How to plan for a proper funeral arrangement:
Most states have a licensing board that regulates the funeral industry. You may contact the board in your state for information or help. If you want additional information about making funeral arrangements and the options available, you may want to contact interested business, professional and consumer groups. Some of the biggest are:
AARP Fulfillment
601 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20049
1-800-424-3410
www.aarp.org
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping older Americans achieve lives of independence, dignity and purpose. Its publications, Funeral Goods and Services and Pre-Paying for Your Funeral, are available free by writing to the above address. This and other funeral-related information is posted on the AARP website.
Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.
4200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 800
Arlington, VA 22203-1838
www.bbb.org
Better Business Bureaus are private, nonprofit organizations that promote ethical business standards and voluntary self-regulation of business practices.
Funeral Consumers Alliance
33 Patchen Road
South Burlington, VT 05403
1-800-765-0107
www.funerals.org
FCA, a nonprofit, educational organization that supports increased funeral consumer protection, is affiliated with the Funeral and Memorial Society of America (FAMSA).
Cremation Association of North America
401 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 644-6610
www.cremationassociation.org
CANA is an association of crematories, cemeteries and funeral homes that offer cremation.
International Cemetery and Funeral Association
1895 Preston White Drive, Suite 220
Reston, VA 20191 1-800-645-7700
www.icfa.org
ICFA is a nonprofit association of cemeteries, funeral homes, crematories and monument retailers that offers informal mediation of consumer complaints through its Cemetery Consumer Service Council. Its website provides information and advice under “Consumer Resources.”
International Order of the Golden Rule
13523 Lakefront Drive
St. Louis, MO 63045
1-800-637-8030
www.ogr.org
OGR is an international association of about 1,300 independent funeral homes.
Jewish Funeral Directors of America Seaport Landing
150 Lynnway, Suite 506
Lynn, MA 01902
(781) 477-9300
www.jfda.org
JFDA is an international association of funeral homes serving the Jewish community.
National Funeral Directors Association
13625 Bishop’s Drive
Brookfield, WI 53005
1-800-228-6332
www.nfda.org/resources
NFDA is the largest educational and professional association of funeral directors.
National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association
3951 Snapfinger Parkway, Suite 570
Decatur, GA 30035
1-800-434-0958
www.nfdma.com
NFDMA is a national association primarily of African-American funeral providers.
Selected Independent Funeral Homes
500 Lake Cook Road, Suite 205
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
1-800-323-4219
www.selectedfuneralhomes.org
Selected Independent Funeral Homes is an international association of funeral firms that have agreed to comply with its Code of Good Funeral Practice. Consumers may request a variety of publications through the association’s affiliate, Selected Resources, Inc.
Funeral Service Consumer Assistance Program
PO Box 486
Elm Grove, WI 53122-0486
1-800-662-7666
FSCAP is a nonprofit consumer service designed to help people understand funeral service and related topics and to help them resolve funeral service concerns. FSCAP service representatives and an intervener assist consumers in identifying needs, addressing complaints and resolving problems. Free brochures on funeral related topics are available.
Funeral Service Educational Foundation
13625 Bishop’s Drive
Brookfield, WI 53005
1-877-402-5900
FSEF is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing professionalism in funeral service and to enhancing public knowledge and understanding through education and research.
Funeral Costs
Funeral costs include:
1. Basic services fee for the funeral director and staff
The Funeral Rule allows funeral providers to charge a basic services fee that customers cannot decline to pay. The basic services fee includes services that are common to all funerals, regardless of the specific arrangement. These include funeral planning, securing the necessary permits and copies of death certificates, preparing the notices, sheltering the remains, and coordinating the arrangements with the cemetery, crematory or other third parties. The fee does not include charges for optional services or merchandise.
2. Charges for other services and merchandise
These are costs for optional goods and services such as transporting the remains; embalming and other preparation; use of the funeral home for the viewing, ceremony or memorial service; use of equipment and staff for a graveside service; use of a hearse or limousine; a casket, outer burial container or alternate container; and cremation or interment.
3. Cash advances
These are fees charged by the funeral home for goods and services it buys from outside vendors on your behalf, including flowers, obituary notices, pallbearers, officiating clergy, and organists and soloists. Some funeral providers charge you their cost for the items they buy on your behalf. Others add a service fee to their cost. The Funeral Rule requires those who charge an extra fee to disclose that fact in writing, although it doesn’t require them to specify the amount of their markup. The Rule also requires funeral providers to tell you if there are refunds, discounts or rebates from the supplier on any cash advance item.
Calculating the Actual Cost
The funeral provider must give you an itemized statement of the total cost of the funeral goods and services you have selected when you are making the arrangements. If the funeral provider doesn’t know the cost of the cash advance items at the time, he or she is required to give you a written “good faith estimate.” This statement also must disclose any legal, cemetery or crematory requirements that you purchase any specific funeral goods or services.
The Funeral Rule does not require any specific format for this information. Funeral providers may include it in any document they give you at the end of your discussion about funeral arrangements.
Here is a list of common arrangements and questions you should ask before finalizing a funeral:
“Simple” disposition of the remains:
Immediate burial?
Immediate cremation?
If the cremation process is extra, how much is it?
Donation of the body to a medical school or hospital?
“Traditional,” full-service burial or cremation?
Basic services fee for the funeral director and staff : How much for each?
Pickup of body
Embalming
Other preparation of body
Least expensive casket
Description, including model #
Outer Burial Container (vault)
Description:
Visitation/viewing — staff and facilities
Funeral or memorial service — staff and facilities
Graveside service, including staff and equipment
Hearse
Other vehicles
Other Services possibly to add:
Forwarding body to another funeral home
Receiving body from another funeral home
Cost of lot or crypt (if you don’t already own one)
Perpetual care
Opening and closing the grave or crypt
Grave liner, if required
Marker/monument (including setup)
Open directory project – sites that might be of interest to you as well.