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The federal Funeral Rule, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), regulates the funeral industry and mandates that funeral homes provide consumers with certain information regarding the options they offer and the cost of those options. The Funeral Rule is intended to help consumers make funeral arrangements and to protect them from funeral scams.
According to the Funeral Rule, funeral homes are required to provide you with itemized funeral cost information in person or over the telephone if you request it. You're also entitled to written information about your legal rights and about what your state does and doesn't require for a burial or a cremation. For example, most states do not require embalming; however many funeral homes require it if a viewing is planned.
If you visit a funeral home in person, an employee should give you printed cost information for all of the following:
- Basic services fee (for the services common to all funerals regardless of the type)
- Transfer of remains to the funeral site
- Preparation for embalming
- Use of ceremonial or viewing facility and cost of staff
 | If you intend to have a cremation and want a visitation and funeral, ask the funeral home if it has caskets to rent. |
- Vaults, liners, and other burial containers
- Music, flowers, and guest books
- Direct cremation and immediate burial
- Cash advances (fees charged by a funeral home for purchasing outside goods and services on your behalf, such as flowers, obituaries, organist, and so on)
Although a funeral home is required to let you know if it will mark up the cost of any of the outside goods and services it purchases for you, the Funeral Rule doesn't require it to tell you how much the mark up will be.
 | The federal Funeral Rule doesn't apply to mausoleums or cemeteries unless they sell funeral goods as well as funeral services. |
Here are other key points to remember as you plan a funeral:
- If you're not sure how much something costs, ask. If the funeral home can't give you an exact price, it should still provide you with a good-faith estimate.
- Never, ever buy a funeral-related item or service over the telephone. Get it in writing! Steer clear of funeral homes that require you to buy certain packages of services not required by your state's laws.
- All states restrict the location of burial sites, so you're probably barred from burying your spouse under his or her favorite tree in the backyard!
Knowing your rights when arranging a funeral
Funerals can definitely be difficult affairs. Here are a few points to keep in mind if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to plan one:
- A funeral home cannot withhold information about the prices of its goods or services.
- You should be informed in writing of any special fees or upfront money you may have to pay.
- If you opt for direct cremation, the funeral home must make available to you an unfinished wood box or alternative container.
- After you've selected the items and services you want, the funeral home should give you a Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected, which lists the price of each item and your total cost.
- The funeral home cannot tell you that any type of embalming fluid, process, or type of casket can preserve a body forever. Nothing preserves a body forever.
- The funeral home cannot falsely claim that particular caskets can keep out water, dirt, or other materials.
- If the funeral home offers packages of commonly selected funeral-related goods and services, you have the right to purchase those goods and services individually.
- If your state requires that you purchase a specific good or service, that requirement must be disclosed on the funeral home's price list. The list must also reference the law that allows/mandates the funeral home to impose such a requirement.
- The funeral home cannot refuse to let you use a casket you purchased somewhere else or charge you a fee for letting you use it.
- A funeral home cannot provide embalming services without your upfront permission.
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