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A lobby group called Death without Debt has achieved one of its early goals, on the way to its vision of giving New Zealanders more choice and a stronger voice when it comes to funerals.
The organisation focuses on areas that family can potentially take on themselves, including aspects of after-death care and paperwork – doing so can reduce the cost of a funeral.
Spokesperson Fergus Wheeler says four years of campaigning have been rewarded with the Department of Internal Affairs recently agreeing to make death registration forms readily available for the public to fill in, if they wish to.
Wheeler says this is a win because paperwork is a key area where family can do it themselves to save money.
That also includes pre-cremation paperwork, which Wheeler says is a medical responsibility.
“Ultimately, Death without Debt wants doctors to stop automatically referring families to the funeral industry to complete official paperwork, and to instead do it themselves,” he says.
He says there is high demand for information on how to get more involved in creating an affordable, dignified funeral.
While many people are more than happy to hand the responsibility of a funeral over to the professionals, some either cannot afford that or would like to organise as much as possible themselves.
“It’s not just about the money. People love to come along and bring food and lend a hand. It brings people together and can lay down memories that help people process the death afterwards,” he says. “That’s why people are so interested in this. I have had a great response and reclaiming the last rights is a worldwide movement.”
Wheeler says it is key to get people thinking and talking about death.
“If you don’t arrive at the finish line with some semblance of order, than your chances of any DIY aspect to your funeral are reduced,” he says.
Government is undertaking a review of death, cremation and burial at the moment, and Death without Debt is taking that opportunity to front-foot its cause, asking the Health and Disability Commission to explicitly include after-death duty of care in the review.
This month Death without Debt begins touring the country with workshops that Wheeler says demonstrate the tasks and practicalities involved.
They cover a wide range of topics from writing a Will to probate, funeral planning and advanced care plans.
“We want all after-death paperwork to be straightforward and improve the situation for everyone. Once doing parts of a funeral yourselves becomes more common, as it is in many cultures, there will be competition which brings down the prices for everyone.
A workshop is expected to be held in a north Auckland venue in mid-to-late August.
