Professional background
Ian Nelms has worked in the funeral and cemetery profession since 1991, starting in Beaumont, Texas. Over more than three decades, his experience has included operations, acquisitions, preneed development, crematory management, and multi-location funeral and cemetery leadership.
His current work spans business strategy, digital transformation, marketing and AI. He is the founder of Memorial Flight Systems.
These guides draw on his professional background to help readers understand the practical steps involved when someone dies away from home. They are general education, not a substitute for advice from a funeral provider or for the terms of a specific insurance policy or membership.
Travel assurance guides by Ian Nelms
Explore the six guides on returning home after a death away from home, including costs, documents and coverage questions.
- Repatriation of Human Remains: Costs, Requirements and How It Works
A practical guide to bringing a loved one home after a death away from home: the decisions, documents, transport options, costs and people who can help.
- On-the-Go Protection for Travelers, Snowbirds and Frequent Travelers
A return-home plan for people whose lives take them beyond one address, from seasonal stays and RV trips to regular flights and work travel.
- What Happens If Someone Dies While Traveling Away From Home?
A calm, step-by-step look at who gets involved, what paperwork follows, and the decisions a family faces when a death happens on a trip, at a seasonal home or while visiting relatives.
- How Much Does It Cost to Transport a Body to Another State?
What goes into the price of moving a loved one across state lines, how to compare quotes, and why cremation before transport changes the math.
- What Happens If a U.S. Citizen Dies Abroad?
What the U.S. embassy can and cannot do, the documents involved in repatriation, and the decisions a family must make from thousands of miles away.
- Does Travel Insurance Cover Repatriation of Remains?
How to read a travel policy for repatriation benefits, where the gaps usually are, and why medical evacuation is a different benefit.
- Travel Assurance vs. Travel Insurance: What Is the Difference?
Compare a repatriation membership, trip-based travel insurance and medical evacuation coverage—and see how each addresses a different part of traveling away from home.