Frequently Asked Questions
Choosing funeral or cremation services often brings questions, especially when decisions need to be made quickly. Below are answers to some of the questions families most often ask about funeral services, cremation, costs, arrangements, service locations, and planning ahead.
If you do not see your question here, please reach out to us. We are available to answer questions and explain your options without pressure.
When a Death Occurs
If the death occurs at a hospital, nursing home, hospice facility, or other care center, the staff will usually guide you through the immediate steps and ask which funeral home you would like to contact.
If the death occurs at home, the next steps depend on whether the person was receiving hospice care and whether the death was expected. You may call us at any time, and we can help you determine what needs to happen next.
Once we have authorization to bring your loved one into our care, our team will coordinate the transfer and begin guiding you through the arrangements.
Yes. Deaths do not occur on a schedule, and we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond when a death occurs.
Arrangement conferences and other non-emergency matters are typically scheduled at a convenient time, but our staff is always available when immediate assistance is needed.
When you call Keller Mortuary Services, you will reach our own team rather than an outside answering service.
If immediate assistance is needed, our staff can begin gathering information and connect you with a licensed funeral director as appropriate.
Keller Mortuary Services primarily serves families throughout Central Indiana, but we are licensed to provide funeral services anywhere in Indiana.
We routinely assist families beyond our immediate area and can coordinate transportation, cremation, burial, and other arrangements throughout the state.
You do not necessarily need to travel to our funeral home to make arrangements. Depending on your needs, we can meet in your home, at our office, or handle many arrangements remotely.
About Keller Mortuary Services
Yes. Keller Mortuary Services is a licensed Indiana funeral home located in Lapel.
Our facility includes offices, arrangement space, and professional care facilities. What we do not maintain is a traditional funeral-home chapel for public visitations and ceremonies.
Instead, we bring our staff, equipment, and professional support to the location selected by the family.
Our approach gives families more flexibility in where services are held.
Rather than maintaining a large on-site funeral chapel, we focus our resources on professional care, transportation, cremation, coordination, and providing funeral services at locations selected by the family.
Services may be held in churches, cemetery chapels, community spaces, private homes, event venues, outdoor locations, at the graveside, or in other appropriate places that are meaningful to the family.
This operating model also helps us keep our prices reasonable without compromising the professional care we provide.
Yes. Keller Mortuary Services owns and operates Keller Cremation Services, our private crematory in Indianapolis.
Cremations are performed by our own experienced, certified team, which allows your loved one to remain in our care throughout the cremation process rather than being transferred to an outside crematory.
We believe that continuity of care is important, and we are responsible for your loved one from the time they enter our care until their cremated remains are returned to your family.
Funeral & Cremation Options
Funeral and memorial services can be held in many different locations.
Families may choose a church, cemetery chapel, community room, private home, event space, outdoor setting, graveside, or another appropriate location that has meaning to them.
You do not need to belong to a church to have a meaningful funeral or memorial service. If you are unsure where to hold a gathering, we can discuss available options and help identify a location that fits your family and the type of service you have in mind.
Yes.
Cremation does not prevent you from having a visitation, funeral ceremony, memorial service, private family gathering, graveside service, or another type of remembrance.
Some families have visitation and a funeral with their loved one present before cremation. Others choose cremation first and hold a memorial service afterward.
Cremation is simply a method of final disposition; the way you choose to remember and celebrate your loved one’s life is a separate decision.
In many circumstances, yes.
Some families want a private opportunity to spend a short amount of time with their loved one even though they do not want a public visitation or funeral ceremony.
Please tell us if this is important to you. We can explain the options available based on the circumstances and condition of your loved one.
Cremated remains are typically ready to return to the family within approximately 10 to 14 days.
Timing can vary depending on completion of the death certificate, required authorizations and other circumstances. We will keep you informed and let you know when your loved one is ready to come home.
No.
A traditional casket is not required for direct cremation. An alternative cremation container may be used instead.
Families who choose visitation or a funeral before cremation may select a cremation casket if they wish, but purchasing a traditional casket is not required simply because cremation has been selected.
Yes.
You are welcome to provide a casket or urn purchased from another retailer. You are not required to purchase funeral merchandise from Keller Mortuary Services.
If you plan to provide your own merchandise, we are happy to answer questions about appropriate dimensions or other requirements.
Embalming is not required for every death or every type of funeral arrangement.
Direct cremation and immediate burial generally do not require embalming. Embalming may be appropriate for arrangements involving public viewing or when circumstances make preservation necessary.
We will explain the options based on the services you select rather than automatically including embalming when it is not needed.
Prices & Making Arrangements
Our direct cremation options currently begin at $995, depending on the arrangement method, cremation container selected, and any additional services or merchandise requested.
For current package details and exactly what is included, please visit our Cremation Options page or contact us for our complete General Price List.
The total cost depends on the type of service, casket, burial container, cemetery expenses, and other options selected.
Our funeral and burial packages currently begin at $1,575.00, with visitation and funeral packages priced according to the services selected. Caskets, burial containers, cemetery charges, and other optional items are additional where applicable.
Current package prices and inclusions are available on our Funeral & Burial Options page, and we are always happy to provide our complete General Price List.
Yes.
You are welcome to ask about prices before scheduling an arrangement conference. We can answer pricing questions by telephone and provide our General Price List so you can review your options.
You should feel comfortable understanding the costs before deciding what is right for your family.
There can be, depending on the arrangements selected.
Examples may include certified death certificates, newspaper obituary charges, cemetery expenses, flowers, clergy or venue charges, upgraded caskets or urns, burial vaults, transportation outside an included service area, or other optional merchandise and services.
We will explain the charges associated with the arrangements you select and provide an itemized statement.
Yes.
Many arrangements can be completed by telephone, email, electronic documents, and other remote methods.
If you prefer to meet personally, you are welcome to come to our office in Lapel or to our crematory in Indianapolis. In many circumstances, we can also meet with you in your home.
Our goal is to make the arrangement process as convenient as possible rather than requiring every family to come to us.
Do not worry if you do not have everything immediately. We will guide you through the information we need.
Helpful information generally includes the person’s full legal name, Social Security number, date and place of birth, current address, marital status, parents’ names, education, occupation, military information if applicable, and information about relatives for the obituary.
If the person was a veteran, a copy of the DD214 or other discharge paperwork is especially helpful if available.
We will also discuss death certificates, service preferences, cremation or burial, cemetery arrangements, obituary information, merchandise, and any other details relevant to your family’s plans.
There is no single number that is right for every family.
Certified death certificates may be needed for life insurance, financial accounts, property, pensions, vehicle titles, investments, and other legal or financial matters. Some organizations may accept electronic verification or photocopies rather than requiring an original certified copy.
We can discuss your circumstances and help you estimate how many copies you are likely to need.
Yes.
We prepare and file the death certificate information and coordinate the certification process with the appropriate medical provider and local authorities.
We can also order certified copies for the family and help explain when they may be needed.
Yes.
When applicable, we can help families with military honors, veterans cemetery arrangements and other funeral-related veterans benefits.
Having a copy of the veteran’s DD214 or other discharge documentation is especially helpful.
Yes.
We regularly communicate with cemeteries regarding burial times, grave openings, cemetery requirements, veterans cemetery arrangements, and other details associated with burial or placement of cremated remains.
You do not have to coordinate all of those details on your own.
Yes.
Some families provide a completed obituary, while others give us information and ask us to prepare a draft for them to review.
We can help with writing, editing, formatting and posting the obituary on our website. If you choose newspaper publication, we can also assist with submitting it and coordinating the publication.
Yes.
We can assist with many of the details surrounding a funeral or memorial service, including flowers, clergy or celebrants, music, cemetery arrangements, service timing, printed materials, transportation and other logistics.
Because many of our services take place away from our funeral home, careful coordination is an important part of what we provide.
Yes. We will explain the services and merchandise you select and provide an itemized statement showing the charges associated with your arrangements.
You are welcome to ask questions, compare options, and decide what is appropriate for your family before arrangements are finalized.
Planning Ahead
Yes.
Preplanning and prepaying are two different things.
You can simply document your wishes so your family knows what you would prefer, or you can make more detailed arrangements and choose to fund some or all of them in advance.
You decide how much or how little you want to plan.
Yes.
If you decide to prepay, we will explain the available funding options, what may or may not be guaranteed, how the funds are held, and what happens if your wishes or circumstances later change.
The goal is for you to understand the arrangement before making a decision.
Yes.
We frequently meet with people in their homes to discuss preplanning. You are also welcome to meet with us at our office, or much of the process can be handled through telephone, email and electronic documents.
Preplanning should feel like a conversation, not an obligation to make every decision at once.
Planning ahead gives you time to consider your preferences without the pressure that can accompany an immediate death.
Some people simply want their family to know whether they prefer burial or cremation. Others want to select services, merchandise, music, readings, cemetery arrangements, or other details.
For many people, the greatest benefit is knowing that their family will have guidance instead of having to make every decision during an emotional time.
In many cases, yes.
If you already have arrangements or prepaid funeral funding with another provider, we are happy to review your documents and explain what options may be available.
The process depends on the type of contract and funding arrangement involved, so we recommend reviewing the actual documents before making any changes.
There is no obligation to transfer anything simply because we review it with you.
Other Services
Yes. Keller Mortuary Services can help families select and order cemetery monuments and grave markers.
We can assist with choosing an appropriate style, size, material, lettering, and design, and we can help coordinate the details needed for placement at the cemetery.
Because cemetery rules can vary, we will also help make sure the monument or marker you select is appropriate for the cemetery where it will be installed.
If you are interested in a monument—whether for a recent death, as part of preplanning, or for an existing grave—please contact us and we will be happy to discuss the available options.
Yes.
Our sister company, Family Forever Pet Cremation, provides private and communal pet cremation services through a dedicated pet-care operation.
For information about pet cremation, please visit Family Forever Pet Cremation or contact their team directly at (317) 775-7689.
Still Have Questions?
Every family and every situation is different. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact us. We are happy to explain your options, provide pricing information, or simply help you understand what happens next.
Call Keller Mortuary Services: (317) 501-7508
