What to do my grandma can't afford a funeral for my aunt?

listen, it's all right to tell a sick and dying woman what she wants to hear. when she is dead you and gram can give her the funeral you can afford.

I'm sorry, and I guess I'm mean, but I think the 3 children are more important than a corpse. Your aunt would be cremated. Period. If she doesn't want that, they she better get real busy and figure out another way now.

Perhaps have the grandmother sign over the power of attorney after the aunt dies, and let someone else take care of it. A local mortuary might even be able to offer advice.

In Nevada the state will cremate the body, and bury in a grave. It will not allow you to mark the grave until you have paid the bill. I assume each state is different.

I know of no state that is going to pay for a "funeral", a casket, a grave, and the expense related to that. Truly poor people are generally cremated, the public generally will not pay for more; nor should they. There are times, I suppose when people are stubborn and won't listen to reason, and you just have to turn your back on them. It seems this may be one of those situations both with your aunt and your grandmother.

Just to clarify some of the info you received so that you are aware:

People may want to be donated to science, that does not mean that the medical school or program will accept the body. In order to accept a body for donation, the body must meet a long list of criteria before they agree to accept the donation.

Secondly, if the body is donated to medical science, they cannot donate any organs or tissue, they require the bodies to be intact, no donation.

Third- Everyone thinks, also, that they can donate their "organs". In reality, when people die and are designated as an organ donor, they simply remove skin and bone, they do NOT remove any organs. On order to donate organs (heart, liver, lungs, etc.) the person must be alive on life support, but braindead. Otherwise, the organs are not removed because they are useless.

As for your situation, although your aunt may not want to be "burnt", she isn't the one who will be left to pay the bill, and your grandmother should not put herself in a financial situation that she is unable to deal with. Your grandmother should do whatever is the least expensive, and have a memorial service at a local park or church. Don't overspend and put her in financial ruins.

EDIT;

Power of Attorney is only for living persons and it ceases at death, there is no such thing as a POA after someone dies, therefore your grandmother cannot "sign it over" for someone else to handle. Your grandmother is her legal next of kin (assuming there is no husband or children of age), however that does not mean she has to take financial responsibility. If she claims her body and makes the funeral arrangements, she is financially liable, but no one can be forced to take responsibility for the deceased, unless they willingly do so. If the body is unclaimed, the county will cremate the body.

EDIT to asker:

Again, this is left to the county or state to handle in terms of "government", and all they are going to do is perform a basic cremation, nothing else. That is the cheapest route and the least burden on the taxpayers, therefore the truly poor that cannot afford to bury their own are cremated at the expense of the county you live in. There is no other answer, there is no other options or help available.

How sad and stressful. We all try to promise our loved ones things to make them happier before they die. However sometimes we can't stand by that promise. Cremation is a logical way to dispose of her body. She will be in heaven and will never know. The funeral home can suggest a cardboard casket for the body to be transferred to the crematorium. You won't need a wooden casket. No imbalming is needed either. Your grandmother might be able to take care of the costs for about $800. A payment plan may be an option. What happens to the children?

Funeral costs usually come from the deceased persons estate, take the death certificate to the bank along with account verification papers

money will be released for the funeral costs or a cheque can be made directly to the funeral home if you can provide a bill of costs but no other funds will be until the will is read.

I don't want to sound like I'm making fun of your situation but I'm not. (I'm hoping my daughter will do this for me when the time comes, except for the plastination, I want to go to "the body farm",I don't want preservation).Has your family considered donating the body, once she passes, for harvesting( removal of usable organs). and then whats left to medical science/ forensics? From what I have heard, there are many medical and scientific organizations looking for legally donated bodies to use in research or to plastinate for use in exhibits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastination

( Damn, I sound like a ghoul) Just some ideas.

Why don't you send her some money?