Cremation Services in Oak Lawn, IL

Our direct cremation is $997 to start. Every cremation also carries a few required items: the $200 Cook County permit charge, certified death certificates ($40 for the first, $20 for each after), the $160 alternative container, a $25 temporary urn, and sales tax on the merchandise. For an Oak Lawn hospital death with four certificates, the total typically lands at $1,500.96. Our pricing page has a calculator if your situation is different.

Oak Lawn is entirely in Cook County, so the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office issues the cremation permit and the Cook County Clerk’s Office issues certified copies of the death certificate. The certificate itself is registered through the state’s electronic system. You do not have to visit any of these offices, because our team handles the filings and orders the certified copies.

For most Oak Lawn families, the cremation is completed within 5 to 10 business days. The timing depends mostly on three things: when the family signs the cremation authorization, when the Medical Examiner’s Office issues the permit, and when the death certificate is completed. If you are working toward a particular date, optional expedited cremation is available for $150.

No. You can arrange everything online in under 15 minutes or over the phone, and sign from home. Some Oak Lawn families still like to sit down with us in person, and you are welcome to visit if that feels better. Either way, the price you pay and the care your loved one receives stay exactly the same.

Yes. Aquamation, as water cremation is also known, is offered from $1,897. The process uses water instead of flame, is gentler on the environment, and typically leaves the family about 20% more cremated remains. With the same permit, four certificates, container, urn and tax as a typical hospital case, the total usually comes to $2,400.96.

Call 911 first. When a death is sudden, unexpected or the result of an accident, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office may review it, and sometimes your loved one is taken to the Medical Examiner’s facility so the cause can be determined. That can add time before the permit is issued. Call us as soon as you are able, and we will stay in contact with the office and keep you updated.

Yes, you can keep them at home in an urn or divide them among family members. Illinois allows scattering in a cemetery scattering garden, or on private property with the owner’s consent. Parks, forest preserves and Lake Michigan are different: you need permission from the agency in charge first, so please ask before planning a scattering at any public place, including an Oak Lawn park.

Let her nurse or social worker know that your family has chosen Caring Cremations, and call us at (773) 866-2273 whenever you are ready, day or night. We coordinate the release with the hospital and bring her into our care. You can sign the authorization online, then choose the number of death certificates and an urn later, from home.