When my mother in law passed away, it was an unattended death at home so the coroner had to be called. Coroner called and said because she was 64 and no unusual circumstances present they would not be required to do an autopsy. But if we wanted one they would do one for $100 fee. We had it done because WE had no knowledge of any health issues. She had extreme coronary artery disease, which she CLEARLY had been told about by her Doctors and elected not to seek treatment for. That was in 1999. I just checked the coroner's website and the fee for an autopsy is now $3,000!
So sorry to hear that, Dan.
Thank you, PnM.So sorry to hear that, Dan.
I agree.
Absolutely the expectations/practices have changed far before Covid came along. I interned in funeral service way back in 2005, in a reputable, high-volume local funeral home. Even that long ago less than 1/3 of the services were what you'd call "traditional", with viewings, formal church/or funeral home ceremonies followed by casket burials and a luncheon/dinner. About 1/2 were cremations with some version of a memorial gathering (either immediately or at a later point) and the rest were direct cremations with no other action being taken. Even back then, it wasn't necessarily that people couldn't afford services, more so just that priorities and the culture around death in general was changing.
Both my inlaws had autopsies because both passed at home (7 years apart)with no witnesses. Both were over 65. I think it was the medications they were taking that likely prompted it. The real shocking thing was they had the same exact cause of death which was aortic dissection from coronary heart disease. Dying from that is already rare, but both parents dying from the same thing is extremely rare.
Sorry for your loss Dan
By law in most jurisdictions, the "minimum" cremation container is a cardboard box, which is included in the price of a basic cremation. You'd be astounded at the number of people who choose to purchase a casket costing several thousand, just to incinerate. And that's with no prompting, or sales pressure at all. They seem to feel, completely of their own volition, that it's needed for the sake of dignity (or whatever).
Someone I knew had very little money (had just finished college and started working), when he was tasked with dealing with the sudden death of a relative all by himself. He got the cardboard box, then drove the body himself to the crematorium several hours out of state for cremation, which was the cheapest place he could find. (Sounds like a bad movie, right?
) I think for that, he paid $1400 in its entirety. It was a difficult task, though. I don’t think I’d be up for it. 
I agree it seems a shame to incinerate a perfectly good (and expensive) casket.
