If you are in the process of making your own funeral and burial arrangements, it is likely that you will be asked if you would prefer to be cremated instead of having a traditional burial. Even though more than 40 percent of people in the U.S. chose cremation as of 2010, there are still a lot of untrue myths that funeral planners often have about the practice. In order to fully understand and consider of cremation is the right choice for you, it is a good idea to get these myths out of the way first. Here are two of the biggest myths about cremation and the actual facts you will want to know when you are making your own arrangements.

Myth: Cremation means leaving loved ones to handle the remains when you are gone.

Fact: Just because you choose to be cremated, it does not mean that you have to also choose to leave your ashen remains with your loved ones to spread or keep in their home. You can easily make arrangements for your loved ones to never see the ashen remains at all, if that is what you choose. Your ashes can be buried during a burial service provided by a funeral director, or even transformed into memorial gifts, such as jewelry, paintings, or artwork after the cremation has occurred. The crematorium can arrange for your final wishes to be carried out, completely eliminating the need for loved ones to have to handle your remains at all.

Myth: There are a lot of religions that are against choosing to be cremated.

Fact: There may have once been many religions against cremation, but with the evolution of cremation popularity, more organized faiths have changed and now accept cremation as a end-of-life choice for patrons and church members. For example, the Catholic faith once banned cremation many years ago, but lifted the ban after 1963 and now accepts the practice in most churches. The only faiths that still are not accepting of cremation, for the most part, are orthodox Judaism and Islam.

When you are planning something as serious as your own funeral arrangements, the slightest misconceptions can get in the way of you making the best decisions for yourself. If you would like to know more about cremation and ask any questions, be sure to talk openly with the funeral director, such as Romero Family Funeral Home Corp., during your planning process for advice and information.