Funeral Services

Everyone deserves a dignified funeral. We will assist your family in planning a funeral and choosing the options that suit your families needs and your loved ones wishes.

We are able to assist you in holding services in a wide variety of areas. From our chapel, your church, or at the cemetery, we are able to prepare a meaningful service to honor your loved one. We will listen to your family and help to arrange a celebration of your loved one's life through whatever means you choose.

In addition to funeral services our staff also provides the following services.

Online Memorials

We can set up an online memorial for your loved one. Our online memorials provide information for guests about the funeral services and also provide a tribute to your loved one. Guest will be able to gain information about dates, times and locations of funeral services. Guests will also be able to order flowers, make donations and sign a guest book through the memorial. The family will have access to the memorial to add photos to create a photo gallery for their loved one. By providing information to guests about services our online memorials help lessen the load on a family during a difficult time. The memorials also serve to pay tribute to your family's loved one.

Obituaries

We will prepare an obituary to be published for your loved one. Most newspapers require the obituary to be submitted by a funeral home. We take care of those deatils for you and have a directory of newspapers throughout the united states. Most papers now charge a fee to publish an obituary.We will secure an estimate or an exact amount for you.

Veteran's Benefits

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) purpose is to administer the laws providing benefits and other services to veterans and their dependents and to the beneficiaries of veterans.

Information about a Veteran's Burial and Memorial benefits can be found at the Department of Veterans Affairs' web site: http://www.va.gov/. To ensure the most accurate information, Williams Funeral Home suggests you call or visit your regional Veterans Affairs Office. To reach the regional Veterans Affairs Office in your area, call 1-800-827-1000.

VA National Cemetery Administration

The Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration's web site: http://www.cem.va.gov/, designed to assist you with information on VA's national cemeteries and other burial benefits. The Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration honors the military service of our Nation's veterans. The Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration provide a dignified burial and lasting memorial for veterans and their eligible family members and they maintain their veterans' cemeteries as national shrines.

All veterans are entitled to a free burial in a national cemetery and a grave marker. This eligibility also extends to some civilians who have provided military-related service and some Public Health Service personnel. Spouses and dependent children also are entitled to a lot and marker when buried in a national cemetery. There are no charges for opening or closing the grave, for a vault or liner, or for setting the marker in a national cemetery. The family generally is responsible for other expenses, including transportation to the cemetery.

To ensure the most accurate information, Williams Funeral Home suggests you call or visit your regional Veterans Affairs Office or visit the Department of Veterans Affairs' website at http://www.cem.va.gov/. To reach the regional Veterans Affairs Office in your area, call 1-800-827-1000.

Military Grave Rites

Local Military Graveside Rites are led by the arm of service that the veteran served.Services include Honor Guard, playing of Taps, folding of flag, and formal presentation of flag.

Additional information on Military Funeral Honors benefits and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at the Department of Defense Military Funeral Honors web site: http://www.militaryfuneralhonors.osd.mil/. The web site contains up-to-date information and direct links to other related web sites.

Social Security

We will notify the Social Security Administration of the death. We will explain and help you apply for any benefits you may be entitled to through Social Security. http://www.ssa.gov/

Death Certificates

Certified copies of the death certificate are legal documents issued through County and Health Department offices located throughout the State and charged for by the State of Georgia.

Because they are legal documents, it is extremely important that you provide us with the correct information when we prepare the original certificate. Please note that photocopies without the raised seal from the issuing clerk's office are not accepted as legal documents.

After the original death certificate has been signed by the attending physician or medical examiner and completed by us, it is filed with the Probate Court in the County in which the death occured. Generally, it takes from 5 to 10 days for the official death certificate to be filed. Certified death certificates can then be issued.

 The statewide fee for certified copies of death certificates is $15 for the first and $5 for each additional copy.

  In Georgia, death certificates are not public records. By law, only immediate family members and other interested legal parties such as attorneys and funeral homes can obtain death certificates.

In order to assist you in ascertaining the number of certified copies needed, we have provided a worksheet listing some areas requiring this document:

Williams Funeral Home and Crematory
1670 N. Jefferson St.
Milledgeville, GA 31061
(478) 452-2148