Affordable Cremation Costs in Athens, Georgia $1,295

Since 2012, DFS Memorials has helped families find affordable, dignified cremation through an established network of independent funeral homes and cremation providers in 42 states. Every partner is licensed, local to the community it serves, and committed to a clear price set before you commit.

In Athens and the surrounding counties, our local partner provides a direct cremation for $1,295. A direct cremation has no viewing or ceremony beforehand, which leaves your family free to plan a memorial later, at your own pace.

What the $1,295 covers

• Collection of your loved one from the place of death, including hospitals, nursing homes, hospice and home
• Care and sheltering until the paperwork is complete
• Filing the death certificate and obtaining the disposition permit
• A simple cremation container
• The cremation itself
• Return of the cremated remains to the family

What may cost extra

• Certified copies of the death certificate
• Collection from outside the provider’s service area
• An urn, if you want something other than the standard container for the ashes

Ask for the General Price List before you agree to anything. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, every funeral home must give you one, and the price you are quoted should match it.

Our Athens partner is Low Country Cremation & Burial, which also serves families in Augusta, Columbus and Savannah at the same price.

The price applies across Athens, including Five Points, Normaltown, the Boulevard and Cobbham neighborhoods, downtown and the Eastside. It also covers nearby communities such as Watkinsville, Bogart and Winterville.

If a death occurs in an Athens hospital

Hospital staff will ask which funeral home to call. Give them the name of your provider, and the release is arranged directly between the hospital and the provider. You do not need to collect anything yourself. The main hospitals in Athens are:

• Piedmont Athens Regional
• St. Mary’s Hospital

If a death occurs at home

If your loved one was under hospice care and the death was expected, call the hospice nurse first. The nurse confirms the death and then contacts the provider you have chosen. If the death at home was unexpected, call 911.

If your loved one is with the coroner

Sudden or unexplained deaths in Athens are referred to the Athens-Clarke County Coroner. In those cases the coroner or medical examiner must approve before the cremation permit is issued. You can still choose your provider at any time, and the provider arranges the release directly with the coroner’s office.

University families and deaths away from home

As home to the University of Georgia, Athens has many students, faculty and retirees whose closest relatives live in other states. After a direct cremation, the ashes can be shipped or carried to family anywhere in the country, and a memorial held wherever the family gathers.

What Georgia law requires

• No fixed waiting period: Georgia sets no single statewide minimum wait. A cremation can go ahead once the authorization is signed, the death certificate is under way and a disposition permit is issued (O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20). In practice this usually takes a few days.
• Who signs the authorization: The order is set by law (O.C.G.A. § 31-21-7). A health care agent or a person the deceased named in writing comes first, then the spouse, a majority of adult children, the parents and a majority of siblings. If family members with equal rights disagree, the probate court decides.
• Act promptly: A person who does not act within two days of being told of the death, or three days after it, can lose the right to decide.
• No embalming or casket needed: A direct cremation uses refrigeration and a simple container.

Veterans: Georgia National Cemetery

Eligible veterans can be buried at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton. The VA provides the burial space, the opening and closing, and a government headstone or marker at no cost, and cremated remains are accepted. A spouse or dependent may also qualify. Your provider can help you request the burial.

Holding a memorial after the cremation

Many Athens families choose cremation first and a memorial later. A church, a family home, a riverside spot on the North Oconee or a lake day on Lake Oconee can all make a fitting setting. Georgia has no state law against scattering ashes. On private land you need the owner’s permission, and for public land or water, check with the agency that manages it first. See our guide to planning a memorial after cremation.

Compare nearby areas: Clarke County | Georgia

To arrange a direct cremation in Athens, or to plan ahead, call (706) 350-4737.