FAQ

No, but many of the families we serve will personally plan a memorial or celebration of life service at a later time for their friends and family to attend. By choosing a simple cremation with Lumen, you still have all the options available to you and can arrange a service for your loved one at any time. We have many resources on our website to assist you with your planning here.

Lumen Cremation is different than a traditional funeral home. We have intentionally limited our overhead costs by conserving our physical space and by using technology to serve families conveniently and cost-effectively. Because we specialize in simple cremation arrangements, we can maintain high-quality service at a very affordable cost.

We’re a licensed funeral establishment in the State of Tennessee, which means we undergo regular inspections conducted by the Tennessee State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. Our Care Team consists of cremation professionals and skilled staff who are dedicated to serving those experiencing loss. We only work with crematory partners that we have personally vetted and continue to supervise with each cremation. In fact, we are Greater Nashville and Middle Tennessee’s exclusive Cremation with Confidence™ provider. Read more about our 10-step process here.

Our cremation plan starts at $950 and is generally all-inclusive. There are no hidden costs.

Additional costs are based on circumstances that require additional staff support or optional services.

• Add $75 if your loved one is at a private residence. We will send an additional team member to help bring your loved one into our care, as we will not have the assistance of the healthcare staff who are there to assist us when transferring from a medical facility.
• Add $395 if your loved one weighs over 350 pounds.
• Add $350 to witness the cremation at the crematory facility.
• Add $150 if you want your loved one’s cremated remains to be mailed to the Next of Kin on record within the U.S. (via USPS).

Payment is requested at the time of securing cremation arrangement, so before your loved one is brought into our care.

At this time, we do not offer payment plans. Payment is due in full before services are rendered.

You can choose from three options for delivery. You can collect them in person during business hours by scheduling an appointment at our offices, which is included with the cost of your cremation plan. For a small additional cost, you may choose to receive your loved one’s ashes by mail to the Next of Kin’s U.S. postal address via USPS Priority Mail Express, office pickup, or shipping via USPS Certified Mail.

We can return your loved one’s ashes to any U.S. postal address. If you would like to have them sent abroad, please contact our Care Team for assistance. The laws on sending ashes to foreign countries vary.

USPS Express Priority Mail: You’ll receive your loved one’s ashes in a temporary container unless you select an urn from our store. Also included in the mailing box is the disposition permit issued by the state. We follow strict USPS guidelines to ensure safe shipping (via USPS Priority Mail Express, with a signature required).

In-person collection: You’ll receive your loved one’s ashes in a simple temporary container unless you select an urn from our store.

We will contact you in the days immediately following the cremation to schedule a time for you to collect your loved one’s ashes at our facilities or receive them by mail or hand delivery.

Yes, the Next of Kin will need to be present at the location with photo identification to accept and sign for the ashes.

Lumen Cremation offers a simple cremation package you can use to arrange online or over the phone — eliminating the need to visit a funeral home or crematory in person. Our cremation specialists will help you make the best decisions for your family. We are proud to be the exclusive Cremation with Confidence™ provider for Nashville and Middle Tennessee. This guarantee gives you peace of mind that your loved one’s cremation will be conducted with the highest levels of respect and dignity. Read more about our standards here.

It’s true; more and more people are choosing cremation. There are many reasons to select cremation. Cremation is more affordable than traditional burial, in part because you can avoid the cost of a casket, a vault or outer burial container, and the cemetery property. Not to mention, cremation gives families greater flexibility when planning a funeral, memorial, or another gathering as well as finding a final resting place.

All kinds of families are choosing to plan a cremation online with us. You do not need to have any expertise; our Care Team is here to assist you every step of the way and can even take all of your information by phone if you prefer. Our mission at Lumen Cremation is to make planning a cremation simple and convenient so you can spend time on more important things during your grieving process.

At Lumen Cremation, we want to make planning a cremation simple, convenient, and affordable. We use technology to streamline the process for families and our staff. This helps us save overhead costs, which we pass on to you by lowering our rates. We are an alternative to the traditional funeral experience of making in-person arrangements at a funeral home. We also maintain the highest standards before, during, and after each cremation as part of our Cremation with Confidence™ Guarantee.

At our website www.lumencremation.com, click the green button that reads “Start Planning.” Once you do this, you will be taken to a page that shows all of the offerings in our Basic Cremation Plan, and at this point, you will click the black “begin planning” button in order to start the online process.

• Click “Immediately”, then click Next
• Click “Where your loved one is located” and “What county they are located in”, then click Next
• Click “under 350lbs” or “over 350lbs”, then click Next
• Enter the number for the amount of death certificates needed and click yes or no if insurance will be used to pay for the cremation expenses, then click “Add to Cart”
• Review urns and keepsake merchandise available for purchase and choose desired purchases click “Add to Cart” and then Next, OR Click on the GREEN “Skip Merchandise” at top of page
• On this page,
  • You will choose from options about viewing, witnessing, or expediting the cremation
  • You will choose from options regarding the urn chosen from our store, if you are bringing your own, or if you would like to select the option of turning the ashes into stones (the human body creates b/t 45-60 stones)
  • You will then choose how your would like your loved one returned to you, either by picking up from our office or by being mailed by USPS express mail. Then, click Continue to Checkout
• Once on the checkout page, you will include you billing information on this secure check out page and enter your credit card information. (or you can click pay later, but we have to have payment in full before the cremation can take place.)

***Once finished with this part, there is one more thing we will need… that is, you to click the black “Vital Statistics Form” at the end of the checkout page. This will take you to a screen where you can answer all the questions we need in order to have a death certificate completed. It also gives you the opportunity to upload a picture of your loved one to us that we will use for final identification purposed before the cremation is completed. *We also can use this same photo for his tribute page on our website.

Once you complete these online processes, the Lumen staff is notified by email with all of the information. The only thing they will still need to ask for, via phone, is your loved ones social security number.

The final step of our processes will be having the next of kin to digitally sign some paperwork via email by using DocuSign… one of those documents includes an Authorization of Cremation form which is a TN required document that must be included with the cremation paperwork before the cremation can take place. (Next of kin falls as follows: Spouse, Children, Parents, Siblings, etc…) The Lumen staff will walk you through this simple process to completion if needed.

Choosing Lumen Cremation actually gives you more options, not only because it is the most affordable method of disposition but also because you can arrange a service for your loved one at any time. We offer many keepsakes in our store, such as jewelry and urns, to honor your loved one in a unique way. We also can advise or assist with religious services, scattering, planning a virtual or in-person memorial service, and so much more. Talk to our Care Team to learn more about the many ways cremation families can host a meaningful tribute.

We currently serve the six counties surrounding Davidson County in Middle Tennessee.

Areas we serve: Davidson County, Williamson County, Rutherford County, Wilson County, Sumner County, Robertson County, and Cheatham County

Our Care Team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by phone. You can also reach us at [email protected].

Depending on how long it takes to collect the necessary documents, typically anywhere between 7 to 10 days for the cremation to occur. Then, we will return your loved one’s ashes per your request.

Our Care Team follows our 10-step Cremation with Confidence™ Guarantee with every cremation we perform. Our crematory facility tracks each person through a chain of custody, including identification and tagging with a unique ID number stamped on a metal disk that accompanies your loved one throughout the cremation process and is recovered with the ashes and attached to the bag that contains the ashes for placement in the temporary rigid plastic container (included with the cremation package), or within an urn you may have purchased from our online store.

Absolutely. Some families choose to participate in the cremation process for religious or personal reasons, and we will accommodate this upon request. If you would like to witness the cremation, there is an additional fee of $350 to schedule an appointment time (typically on the weekend) at the crematory to witness part of the cremation process.

This depends on several factors based on your specific circumstances. If you call our local Care Team, they will be able to help walk you through the next steps.

Yes, as part of your cremation plan, we will travel to the location where the death has occurred to bring your loved one into our care. We ask that after you contact our Care Team to notify us of your loss, that you log onto www.lumencremation.com and walk through the steps of securing your cremation plans with us in order to alert our transportation services to bring your loved one into our care.

It depends on your family’s specific needs. Most families order three or more. Certified copies of the death certificate are usually required by life insurance companies, banks, government agencies, credit card companies, or any creditors or financial institutions that might require a legal notification of your loved one’s passing for their records. However, be sure and ask those who might be requesting a copy if they would accept a copy of a certified death certificate first before giving out the certified copies you have purchased from the state. 

We have countless options, from urns, to keepsakes (smaller urns), to jewelry. Visit our store to see our options.

In Tennessee, no state laws prohibit the scattering of your loved one’s ashes; however, if you select a public park or green space, you will need to request permission from the local governing authority. If you’d like to scatter in the sea, U.S. maritime rules require that you must be at least 3 nautical miles away from the shore and that any materials that are used are biodegradable.

Yes, ground burial is still an option for cremated remains. You can choose to bury the cremated remains on your own property, but keep in mind that if you ever decide to move, the urn will need to be disinterred from the property, or the new owners would need to be made aware that the remains exist on the property. This could decrease property value, which is something to keep in mind as well. However, if having your loved one’s cremated remains nearby is important for you, this is still an option.

If you decide to select a cemetery for burial, be sure to contact a cemetery sales counselor or sexton at your cemetery of choice and find out exactly what their specific regulations and costs are for cremation burial, including not only the plot cost but also what the opening/closing of the grave costs are with that space.

There are various other options for cremated remains as well, including:

• Keeping the urn at home
• Placing the urn in a niche at a columbarium (a walled monument usually located at a cemetery or church that houses individual spaces for cremated remains as well as small personal mementos)
• Sharing with family (by purchasing keepsake urns or jewelry and dividing remains)
• Scattering in meaningful areas (ground, sea, or aerial)
• Using in jewelry, using biodegradable urns kits to plant and grow a tree, use in creating glass art or diamonds
• Placement in memorial reefs on the ocean floor
• As well as additional cemeteries around the Nashville area to include Harpeth Hills, Hendersonville Memorial Gardens, Springfield Memorial Gardens.