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INFORMATION > Funeral Myths
Glossary of Terms
From the California Department of Consumer Affairs
Casket/Coffin: A box or chest for burying remains.

Cemetery Property: A grave, crypt, or niche.

Cemetery Services: Opening and closing graves, crypts or niches; setting grave liners or vaults; setting markers, monument; long term maintenance of cemetery grounds and facilities.

Cremation: Exposing remains and the container holding them to extreme heat and flame to reduce the remains to ashes.

Disposition: Placement of whole or cremated remains in their final resting place.

Endowment Care Fund: Money collected from cemetery property purchasers and placed in trust for the maintenance and upkeep of the property.

Funeral Ceremony: A service commemorating the deceased, with the body present.

Funeral Services: Services provided by a funeral direct, funeral home, and staff.

Grave Line or Outer Container: A concrete cover that fits over a casket in a grave. Some liners cover the top and sides. Other, called vaults, complete enclose the casket. The purpose of grave liners is to keep the ground level for maintenance.

Interment: Burial in the ground, collecting the cremated remains in an urn.

Mausoleum: A building which remains are buried or ashes kept.

Memorial Service: A ceremony commemorating the deceased without the body present.

Niche: A small space in a mausoleum or a columbarium to hold an urn.

Urn: A container to hold cremated remains.