Below are some of the reasons why a person might ask that their remains be cremated when they die.
The cemetery in which they wanted their remains to be placed is getting overcrowded
More and more cemeteries nowadays have reached or are close to reaching their maximum capacity. As such, if a person wants to be buried in a particular cemetery (because, for example, their deceased family are buried there or because it is in their favourite part of their town), but the cemetery in question is on the verge of becoming overcrowded, then they might ask the funeral home to arrange for their remains to be cremated.
If someone chooses cremation in this situation, they may be then able to have the ashes placed in one of their family member's existing graves in their preferred cemetery. The ashes could either be placed in the family member's casket, on top of it or, alternatively, kept in an urn at the graveside. This would allow the person to leave their remains in their chosen cemetery alongside their deceased relatives without taking up any additional space.
Even if they have no family members buried in the cemetery, they may be able to purchase a small plot via a funeral home and then bury their ashes in this plot. This would not only take up less room in the cemetery but would also be significantly cheaper than a normal burial plot.
They want to be able to divide up their remains
Cremations also enable people to have their remains divided up amongst their living family members. There are many instances in which this can be helpful. For example, if a person has several adult children who live in different countries, then they may decide to put in a request for cremation with their local funeral home when making the preparations for their passing. If they were to have their remains buried in a cemetery that was in a country that only one of their children lived in, then their other adult children who resided in other countries would not be able to visit it as often as that child would. This would be unfair and might lead to these other children becoming resentful.
To prevent their children from falling out with each other over this matter, the person might decide to be cremated when they die so that everyone in their family can have a portion of the ashes that they can do whatever they want with.
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