Your rights when buying funeral services

Prices over the phone

If you call and ask about prices or offerings, the funeral home must give you that information from its price lists. You do not have to give your name, visit in person, or explain your situation first. (16 CFR 453.2(b)(1))

The itemized price list they must hand you

When you visit and begin discussing arrangements, the funeral home must give you a printed, itemized general price list before showing you anything or discussing specific choices. It is yours to keep, and you do not have to ask; they must offer it. When you are looking at caskets or outer burial containers, separate price lists for those must be available before you are shown the merchandise. (16 CFR 453.2(b)(2)-(4))

Packages versus buying items one at a time

Funeral homes usually sell packages: a bundle of goods and services at one combined price, the way cable companies bundle channels. Packages are legal, and one can be a fine choice if everything in it is something you wanted anyway.

What the rule protects is your right to say no to the bundle. You can go down the price list and pick items one at a time, like ordering from a menu, and skip anything you do not want. A funeral home cannot refuse to sell you a casket unless you also take the flowers, or tell you an item is only available inside a package. The one charge everyone pays no matter what is a single fee called the basic services fee, which covers the funeral director's time and paperwork.

The practical move: add up the prices of only the items you want. If that total is less than the package price, buy the items individually. The funeral home must let you. (16 CFR 453.4(b))

The right to decline what you do not want

• Embalming is usually optional. No state requires embalming in most ordinary circumstances, and a funeral home may not tell you it is legally required when it is not. If a choice you make (such as a public viewing after several days) makes it a practical requirement, that must be explained in writing rather than presented as automatic. (16 CFR 453.3(a))
• Direct cremation needs no casket. The funeral home must offer an unfinished wood box or alternative container and say so on its price list. (16 CFR 453.4(a), 453.3(b))
• You may buy the casket or urn anywhere, with no penalty. The funeral home must accept a casket or urn you bought elsewhere, may not charge a handling fee for it, and may not require you to be present when it is delivered. (16 CFR 453.4(b))

The written statement before you pay

After you make your choices, the funeral home must give you an itemized written statement showing each item you selected, its price, and the total, before you pay. It must also disclose any fees required by law or by the cemetery or crematory, described as such. If a line does not match what you chose, ask before signing. (16 CFR 453.2(b)(5))

If the rule is not followed

Report the funeral home to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and to your state's funeral or mortuary licensing board, which you can find by searching your state name plus "funeral board license lookup." Keeping the price lists and the written statement you were given helps.