At-need family intake
Full first-call detail for your own families, including next of kin, authorizing party, and service intent, ready for the arrangement conference.
First Call Intake
Funeral home intake form software that opens the case
Your at-need first call and a trade cremation for another firm are not the same intake. Build a form for each, take them by phone, link, website, or answering service, and have every submission create a case instead of a row in a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
- Firms running at-need and trade work through the same office
- Crematories taking cases from other funeral homes
- Offices re-keying an answering service sheet every morning
- Anyone keeping a separate intake spreadsheet for state files
What it replaces
- A standalone forms tool that dumps into a spreadsheet
- A first call sheet emailed or texted, then retyped by hand
- Paper intake pads with different versions in every desk
- A parallel log kept only to satisfy state recordkeeping
How intake works
One intake layer with different form types behind it, so the questions match the kind of case and the answers land in the right place.
- 01
Choose the form type
At-need, trade, preneed, and pet each get their own form, with their own required fields, statuses, and document flow. A trade case asks for the referring firm and authorizing party. An at-need case asks for the family.
- 02
Take it any way the call comes in
Staff fill it on screen during the call, send a secure link to the family or the referring firm, embed it on your website, or let it be created from an answering service email or text.
- 03
Capture what the case actually needs
Place of death, coroner or medical examiner involvement, hospice, next of kin and authorizing party, disposition intent, and removal and transport dispatch details in one pass.
- 04
Open or update the case
Every submission creates a case or matches an existing one, so the file starts with the intake already in it and no one retypes anything the next morning.
- 05
Keep the record for the state
Submissions stay searchable and export to a spreadsheet or PDF with the fields your state file requires, so the log you keep by hand today builds itself.
What each form type handles
Same intake layer, different questions and different downstream flow.
Trade and referral intake
For cremations performed on behalf of another funeral home. Captures the referring firm, their case number, billing party, and authorization, and keeps trade work on its own status track.
Example A referring firm fills the trade form from a link and you get an authorized case, not an email to transcribe.
Preneed and pet intake
Separate forms for preneed inquiries and pet cases, each with its own required fields and its own documents.
Answering service handoff
When your answering service emails or texts a first call sheet, we read it into a draft case with the fields filled in. Staff review and confirm before anything is final.
AI-answered calls
If FuneralHQ answers the phone, the call fills the same intake form and opens the same case, with the recording and transcript attached for your team to check.
Removal and transport dispatch
Address, facility contact, access notes, weight and equipment needs, and who is assigned, so the removal team leaves with what they need.
Common questions
Can we have different forms for trade and at-need cases?
Yes. Each form type has its own fields, required questions, statuses, and document flow, and trade cases can be reported on separately from your own family cases.
Can the family or a referring firm fill the form themselves?
Yes. Send a secure link or embed the form on your website. Submissions come into a queue for staff to review before the case moves forward.
What happens to our answering service sheets?
Forward the email or text to your FuneralHQ address and we turn it into a draft case with the details already parsed. A staff member reviews and confirms it, so nothing enters the file unchecked.
Can we still export for state recordkeeping?
Yes. Every submission is stored and exportable to spreadsheet or PDF, so the log you keep for state files comes out of the system rather than being maintained on the side.
Can we change the fields ourselves?
Yes. Add, remove, reorder, and mark fields required per form type without waiting on us. Changes apply to new submissions and past ones stay as they were filed.
Does intake connect to the rest of the case?
It is the start of the case. Everything captured at intake carries into arrangements, documents, chain of custody, and billing without being entered twice.
See your intake forms rebuilt
Bring the intake sheets you use today and in 20 minutes we show them as live forms that open a case and export for your state file.