Cemeteries Cemetery costs can easily make up one-third of traditional funeral expenses. Although cemeteries are not covered under the FTC funeral rule, as with funeral homes, you can learn something about various options and prices by comparison shopping. Cemeteries include traditional graves with markers and monuments and sometimes have mausoleum space for above-ground interment. Memorial parks or gardens are cemeteries without tombstones, using ground-level memorials or landscaping. They may include crematories, mausoleums, chapels and columariums.
Prices are generally higher in and near large cities than in outlying areas.
Spaces within a cemetery may vary in price depending on their location on the grounds. An allowance for the grave's care fund may be included in the purchase price, or it may be an added fee, depending on the type of cemetery. There may be substantial additional charges for late hour, weekend or holiday burials, laying granite or concrete foundations for markers and monuments. Outer burial containers Burial vaults, boxes and grave liners are metal, fiber glass, or cement containers that line the grave and hold the coffin. Outer burial containers are not required by state or federal law, but most cemeteries require them to prevent the ground from settling over a grave, making cemetery maintenance easier.