RESOURCES

Public Education Brochures

   Click on each link below to save or open the publication. These documents are in PDF format, so you will need a PDF-reading program to view or print them. If your computer does not already have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you can download it by clicking here.

  • Planning for Peace of Mind
  • Questions and Answers About Funeral Arrangements
  • Questions and Answers About Cremation
  • Chesapeake Crematory Inc. Policies and Procedures
  • Health Insurance Information for Survivors [title?]
  • Understanding Grief

Client Forms

   Click on each link below to save or open the form. Print, complete, and sign each. Be sure to make a copy for your records before mailing. CAFA will accept completed forms by mail, fax, or email (if you scan the signed form into a computer file).

   These documents are in PDF format, so you will need a PDF-reading program to view or print them. If your computer does not already have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, you can download it by clicking here.

Forms to Use for Advance Planning:

  • Maryland Advance Medical Directives (for your family and doctor)
  • Information for Executor (for your estate's personal representative)
  • Advance Directive for Disposition (for your family and CAFA)
  • Vital Statistics (for your family and CAFA)
  • Funeral Preferences (for your family and CAFA)
  • Obituary (for your family, CAFA, and newspapers)
  • Wallet Card

Forms to Use If a Death Has Occurred:

  • Release of Body
  • Embalming Authorization (if applicable)
  • Authorization for Cremation (if applicable)
  • Vital Statistics
  • Obituary

Grief Support

   To download CAFA's publication “Understanding Grief,” click here.

The Center for Loss and Life transition has articles on "Helping Yourself Heal" at:

www.centerforloss.com/pg/HelpingYourself.asp

   The William Wendt Center for Bereavement, in Washington, D.C., has links to groups serving grievers in many special situations on its website, at www.wendtcenter.org.

   Tom Golden, LCSW, is a Washington, D.C.-based psychotherapist and author on grief. You can find many helpful resources on his website, “Crisis, Grief and Healing,” at www.webhealing.com.

   At www.GriefNet.org, you can find e-mail support groups and many other grief resources.

Other Resources

   Some other websites with valuable information on funeral arrangements:

      The American Association of Retired Persons has a compendium of advice and resources at www.aarp.org/families/griefloss.

   Medical advance directive forms can be found at www.partnershipforcaring.org.

   For information on organ donation, visit www.organdonor.gov or www.mdtransplant.org.

   You'll find information on many end-of-life issues at the Growth House website, www.growthhouse.org.

   For information on wills and estates, visit the Maryland Register of Wills site at www.registers.state.md.us.

   For veterans information, visit www.va.gov and www.mdva.state.md.us/html/cemetery.

   For information on social security benefits, go to the Social Security Administration's website at www.ssa.gov.

   For help removing the name of a deceased person from marketing lists, go to https://preference.thedma.org/cgi/ddnc.php.