Cremation accounts for 80 percent of New Zealand deaths, largely due to its lower cost compared to burial. However, Fergus Wheeler, spokesperson for Death Without Debt, said in an interview that the current system forces families to go through a funeral director to obtain a second doctor’s sign-off required for cremation.
Wheeler argues this step could legally be handled directly between medical professionals. “The cloud already exists, it just requires a change of process,” he said.
According to Wheeler, funeral homes use the cremation paperwork as an entry point to upsell full-service funeral packages, adding unnecessary fees. “It also gave them the opportunity to ‘hook people into a package deal,’ charging grieving families for things they did not need,” he said.
The Funeral Directors Association strongly called the accusations of predatory behaviour unfounded.
A recent Health Select Committee report acknowledged that current regulations are costly and discourage DIY funerals.
It encouraged the ministry to update the cremation process and make all documents available through the online Death Documents platform, but stopped short of mandating a timeline.
Wheeler called the report weak. “You’ve got a pretty major social problem with funeral debt… let’s fix it sometime in the next few years? It’s not quick enough.”
The Ministry of Health said it would review the cremation regulations in 2025.
Centrist Ltd.