Starting A Casket Rental Business In Michigan

[Birkhead]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY LAWS IN MICHIGAN THAT PREVENT A PERSON FROM RENTING CASKETS?

[Fynn]

Reuse of any part of a casket was against the law when I researched my book 10 years ago. At that time, I was told by the exec. dir. of the Michigan Funeral Directors Assn. that that didn't apply to rental caskets that used a new insert for each occasion.

There are lower-cost cremation caskets that would be appropriate for a viewing. I tell folks that if the funeral home that won't rent one doesn't have such a casket on display, ask to see their catalogs. All such caskets can usually be obtained within a day or so. Then tell the funeral director if he/she can't show you such a casket, you'll check with another funeral home or get on the Internet. *That* should make the funeral director a little more helpful. Or people could have a viewing with the body laid out on a bed or couch and use no casket at all as they did many years ago.

As for starting a rental casket business, I'd forget it. With the growing cremation rate, you'd be going into a business that will predictably decline, with or without the mischief that funeral directors will surely try to pull if you become a competitor. Sorry for the bad news.