It’s not uncommon. Mike Hall, owner of Hall’s Funeral Homes, said you’ll find unclaimed cremated remains (“cremains”) in almost every funeral home across the state, and across the country. 

There are about 25 such cremains at the parlor in Boothbay. Some of them were inherited when Hall took over the local funeral services from Harold Simmons in 1991. 

The reasons ashes go unclaimed can vary; the cost of services, personal conflicts, or lack of living relatives. For Hall, the answer lies in the breakdown of the family unit.  

“I'm experiencing things that I have never experienced in my 30-plus-year career.” 

In the past year, Hall has had multiple cases of people declining to take responsibility for family remains. This is significant because these were people the deceased had named in their will to carry out arrangements. Cases like this can also be exacerbated due to the region’s status as a tourist destination and retirement hotspot, with out-of-state relatives either being hard to contact or not interested in taking up the task.  

“There's a lot of abandonment happening, and it's not going to get better.” 

Since 2009, Maine law requires funeral homes to hold ashes for at least one year after cremation. They also must notify the family at their last known contact 60 days before disposal. Before then, funeral homes had to keep cremains for four years.  

Hall has chosen to keep ashes long past what is required by law, partly to keep in line with the work of his predecessors. Now, it's time to find a solution. “We've done our due diligence.” 

He hopes to work with Boothbay Region Cemetery District to create a common grave site in Boothbay’s Evergreen Cemetery for the burial of unclaimed remains rather than ash scattering. This would allow for urns to be moved and reburied if a relative does come forward in the future.

As for people worried about their final wishes being carried out, Hall recommends listing back-up people in the will or appointing an attorney.