Know your rights when purchasing funeral services

Funeral providers are allowed to charge a baseline fee that covers many of the basic services common to all funerals, no matter the arrangement.

They include:

• General funeral coordination and planning
• Obtaining required permits and copies of the Death Certificate
• Drafting and posting required notices
• Housing the deceased's remains
• Coordinating with the cemetery, crematory, or other third parties for final arrangements

The fee does not include additional charges for optional services or products such as:

• Embalming and other optional preparations
• Use of facilities and staff for a viewing, funeral, or memorial services
• Post-funeral memorial services
• Cemetery fees (plot, services, burial vault)
• A graveside service (equipment, staff, and products)
• Gravestone (also known as a headstone or monument)
• Cremation services
• Caskets, alternative burial container, or urns
• Transportation of the deceased's remains
• Use of hearse or limousine for the deceased and the surviving family
• Flowers or paper stationery
• Obituary notices
• An officiating clergy
• Musicians

Good to Know Sometimes a funeral home will ask for a cash advance for the products and services it purchases from outside vendors on your behalf.

The Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to disclose if they are charging an extra fee, or markup, on the cost of these goods.

They are also required to tell you if there are refunds, discounts, or rebates from any supplier paid with this cash advance.

You are not obligated to use a funeral home in all but nine states (Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York legally require you to hire a funeral home and funeral director to manage final disposition of a deceased person).

Important Without a funeral director's supervision, you will be solely responsible for abiding by your state's laws for a do-it-yourself (DIY) funeral. This can be challenging because each state has their own laws about final disposition.

These laws include, but are not limited to:

• Body transportation
• Official paperwork submissions and requests
• Burial location zoning restrictions
• Permit requirements

For example, while most states allow for burial on private property outside large cities, each county has their own laws for where the burial may be allowed.

Good to Know Home burial is not lawfully allowed in California, Indiana, and Washington state, and no state allows for a DIY cremation; this always needs to be done by a licensed professional.

Furthermore, some states forbid anyone but a funeral director from requesting official paperwork like a death certificate from local government agencies.

Providers If you are interested in managing the deceased's final disposition yourself without professional support, it's best to speak with an attorney and/or state and local government to ensure that no laws are broken. See the links below for attorneys near you.

Death and funerals are such esoteric subjects that not knowing much about them makes sense.

As a result, it's easy to believe common myths that have developed over time. However, they can be harmful for a person navigating the process.

Here a few of the more common ones to be on the lookout for:

You must hire a funeral home

• Not true
• In most states you can legally care for the deceased's body at home for several days, and call a funeral home or crematory when ready
• And in 41 states you can manage the full end-of-life process yourself, including final disposition
• In this case, you will need to familiarize yourself with your state's laws

Embalming is required by law

• Not true
• In most states, it’s not required at all, under any circumstances
• If there's a delay before final disposition, then refrigeration can be used instead
• A funeral director must inform you when embalming is not required
• Funeral directors will insist on embalming if an open-casket viewing is requested, but only for aesthetic reasons
• The only other circumstance where it's legally required is if the body is going to be crossing certain state lines (though this can be contested due to religious reasons)

Embalming helps to protects your health

• Not true
• In fact, the chemicals used for embalming are often toxic and can create a health hazard themselves

Embalming helps prevent decomposition

• Not true
• The embalming used by funeral homes will only be effective for a week
• No matter what, a deceased person's body will decompose

Reinforced caskets protect body decomposition

• Not true
• More expensive, "protective" caskets may help keep the elements out for some time, but they do not last for very long
• Decomposition of the body is a certainty

Burial vaults are required by law

• Not true
• But most cemeteries require them to prevent the grave from sinking in after decomposition of the body and casket
• Burial vaults are also not required for cremated remains

Cremated remains must be placed in an urn or buried in a cemetery

• Not true
• You can use whatever container you want to hold cremated remains

Whether or not embalming is required depends on the location of the deceased and other specific factors. Avoiding this service can save you hundreds of dollars.

Important No state requires embalming for all deaths, but some states have specific circumstances for when embalming is required. Check your state and local laws to determine whether embalming is required.

Embalming is required when a body will be transported out of Alabama.

Embalming is required if the body is shipped by common carrier out of Minnesota, Nebraska, and New Jersey.

Several other states require either embalming or a sealed casket if the body is shipped by common carrier. However, this is rarely enforced and funeral homes in those states will routinely ship unembalmed bodies (for Jewish clients, for example).

If the body is being transported by a common carrier, they will likely require embalming. Transportation of non-cremated remains across state lines generally requires embalming as well.

Though it is never a legal requirement for viewing a body, most funeral homes will insist on embalming if an open-casket viewing or funeral is planned.

Direct cremation and immediate burial do not require any preservation whatsoever, and in other cases, refrigeration may be a viable alternative.

Good to Know The FTC Funeral Rule prohibits funeral homes from telling consumers that state or local law requires embalming unless that is true. The funeral director must inform you that embalming is not required except in certain special cases.

To report a violation of your rights or other unfair business practices, you can file a complaint with your state's Funeral Board or your state's Attorney General.

You can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission through their online Complaint Assistant or by calling the FTC's helpline.