The United States Post Office has made a significant change to their procedure for mailing cremated remains domestically. In the past, cremated remains were typically shipped as Registered Mail and the package was scanned as it arrived at and departed from each sorting facility along its journey.
Now, cremated remains are to be shipped Priority Mail Express service only, and Registered Mail service is no longer an option – and the cremated remains are treated as a regular package. The sender is still provided with a tracking number for the package that they can pass along to the recipient, but the package is now only scanned at its original departure, its arrival at the postal facility, and once received by the family at its final destination.
Also, it’s important to note that if the package containing cremated remains are unclaimed by the recipient after a period of two weeks, the package will be returned to the sender.
This is important information because mailing cremated remains to your family is a standard service of Simple Cremation of New Jersey – we work with the crematory to ensure cremated remains are mailed directly from their facility to your family, and part of that requires familiarity with the process of mailing. When it comes to such precious cargo as this, any small change in the rules is worth talking about. We also know that families sometimes use the post office to transport loved ones’ cremated remains to other locations when traveling with the package is not practical, so everyone should be familiar with these new rules. The USPS is currently the only carrier that will deliver cremated remains.
The good news is that there is no change to the cost for mailing cremated remains to your family – and the USPS procedure for mailing internationally (which we also do) has not changed.
Have you ever mailed cremated remains or received them in the mail? What was the experience like for you?