How should Burial be marked when they were cremated and their ashes are in a family member's jar.
Answers
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My parents are in that situation. Burial is blank for both my parents, but I created a cremation event for them. Someone entered burial information once for my father and put burial date unknown. I removed it with the reason "burial status is known - he was never buried." No one has messed with it since. Also, the ashes of both parents are in jars in a sibling's home. Not buried.
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To add information about a cremation in Family Tree, you can record it as a custom event. Here are the steps to do so:
- Open the Person page for the individual.
- If you do not see the Vitals section, click Details.
- Scroll to the Other Information section.
- Click + Add Event.
- Select Custom Event and enter the details regarding the cremation.
- Provide a reason for the information's accuracy.
- Click Save.
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There is a standard event for Cremation. When a standard event is available, it's always better to use it rather than a custom event.
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I am fairly certain that there have been discussions in the past in the Community (or its predecessors) about how to record the disposition of ashes after cremation. Unfortunately, I cannot (yet) find any note I might have made about it.
If I recall correctly, the major issue was whether to record this Disposition as a Burial or not. Personally, I have always felt that it should be a separate event type, not least because the type of disposition could be anything from burial in a small plot in a cemetery to burning (again) in the firebox (furnace in American) of a steam locomotive on a preserved railway. But I have the impression that I was in a minority.
Anyone got a better memory than me?
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Adrian Bruce1 I agree with you. If disposition of cremains is not a burial, my thoughts are don't call it that. If one is inclined to even share what was done with the ashes, that can be done. I see I did not do that except when I saw someone added a burial date for my father. Then I put the information about his ashes in the reason to remove the burial information.
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I wonder if we are drifting slightly off-topic in assuming @Edward Williams is unaware of how to directly input Cremation details. @Gail Swihart Watson appears to have addressed the question adequately in respect of what (if anything!) should be entered in the Burial section.
However, regarding the point raised by @Adrian Bruce1 I'm afraid I always struggle to locate past discussions on similar issues. The comments I recall relating to cremation were more along the lines of how the "related" events should be recorded - including any burial of the ashes. Of course, the place of the cremation (crematorium) does not necessarily have any connection to where the service was held, or where the ashes were deposited. Further complications over the "final resting place" involve the likely removal from the "original mantelpiece" on which they were placed to a further location: or even the dividing of the ashes, to be kept / spread at multiple locations.
Back to the issue of how we complete data against the Family Tree profile, I'm sure it has been suggested that the date / place of the cremation could be entered under "Burial" - mainly so it could be better picked-up from the Vitals section, rather than being less noticeable as a Custom Event. Of course, the fact the details do represent a Cremation, rather than Burial, event would need to be shown clearly in the Reason statement, immediately below. On balance, I believe Gail's advice is the best to follow - as well as advice given above by other Community members, assuming @Edward Williams was unaware of the best way to enter Cremation event details.
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FamilySearch follows standard cemetery terminology. When cremated remains are placed in a cemetery plot, this is still considered a burial. Ground burial of ashes is treated the same as any other interment. Likewise, placing cremated remains in a niche, columbarium, or mausoleum is classified as inurnment, which is also an interment.
For data entry purposes, any placement of cremated remains in a cemetery, whether in the ground or in a structure, is recorded as a burial, not scattering, “other,” or simply “cremation.”
Scattering cremated remains is not considered a burial in FamilySearch. Scattering is treated as a separate disposition type because the remains are not interred in a cemetery plot or structure.
If the ashes were scattered in a natural location, on private property, at sea, or anywhere outside a cemetery interment space, the correct event to record is “Cremation” with an optional note such as “Remains scattered at [location].”
This helps keep burial records accurate and consistent with standard genealogical terminology
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Whilst we should be grateful for the link provided by @sc woz , which does indeed indicate that entering such detail in the Burial section (under Vitals) is the appropriate action to take in these specific circumstances, unfortunately the article gives no direct instruction to the effect of, "In Family Tree, information relating to the burial of ashes should be recorded under the Burial heading in the Vitals section."
I assume the advice would still be to additionally input the detail in the Event section, under Cremation: otherwise some users would be concerned about the inconsistency in recording cremation detail, depending on whether the ashes were buried, or scattered, kept on a shelf, etc.
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Thank you for your excellent input! I have used the above on occasion, but your input clarifies some points. It seems to me that it would be beneficial if Family Tree allowed a choice of Burial or Cremation, especially since I see the frequency of the later increasing. Being able to choose Cremation in place of Burial makes it more apparent than does just adding it to events. I feel certain that many people see no burial information and instead of looking in Events for possible cremation information, assume that information is missing.
When "Cremated" is entered under Burial, it prompts a "Missing Standardized Burial Place" note. Of course the ability to choose makes standardization more difficult.
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