Cremation Process Timeline

The cremation process involves several steps.  In order to give the consumer a better understanding of the chronology of events here is a generic timeline of what takes place and when.  As a general rule the average time to complete the cremation is 7 to 10 business days.  Death certificates will not arrive in our office for 2 to 3 weeks.

1. Death is Reported to Lone Star.  Our staff will make arrangements for the transfer of the deceased to our facility from a residence, hospice, hospital or Medical Examiner’s Office. (Our staff is available 24 hours to take your loved one into our care.)
2. The next-of-kin or responsible party makes or finalizes arrangements online with Lone Star Cremation. (24 to 48 hours after death)
3. Using the information provided by the responsible party our staff will generate an electronic death certificate and send it to the physician/Justice of Peace that will be certifying the death (1 to 14 Business Days)  Please note: By law the certifier has 10 business days to sign the death certificate.
4. Once the death certificate is signed our staff will request permission to cremate the body from the Medical Examiner who’s jurisdiction the death occurred. (1 to 2 Business Days)
5. Once the Medical Examiner has approved the cremation a permit will be requested from the State of Texas to proceed with the cremation. (1 to 2 Business Days)
6. Once the State issues the permit we will schedule the cremation at our crematory. (1 to 2 Business Days)
7. Certified Death Certificates will be ordered from the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Austin, Texas they will arrive in our office in 7 to 21 days.
8. Ashes are returned to our business office and placed into the urn selected. Usually within 1 to 2 business days after cremation.
9. Once the death certificates arrive from Austin, the ashes, death certificates and any merchandise selected can either be picked up by the responsible party or we will ship everything to the address provided when making arrangements.  (If shipping the delivery time is usually 1 to 3 business days.  If picking up, we ask that ashes be claimed within 30 days of us notifying the responsible party that everything is complete.)