We recently wrote about the effect obesity is having on the UK’s funeral industry.

Whilst this looks likely to continue, a council is taking things into its own hands with the introduction of super-sized graves.

Sutton Bridge and Wingland Parish Council hopes to open a new three-acre burial ground next year because space is running out at the cemetery in the local church – where plots measure 9ft by 4ft.

The authority is set to become the first in Britain to create a cemetery with graves dedicated to larger bodies to accommodate the nation’s growing obesity crisis.

The larger graves have been requested by funeral directors who have been struggling to haul coffins over long distances in the Lincolnshire village.

As plans drawn up for 30 super-sized plots near to the roadside, the local council is hoping to alleviate some of the problems funerals directors are faced with i.e. back problems and general injury.

As well as hundreds of standard graves, the authority plan to dig extra wide 9ft by 8ft plots near to the entrance of the burial ground.

This comes shortly after Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Staffordshire, installed a new £12,000 lift table to handle wider coffins for obese people.

The authority said the decision came after Bradwell Crematorium was unable to accommodate the funerals of 15 overweight people in 2013.

Some funeral parlours in Britain have even had to install hoists capable of lifting 50 stone, purchase reinforced steel trollies and increase the size of their fridges in order to manage larger corpse.

Hospital morgues and crematoriums have already had to make alterations to deal with the changes, such as installing extra-large furnace.

And ambulance bosses have also started paying out millions to ‘supersize’ their vehicles to cope with the growing number of obese casualties.

The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) introduced a fleet of 128 larger ambulances, each capable of dealing with patients who weigh up to 55st.

The UK’s growing obesity problem showing no sign of slowing but with the introduction of a number of innovations, the funeral industry is poised to keep moving with the times.

Almost half of England’s cemeteries could run out of space within the next 20 years, a BBC survey suggests.

And a quarter of 358 local authorities responding to the BBC said they would have no more room for burials within a decade.

Cemetery experts warned of a looming “crisis”, while managers called for a change in law to allow graves that are more than 75-years-old to be reused.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the issue was “under constant review”.

Many of the councils surveyed, including those in Gosport, Mole Valley, Crawley and Rother, said they had five years or less before they ran out of room. Other areas – such as Tandridge district council in the South East – said they had already run out of space.

Some 44% said they had 20 years or less before burial space ran out. About 74% of people who died in 2012 in the UK were cremated, but the cremation rates have levelled off – and there is still a demand for full burial and burial of ashes.

Do you have plans for your own funeral? Have you reserved a space somewhere? Do you feel it is important to be buried near your family or will you choose to be cremated and scattered to the wind? Do you wish for a more outlandish form of burial? Would you secretly like to be buried at sea or launched into space? Tell us how you plan to be laid to rest when the time comes.

Choosing who will deal with your estate when you pass away is one of the most important decisions to make. The administrative and legal complexities of probate can be challenging and it is important to choose someone who’s both capable and trustworthy.

Britons are at risk of losing thousands of pounds from inheritances because they don’t know how much professional probate should cost.

You could be overpaying for help in navigating the complexities of probate due to hidden or disproportionate costs.

We should be careful because in addition to a percentage fee for acting as an executor, some professionals will also charge an hourly fee, meaning that the average UK inheritance of £180,000 could end up reduced by thousands of pounds.

Paying a professional firm to act as your executor can help to simplify the probate process for loved ones, however some professional firms charge a set percentage fee based on the value of the estate rather than on its complexity to deal with.

This mean an individual with large uncomplicated legal affairs could end up unnecessarily losing hundreds of pounds from the ultimate value of the estate.

Importantly once a person has passed away , an appointed professional is under no obligation to renounce its role as executor.

Top Tips in choosing a professional probate provider

1. Always agree a fixed price up front to avoid any nasty surprises later.
2. Shop around to find the right deal. Remember to strike the right balance between price and getting the service you require.
3. Remember there are usually two options for probate: Full Administration where the professional will deal with everything on your behalf and Grant Only, where the professional prepares the legal paperwork for you only.
4. Ask as many questions as you need in order to feel confident in what you are signing – if you have agreed a fee up front, you should not be charged extra to ask additional questions.
5. If using a professional, choose one that is regulated by a relevant governing body and which offers insurance should something go wrong, such as an incorrectly drafted Will accidently missing out a beneficiary.
6. Whatever your decision, talk it through with your next of kin so they fully understand your reasoning as tis will help to avoid potential disputes later on.

Death is inevitable but the passing of a close family member is still one of the most traumatic events a person can ever experience, showering us with a range of emotions such as grief, sadness, frustration, heightened anxiety and even anger.

The impact that it has on an individual can be absolutely devastating. More and more people are using social media to connect with members of the family that they haven’t seen in years and sharing fond memories of their loved ones with online memorials. This is commonplace in the funeral industry with families and friends often rallying around supporting each other as the result of reconnecting at a funeral.

You may be asking yourself what does this story has to do with the online world of social media but here lies the very essence of exactly “why” social media outlets work.

It’s a well-known fact that it is in the human nature to want to connect and the social media sites of today simply provide the outlet necessary to allow people to do so.

When you think about it, the funeral industry has been practicing social media for a number of years providing a “media platform” to weave together families and friends at their greatest time of need.

Whilst social media feeds have long been responsible for informing users of celebrity deaths, they are becoming increasingly popular among everyday people wishing to remember, share their thoughts and to deal with the grief of losing a loved one or friend.

The number of Britons going online has now doubled since 2006 and almost half of the 33 million current UK internet users use social networks on a daily basis, new figures show.

According to figures from the latest report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Eurostat, people in the UK were also found to be the second most prolific social network users in Europe – being beaten only by the Netherlands.

The figures also discovered that although the majority of UK users are aged between 16 and 24 years old, 19 per cent of people aged 65 to 74 now use social networks.

As we invest more of ourselves into our online presence, your own social networking profile could in fact become a spot where your friends and family could share memories of you long after you’re gone.

What will happen to your pets after you die? If you do not plan well enough then you risk them being given away or even being put down.

Saga Legal Services has revealed that research of 1,000 people revealed that pets are usually thought of as part of the family, yet half of all UK pet owners haven’t thought about what would happen to their pets after they are gone. Nearly two thirds of people (65 percent) assume their pet will automatically be inherited by their next of kin. More worryingly nearly a quarter of people would either choose to give a pet away or have it put down if it came to inheriting it with costs and hassle cited as the top deterrents.

Have you made provisions for your pets? The study shows that only a tiny fraction of pet owners (3 per cent) have currently made provision in their will and even those that have are still risking their pet’s future as there is no cast-iron imperative for family to take them in.

The research also reveals the special requirements UK pets have with over a fifth having dietary requirements and 17 per cent having health issues. While this is information every current owner knows, new owners could be in the dark when they adopt; a potentially distressing situation for both owner and animal.

To help the public in preparing for their pets life after they die, Saga Legal Services has released a guide of expert advice on the financial, legal and practical implications of making provision for their pets. The guide contains a Pet Executor form which once completed with a pet’s details, can be stored along a Will to be provided to the new owners when needed most.

For more information or two download the “Pets Left Behind Guide” and Pet Executor Form visit www.saga.co.uk/legal

It’s no secret that the UK is in the midst of an “obesity epidemic”.

In 2007 the National Obesity Forum predicted that up to 50% of the nation would be obese by 2050.

Worryingly so, these predictions are now said to ”underestimate” the full scale of the problem.

As one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United Kingdom, the effects of obesity are beginning to have a knock-on effect on the funeral profession.

As a custodian of the dead, funeral directors are responsible for making the arrangements for transportation of the body, completing all necessary paperwork, and implementing the choices made by the family regarding the funeral and final disposition of the body.

Ensuring that the ceremony is carried out with the utmost respect is absolutely paramount for funeral directors and dealing with someone who was overweight is no different.

This, of course, throws up a challenge.

However, with the introduction of a number of innovations listed below, the funeral industry is poised to keep moving with the times.

Larger coffins and caskets – Until recently, the average coffin was typically 22 to 24 inches wide, but now 26 inches has become much more common, with larger ones (typically up to 40 inches) also available.

More powerful crematoria – As the bodies of overweight people contain more fat, they need to be burned for longer and at higher temperatures in order to be turned into ash. More powerful ovens with larger doors have been pioneered in America, but at the moment there are still only a few of them in crematoria around the UK.

Lifting equipment – A coffin itself can weigh several stone, so the combined weight of that and a large passenger inside it can become too heavy for traditional pallbearers to carry on their shoulders. As a result, some funeral directors may have to refuse to provide a pallbearing service if they could be held liable for putting their employees at risk of, for example, back injury. A growing number of funeral directors now use trolleys to wheel the coffin into the funeral venue, while they can also use sophisticated lifting and winching equipment to lower the deceased into their grave during burials.

Funeral transport – Unfortunately, some hearses may not be able to accommodate the larger sizes of coffins and caskets, meaning that alternative methods of transport will have to be found. However, a good funeral director will be able to provide advice on these.

After speaking to family members at a funeral last week it became apparent that more and more people are considering donating their body to medical science after they die.

As an alternative to burial or cremation, body donation or medical donation, as it’s also known, can be appealing for a wide number of reasons.

However, I couldn’t help thinking that there seems to be a real common misconception about the whole process.

Donating your body to science is a concept most people are familiar with yet few know how to go about. It’s not just a matter of having your body dropped off at the nearest laboratory; medical donation is actually a complex and tightly regulated practice.

Bodies donated for anatomical examination are a vital resource for medical education and play a crucial role in producing practitioners of the highest standing.

While this may not be a high priority for some families, other families can take solace in the fact that they are able to make a positive impact on future generations.

While body donation offers many advantages, there are also disadvantages you should consider before finalising your plans.

It’s widely believed that if you choose to donate your body to medical science, it will be accepted with no questions asked but this is just not the case.

Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, written and witnessed consent for anatomical examination must be granted prior to death; consent cannot be given by anyone else after your death.

A consent form can be obtained from your nearest medical school and a copy should be kept with your Will.

You need to plan carefully to ensure that your body will be accepted regardless of the manner of death.

As is sometimes the case with insurance policies, should you (or a loved one) die in a manner that is excluded under the terms of the contract, surviving family members would be responsible for making alternative arrangements.

This means even if you were planning on donating your body to science at relatively no cost, your loved ones could end up footing unexpected funeral bills.

So it’s worth having a “plan B” in place just in case your donation is not accepted by the medical school because of an excludable manner of death or because the body could not be transported to the medical school within a reasonable amount of time.

As time is of the essence when donating a body, there is usually not enough time to hold a memorial service with the body present meaning that some family members can’t find closure in the same way.

While donating your body to science can be a wonderful way to serve future generations, it’s important that you undertake thorough research in order to make a well informed choice.