Federal Trade Commission | consumer.ftc.gov

Paying Final 

Respects

Your Rights When Buying 

Funeral Goods & Services

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When a loved one dies, grieving family members and friends often are confronted with dozens of 

decisions about the funeral — all of which must be made 

quickly.

What kind of funeral should it be? 

What funeral provider should you use? 

What are you legally required to buy? 

Should you bury or cremate the body, or donate it to 

science? 

What are the choices for a green funeral and burial? 

What other arrangements should you plan? 

How much is it all going to cost?

Each year, people grapple with these and many other 

questions as they spend billions of dollars arranging 

funerals for family members and friends.

Many funeral providers offer various “packages” of goods 

and services. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the 

nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know 

that when you arrange for a funeral, you have the right 

to buy goods and services separately. You do not have to 

accept a package that includes items you do not want.

Making Arrangements

The FTC enforces the Funeral Rule, which makes it 

possible for you to choose only the goods and services you 

want or need and pay only for those you select, whether 
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you are making arrangements when a death occurs or 

pre-need. The Rule allows you to compare prices among 

funeral homes. 

In brief, the Funeral Rule gives you the right to:

● buy only the funeral goods and services you 

want. You have the right to buy separate goods, 

like caskets, and separate services, like embalming 

or a memorial service. You don’t have to accept a 

package with items you don’t want.

● get price information by telephone. Funeral 

directors must give you price information on the 

telephone if you ask for it. You don’t have to give 

them your name, address or telephone number first. 

Many funeral homes mail their price lists, although 

they aren’t required to; some post them online.

● get a written itemized price list when you visit 

a funeral home. The funeral home must give you 

a General Price List (GPL) to keep. It must list 

16 specific items and services, but it may include 

others, as well. 

● see a written price list for caskets before you see 

the actual caskets. Sometimes, detailed casket price 

information is included on the funeral home’s GPL. 

More often, though, it’s provided on a separate 

casket price list. Get the price information before 

you see the caskets, so you can ask about lowerpriced products that may not be on display.

● see a written price list for outer burial containers. 

Outer burial containers surround a casket in a grave. 

They are not required by any state law, but many 
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cemeteries require them to prevent a grave from 

caving in. If the funeral home sells containers, but 

doesn’t list the prices on the GPL, you have the 

right to look at a separate price list for containers 

before you see them. Look for a range of prices.

● receive a written statement after you decide 

what you want, and before you pay. It should 

show exactly what you are buying and the cost 

of each item. The funeral home must give you an 

itemized statement and the total cost immediately 

after you make the arrangements. The statement 

has to identify and describe any legal, cemetery or 

crematory requirements that require you to pay for 

any particular goods or services.

● use an “alternative container” instead of a 

casket for cremation. No state or local law 

requires the use of a casket for cremation. A 

funeral home that offers cremations must tell you 

that alternative containers are available, and must 

make them available. The containers might be made 

of unfinished wood, pressed wood, fiberboard or 

cardboard.

● provide the funeral home with a casket or urn 

you purchase elsewhere. The funeral provider 

cannot refuse to use a casket or urn you bought 

online, at a local store or 

somewhere else, and it can’t 

charge you a fee to use it. The 

funeral home cannot require 

you to be on site when the 

casket or urn is delivered to 

them.
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● make funeral arrangements without embalming. 

No state law requires routine embalming for 

every death. Some states require embalming or 

refrigeration if the body is not buried or cremated 

within a certain time; some states don’t require 

those services at all. In most cases, refrigeration 

is an acceptable alternative. Services like direct 

cremation and immediate burial don’t require any 

form of preservation. Many funeral homes have 

a policy requiring embalming if the body is to be 

publicly viewed, but this is not required by law in 

most states. Ask if the funeral home offers private 

family viewing without embalming. If some form of 

preservation is a practical necessity, ask the funeral 

home whether refrigeration is available.

Considering Costs

Typically, the most expensive items in a full-service 

funeral are the casket and the funeral home’s fee for the 

basic services of the funeral director and staff. Compare 

prices before you decide on a casket and funeral home; 

you may find wide variation in pricing. For example, 

you may want to look at lower-priced caskets and outer 

burial containers offered by local providers or online 

retailers. The advertisements for some caskets or outer 

burial containers may claim the products will delay 

decomposition of human remains for a long time. But no 

casket or container, regardless of cost, can do that, and 

the Funeral Rule prohibits any claims that it can.

If you don’t have a viewing, you can avoid charges for 

embalming, “other preparation of the body,” and for 

the viewing. If the funeral home you choose requires 
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embalming, it must explain the reason for the requirement 

in the written statement it gives you immediately after you 

make the funeral arrangements.

Immediate burial and direct cremation usually are the least 

expensive arrangements. If you choose direct cremation, 

ask if the price includes a crematory fee. If you want 

other services, including the use of staff and facilities 

for a memorial service, the funeral home may charge an 

additional fee.

Veterans, their immediate family members, some Public 

Health Service workers, and some civilians who provide 

military-related service are entitled to free burial in a 

national cemetery with a grave marker. The family still is 

responsible for all funeral home expenses, like the funeral 

ceremony or memorial service, and transportation to the 

cemetery. Many states also have low-cost cemeteries for 

veterans.

In most states, you don’t have to use a funeral home to 

conduct a funeral. It may be done by a religious or other 

organization, or by the family. You may want to consider 

a “green burial” without embalming, a metal casket or 

grave liner. 

Pre-need Arrangements

Many people say that meetings with a lawyer about 

preparing or updating their will, living will or powers of 

attorney (including a durable power of attorney for health 

care) — or conversations with a financial advisor about 

investment strategies for retirement — prompt them to 

think about making funeral arrangements pre-need. 
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Planning your own funeral arrangements is one way 

to ease the burden on your family. You can shop and 

compare goods and services without time constraints, 

and make your own decisions. As you shop, consider the 

answers to these questions:

● What are you paying for? Are you buying only 

merchandise, like a casket or vault, or funeral 

services as well?

● What happens to the money you paid? States have 

different requirements for handling funds paid in 

advance for funeral services.

● What happens to the interest income on money you 

prepay?

● Are you protected if the firm you dealt with goes out 

of business?

● Can you cancel the contract and get a full refund 

if you change your mind about the items you’ve 

bought or the arrangements you’ve made?

● What happens if you move or die while away from 

home?

Attorneys, financial consultants and the following 

organizations can be good sources of information about 

planning funerals.

AARP

601 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20049

Toll-Free: 1-888-687-2277

www.aarp.org
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Council of Better Business Bureaus

3033 Wilson Blvd. Suite 600

Arlington, VA 22201

1-703-276-0100

www.bbb.org/us/

Cremation Association of North America

499 Northgate Parkway

Wheeling, IL 60090-2646

1-312-245-1077

www.cremationassociation.org

Funeral Consumers Alliance

33 Patchen Road

South Burlington, VT 05403

1-802-865-8300

www.funerals.org

Funeral Ethics Organization

87 Upper Access Road

Hinesburg, VT 05461

1-802-482-6021

www.funeralethics.org

Green Burial Council

1601 North Sepulveda, Suite 152

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Toll-Free: 1-888-966-3330

www.greenburialcouncil.org

International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral 

Association

107 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100

Sterling, VA 20164

Toll-Free: 1-800-645-7700

www.iccfa.com
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Jewish Funeral Directors of America

107 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100

Sterling, VA 20164

Toll-Free: 1-888-477-5567

www.jfda.org

National Funeral Directors and Morticians 

Association

6290 Shannon Parkway

Union City, GA 30291

Toll free: 1-800-434-0958 or 1-770-969-0064

www.nfdma.com

National Funeral Directors Association

13625 Bishop’s Drive

Brookfield, WI 53005

Toll-Free: 1-800-228-6332

www.nfda.org

Order of the Golden Rule

3520 Executive Center Drive, Suite 300

Austin, TX 79731

Toll-Free: 1-800-637-8030

www.ogr.org

Selected Independent Funeral Homes

500 Lake Cook Road, Suite 205

Deerfield, IL 60015

Toll-Free: 1-800-323-4219

www.selectedfuneralhomes.org
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Solving Problems

If you have a problem concerning funeral matters, it’s 

best to try to resolve it first with the funeral director. If 

you are dissatisfied with the funeral services you receive, 

the Funeral Consumers Alliance offers advice on how 

to resolve a problem. You also can contact your state or 

local consumer protection agencies. Check your telephone 

directory for phone numbers or visit www.naag.org for a 

list of state Attorneys General.

In addition, you can file a complaint with the FTC. 

The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and 

unfair business practices in the marketplace and to 

provide information to help consumers spot, stop and 

avoid them. To file a complaint or get free information 

on consumer issues, visit consumer.ftc.gov or call 

toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 

1-866-653-4261.

Watch a video, How to File a Complaint, at 

consumer.ftc.gov/media to learn more. The FTC 

enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel 

Network, a secure online database and investigative tool 

used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement 

agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

For More Information

Go to ftc.gov/funerals for more information and fact 

sheets to read, print or email. The website has detailed 

information including a price checklist, a glossary of 

terms and a description of services to help you plan and 

shop for arrangements.
Federal Trade Commission

consumer.ftc.gov

July 2013