Tampa Bay Cremation with Placement at Sea

Step 1: Notify Medical Professionals to call American Heritage Cremation Society

Our placements at Sea come with well over 50 years of nautical experience. As licensed professionals we elect to also adhere to federal regulations. That requires that cremated remains are placed no closer than 3 nautical miles from the beginning of where the territorial waters are measured. They are placed individually, with a moment of silence. A report is provided to the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for our area within 30 days of placement.

Death Certificates
How many are needed? The number varies by the amount of property & assets held by the deceased. American
Heritage will order as many death certificates as you request. Reorders are available at a later date but can
take longer. For an accurate account of how many to order you may want to contact each entity for specific
information regarding their policies.

Before you get started, it is important to treat business of ones estate as any other business. Be sure to ask whom your speaking with, what they told you and how to get back with them. Unfortunately some forget the sensitive nature of the business their helping you with; asking will put them on notice you are paying attention. It's nice when estates can be closed in short order. However some may take years and be overwhelming.

Ask them:
1)Does the death certificate need to be with or without cause of death? (Florida Law specifies that items of public record may not have cause of death information);
2) Will the certificate be returned or retained for their records? For an estimate of how many to order, review the
list below. The items with an asterisk (*) generally require a certified copy.

The following is a partial list of items that may need attention:
Insurance Policies notify all companies and file applicable claims:
Life Insurance Policies * Medical, Health, Dental, Automobile, Travel & Accident Policies Homeowners Insurance
Other benefits
Social Security (American Heritage will notify the SSA of the death) Veteran’s burial and/or survivor benefits
Pension or retirement benefits* Workmen’s compensation

Banking
Change joint accounts & correct tax ID / social security numbers Cancel any direct deposit retirement benefit
payments Establish title to safe-deposit box Cancel individually owned credit card accounts & change the title
on jointly held accounts Change title on any certificates of Deposit or personal notes.

Other Assets
Change ownership of joint or solely owned stocks*
Cancel any open orders pending
Move IRA & retirement accounts, Transfer bonds & mutual funds
Other Changes
Provide tax professional previously filed tax returns & current earnings & dividend statements
Change title on accounts for utilities such as cell/telephone, water, power, & cable
Cancel voter’s registration
Cancel driver’s license and notify Department of Vehicles to transfer titles on registered vehicles, mobile homes
& boats and cancel any vehicle coverage
If there is a will, probate may be necessary. Contact an attorney for advice regarding probate.

Other Considerations
Acknowledgement Cards for Flowers, Donations, Food, Gifts, etc.
Consider needs for disposition of ashes: Scatter, Burial, Inurnment.
Obituaries in Florida are not generally required. Most papers now take them from the family; Proofread and
don’t be rushed.

Information for the Death Certificate:

Legal Name ~ It is important the name is the proper given name at birth. Many people use nicknames and could cause delays or the need for costly amendments down the road when a name does not match official documents for Government, assets or benefits. Some people have however used a secondary name in their life or had a legal name change. In this case an AKA (also know as ) may simply be added to the death certificate. Both names will then show.

Decedent's Residence ~ This is to be where they legally lived. After someone has established them selves in a long term nursing or care facility somewhere it then is considered the residence.

Social Security ~ During the production of the death certificate on the State of Florida's secure servers, Social security is notified. We receive an indication of a match during the process. From their Social Security will determine benefits going forward, if any. The rule of thumb is there is a one time payment of a token amount to the surviving spouse. But not usually the children, this however varies in some circumstances as determined by Social Security. Ever since the death certificates have been done electronically the process has been much more efficient. In the event after 45 days you have not been notified by social security it would be prudent to call them. If they request a fax or email notification, provide it to us to send them form SSA-721

F040691

Florida Logistics:

American Veritas Group, Inc.

4611 CR 200 C Hernando Florida 34442 USA

Serving Florida since 1997

10.31.2025