The FTC Funeral Rule: your rights when arranging a funeral

Prices by phone, the general price list, casket and vault price lists, buying only what you want, embalming, cremation without a casket, the itemized statement and cash advances.

The Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule (16 CFR Part 453) has protected families since 1984. It applies to every "funeral provider", meaning any business that sells or offers to sell both funeral goods and funeral services to the public, which includes funeral homes and crematories that sell funeral goods. Its central idea is simple: you are entitled to clear prices and may buy only what you want. Here is what the rule requires, in its own words where it matters.

Prices over the phone

If you call and ask about offerings or prices, the provider must "tell persons who ask by telephone about the funeral provider's offerings or prices any accurate information from the price lists" and any other readily available information that reasonably answers the question (§ 453.2(b)(1)). You don't have to visit to compare. Calling three or four providers and asking for the price of the same arrangement, such as a direct cremation or an immediate burial, is the fastest way to see how much prices vary.

The general price list

When you meet in person and begin discussing prices, the overall type of funeral or disposition, or specific goods or services, the provider must give you a printed general price list that you may keep (§ 453.2(b)(4)). This applies whether the discussion happens at the funeral home or elsewhere. The list must show the provider's name, address and phone number, the caption "general price list" and an effective date, and must give the price of each of these items it offers:

• forwarding remains to, and receiving remains from, another funeral home;
• direct cremation (a price range, a price if you provide the container, and a price for each option with an alternative container);
• immediate burial (a price range, a price if you provide the casket, and each option the provider offers);
• transfer of remains to the funeral home, embalming and other preparation of the body;
• use of facilities and staff for a viewing, a funeral ceremony, a memorial service and a graveside service;
• hearse and limousine;
• casket and outer burial container price ranges, or individual prices; and
• the fee for the "basic services of funeral director and staff".

The basic services fee is the only fee for services, facilities or overhead that the rule allows to be non-declinable (§ 453.2(b)(4)(iv)). Everything else on the list is optional unless a law or a cemetery or crematory requirement makes it necessary, and then the provider must explain that requirement in writing.

Casket and outer burial container price lists

Before showing you caskets, the provider must offer a casket price list with the retail price of every casket and alternative container it offers that doesn't need special ordering (§ 453.2(b)(2)). The same applies to vaults and grave liners: an outer burial container price list must be offered before you are shown them (§ 453.2(b)(3)). That list must say: "In most areas of the country, state or local law does not require that you buy a container to surround the casket in the grave. However, many cemeteries require that you have such a container so that the grave will not sink in. Either a grave liner or a burial vault will satisfy these requirements."

Buy only what you want

The rule makes it an unfair practice to condition any funeral good or service on buying another, except as required by law (§ 453.4(b)). The general price list must tell you: "You may choose only the items you desire." In practice:

• You may buy a casket or urn elsewhere, including online. A funeral provider may not charge a fee as a condition of using it, beyond the fees the rule allows (§ 453.4(b)(1)(ii)); California law separately bans casket handling fees (Bus. & Prof. Code 7685.1(b)).
• You can choose a direct cremation or an immediate burial without a viewing or ceremony.
• A provider may not claim that law or a cemetery requires something when it doesn't (§ 453.3(d)).

Embalming

A provider may not charge for embalming unless state or local law requires it in the circumstances, a family member or other authorized person approved it beforehand, or, after diligent attempts, no one could be reached and approval was obtained afterward (§ 453.5). The general price list must say that "except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law", and a provider may not claim embalming is required for direct cremation, immediate burial, or a closed-casket funeral without viewing when refrigeration is available and local law doesn't require it (§ 453.3(a)).

Cremation without a casket

It is an unfair practice for a funeral provider or crematory "to require that a casket be purchased for direct cremation", and providers that arrange direct cremations must make an alternative container available (§ 453.4(a)). Alternative containers can be made of fiberboard or composition materials.

The itemized statement

At the end of the arrangements conference, you must receive an itemized written statement listing each good and service selected and its price, itemized cash advance items, and the total (§ 453.2(b)(5)). Cash advance items are things the provider buys on your behalf, such as flowers, obituary notices, clergy honoraria or cemetery charges. If the provider marks them up or receives a rebate or commission, the statement must say "We charge you for our services in obtaining" those items (§ 453.3(f)). If any legal, cemetery or crematory requirement is said to compel a purchase, it must be described on this statement.

No false claims about protection

A provider may not represent that goods or services will delay natural decomposition for a long or indefinite time, or that a casket or vault will protect the body from gravesite substances when that isn't so (§ 453.3(e)).

Using these rights

Take a friend who isn't grieving to the arrangements meeting, ask for the general price list at the start, and compare the itemized statement with it before signing. Providers must keep copies of price lists for at least a year after last use and of each itemized statement for a year after the conference (§ 453.6). The full text is on eCFR, and the FTC explains it for consumers in Shopping for Funeral Services.

Updated 2026-10-16.

General information only, current as of the date above. The information on Funeral Home License Check is not a recommendation or a guarantee of anyone's work. A license record shows registration status on the date shown, not workmanship, insurance coverage at the time of your job, or suitability for your project. Confirm license, insurance and permits directly before you hire. Rules and programs change; check the official sources linked in this guide.