements in a respectful and timely manner.  The following is an example of what happens during the first 24 hours following a loss.

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When a death happens at home

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When Hospice is NOT present

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If the person was not under hospice care, 911 should be called.  The police along with emergency medical personnel will be dispatched to the scene and contact the medical examiner and attending physician, if one is available.  At this point, the medical examiner will either "release" the Deceased to the Funeral Home or order their staff to place the body into their custody and investigate further.  Unattended deaths when a person isn't being treated by a physician for a pre-existing condiiton,  or deaths involving an accident, homicide or other trauma, malpractice or mistreatment, or substance abuse will almost always trigger further investigation by the medical examiner. 

 

When Hospice IS available

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If the person that has passed is recieving care at home through a Hospice Care provider, please call the 24-Hour emergency phone number on the literature they have provided to you.  A Registered Nurse may come to the home to make the pronouncement of death, but not always.  Once Hospice has made the pronouncement, City Funeral Service can be called so that we can initiate our response to the deceased's location.  Response times vary depending on time of day, traffic and weather conditions, and staff availability.  Please bear in mind that we are not classified as first-responders, and our vehicles are not equipped as such.  Therefore we are subject to the same traffic laws as everyone else.

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Death at a facility

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More and more people are electing to receive Hospice and Palliative Care at a Hospice facility, when facing a terminal illness, or choosing to reside in a Nursing Home, Assisted Living or Long Term Care Center.  Upon the death, the facility will contact you and instruct you to engage the services of a Funeral Home.  If arrangements have been made prior, the facility may also contact our office directly, but not always.  The Facility may contact you during the nighttime hours, or over a weekend and you will be instructed to contact a Funeral Home for a rapid response since they do not have an area set aside to shelter the body.  After reviewing our information here, along with pricing, you can call City Funeral Service at any time of the day at (914) 963-4499. 

 

 

City Funeral Service: The Next Step - Making Contact

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When you contact City Funeral Service, a staff member will take some basic information to begin a service file.  We will need to know who you are and your relationship to the person that has passed, and where and when the death occurred.  Our experience tells us death never happens during "business hours", so there is always someone to answer the telephone even if it is during the evening, a weekend or a holiday.  If the nature of the death requires a time sensitive response such as a death at home or facility which may lack an area to shelter a dead human being for an extended period of time, as explained above, we will adjust our response to the situation accordingly.

 

What we need

 

We require some information about the deceased such as their Social Security Number, date and place of Birth, education level completed, occupation and most recent employer, their parent's names including mother's maiden name, armed forces veteran status, and marital status.  We don't need documents such as a birth or marriage certificate - if you have them available, great, if not, do not be concerned, we just need the information contained on them which you may be able to recall from memory.  We do not share this information with anyone except parties we need to in order to perform our services.    You may complete our online information form by clicking here or download our "Information We Will Need Form" in .pdf format.

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What we do for you

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Once we have the necessary basic information, all necessary authorizations and disclosures will be presented and signed by the party taking responsibility.  This may be an Agent, Domestic Partner or Spouse, Child, Grandchild, Niece or Nephew, Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Close Friend or Executor of a will.    City Funeral Service will require this person to sign documents such as the crematory authorization, forms designating the recipient of cremated ashes (cremains), and an itemization of goods and services selected.  You will receive copies of everything for your records.  You are welcome to complete these forms in-person at our Yonkers Office.  If you do not live closeby, that is ok.  City Funeral Service will forward the documents via E-Mail, or overnight carrier.  Payment arrangements will also be finalized at this time.  Major credit cards, and assignable insurance policies are accepted by City Funeral Service.  In limited circumstances, we will accept payment from Social Service Programs such as Westchester County Department of Social Services (DSS), however due to the complexity of the claims process, City Funeral Service DOES NOT accept NYC HRA cases (known as "Vouchers") at this time.  The $255 Benefit from the Social Security Administration is only paid to a Surviving Spouse or Minor Dependent Child, and is not assignable to the Funeral Home, therefore we do not accept the SSA Death Benefit towards payment.

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What happens next?  

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Once we have the signed authorization documents in our possession, along with payment.  City Funeral Service will complete our service commitment to you.  This will include the following:

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• Placing the deceased into our care (If we have not previously), and shelter of the body in our temperature controlled environment

• Obtaining a Certificate of Death signed by the Deceased's Physician, Person acting as such, or the Medical Examiner

• Completing the Certificate of Death with the information provided to our office in the "Information We Will Need" form

• Requesting permission to cremate from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME)

• Submission of the completed Certificate of Death to the NYC Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene, or Registrar of Vital Statistics

• Supplying and placing the person that has passed into an Alternative Container constructed of Cardboard or Wood

• Scheduling and transiting the body from our Funeral Home to the crematory facility

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Following the cremation, the Cremated Human Remains, or ashes, will be returned to you via US Postal Service, Express Mail Option.  If you prefer, you may elect to come to our office to pick them up during regular business hours.  The Crematory will place the ashes into a simple canister.  However, you may elect to purchase a cremation urn.  You may purchase an Urn from your own supplier.  City Funeral Service offers Urns for purchase and you may download our Cremation Urn Catalog by clicking here.  We will be happy to place the ashes into any urn you select, or provide to us.

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Total turnaround time is 5 to 7 days.  If an expedited time frame is needed, please discuss your concerns with our Funeral Director

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Final thoughts  

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Our staff of funeral service professionals will guide you through all these steps, and follow your directions to provide you the best service experience we can. Remember, we will do nothing without your permission.  For further guidance, please visit our "Advance Planning" section.  You may also contact us by clicking here.