Ukkram

The law on this is different from country to country. In Germany it is illegal to have the ashes in homes and must be placed in a cemetery.

What are the rules in PT as I understand that cremation is rare here?
My wife and I both want to be cremated and our ashes thrown in the bin.

mfesharne

Not many crematoriums in PT but as far as I'm aware there's no restriction on what has to happen to the ashes but probably the best way to be certain is ask your nearest crematorium..... I believe there's one near Porto somewhere.

It might also be worth noting that PT appears to have some odd laws regarding death though.

A friend of mine lost his partner recently & was told PT law decrees you must either bury, cremate or remove the body from the country within 3 days.

Which brings me to the subject of paying for such........ I don't know if it's common but my house insurance includes a death benefit of €1250 if/when I croak.

AliceCaroline

I know of two people who were cremated in Portugal.
One had their ashes scattered into the sea from a cliff top, one was scattered at the bottom of her garden.

Ukkram

Thanks for the answers. We are updating our will for the kids.

A funeral would not work for us here as our small family and few friends do not understand Portuguese. Having to pay for the plot and upkeep is such a waste when they dig up the body after some years and place the bones in the surrounding wall to make room for the next body anyway.
When we go, we won't care much for our ashes.

AliceCaroline

I feel exactly the same.

dmu

Hi from the France forum where the rules are strict about the disposal of ashes and, as in Portugal, there's a deadline (pardon the pun) for burial, cremation or removal from the country (within 6 days of death in France). Even at the Crematorium, there would have to be at least a "Civil Funeral", which I suppose the Undertakers would be able to organise.
https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...r_2016__2_.pdf
gives info for Portugal, and probably the local Town Hall for "prohibitions" as to where to dispose of ashes.
But after the surviving spouse has gone, all the procedure falls on the children/family and they should be aware of your wishes in advance and know who to contact and what to expect.....
This is a subject which most expats with families "back home" don't think about, but Continental European bureaucracy has to be complied with at the same time as coping with grief.
Hope this gives you food for thought while still on this mortal coil!

liveaboard

I attended a Portuguese Funeral some years ago; it was for the old farmer we bought our place from.
First surprise; we were dragged up to the front row to sit with the family.
We had a very amicable transaction, but I didn't realize we were held in such regard.
The old man was on display in a very expensive looking coffin [before selling the property, these people were extremely poor]. The undertakers fitted a metal [possibly zinc] lid and soldered it shut using propane torches and lead. I noticed a relief valve to prevent gas buildup, because I notice that sort of thing.
The ornate wooden lid was closed over that and screwed down.
After some priestly incantations, the coffin was lifted into a hearse and we all followed as it rolled down to the above ground crypts.
These precast concrete things are stacked three or four high; each has a glass door.
The coffin was placed inside with a lot of flowers and things, then they locked the door and presented the key to the widow.

There were a few burial plots, but it seemed most bodies were being stored in those above ground concrete crypts, or mausoleums.
I don't know what happens afterwards; are they cleared out for new bodies? What happens to the remains?

I'm not too familiar with any funeral rites anywhere, but this was really new to me.

EMR

It was a catholic funeral ,your description is a bit disrespectfull to the family and their beliefs.
In the past after some years the remains were sometimes placed in ossiaries which can still be seen in many of the older Portuguese churches.

Ukkram

I have re read his post and cannot find anything disrespectful (1 "L") and they still use ossuaries (not ossiaries)

I often have to take a shortcut through our local cemetery when I walk to town. The wealthy have family mausoleums built like temples around the outskirts of the cemetery. They have glass doors in front and what looks like brick bunk beds on the sides with coffins. All well kept and some with burning candles and fresh flowers in the center despite the coffins dating back a 100 years.
The Portuguese take this dead seriously it seems.

In the middle are the graves that are well maintained with expensive always fresh flowers and expensive marble statuettes and brass trinkets like ships and angels. Where I come from, they would be stolen within hours.

To save space, workers would curtain off an old grave and remove the remains and then place them in the ossuaries that are behind the mausoleums at the perimeter. They are about 6" x 6" cement boxes much like postal boxes. A brass plague with a number is stuck to them.

This method is used throughout Europe to save space. The ossuaries may differ as in glass containers with the crushed bones placed in rooms or the bones merely placed on shelves.

macliam

Two years ago I attended a cremation in Lisbon. It was a respectful ceremony and the husband was asked to collect the ashes the next day. There was no question as to the final destination for the ashes.

My father-in-law died in June after a short illness in a hospital 50km from his home. By the time I arrived on the afternoon of that day, the body had been released, returned to his home village, prepared, dressed and placed in his coffin with flowers around it at the little chapel. Memorial cards, with a photograph, had already been printed. Impressive.

After a night's vigil in the chapel, the hearse arrived to take him 3km to the main village church for a requiem mass, then I helped carry the coffin 1km to the cemetary with a couple of hundred people walking behind. There he was placed in a new, brick-lined grave. Everything was done with the utmost respect without being morbid.

All the preparations were carried out in under 24 hours and the final cost was a fraction of that of a basic funeral in the UK. The grave now belongs to the family so there will be no removal. In cities and places where space is limited, bodies were disinterred after several years and the bones either placed in a purchased "drawer" or put in a common ossuary - but this is now not always the case. Again, whilst strange to us, if disinterment is undertaken all this is done with respect and is normal custom.

Burial the next day is also normal custom in Portugal, so the idea of keeping the deceased "on ice" for weeks would seem odd to the Portuguese. Any "restrictions" regarding burial would seem odd - but would presumably be there to ensure the proper disposal of the remains.

hottoddy

Portugal will soon be classifying all people as Muslims it makes the paperwork more simple.By making it that all peps in the future will be buried

GeniB

My friend died two yrs after we arrived in Portugal and we attended a simple service at the churchyard chapel in Lagos. The coffin was an open 'top lid' one with only her face showing. Hard for me to see I must say. After the ceremony the coffin was removed to a hearse and driven to the nearest crematorium , which i believe was in or near. Qurique. She had specifically asked that no one,not even her partner accompany her. She also wanted nothing done with her ash's. We were all to go to a local Italian and toast her in a good glass of red wine.