Planning ahead: who decides, preneed contracts and cemetery property
California's order of decision-makers, questions to ask about preneed arrangements, state protections, cemetery property, paying for a funeral and comparing providers.
Planning a funeral in advance, or deciding who makes decisions after a death, are conversations most families put off. A little preparation saves money and conflict. This guide covers who has the legal right to decide, what preneed arrangements are, and how to protect money paid in advance.
Who decides
Each state sets an order of priority for who controls the disposition of remains. In California, Health and Safety Code section 7100 gives the right, and the duty, first to an agent under a health-care power of attorney with that authority, then to the surviving spouse, then to the sole adult child or a majority of adult children, then to the parents, then to the sole adult sibling or a majority of adult siblings, then to the next degrees of kinship, then to a conservator and finally the public administrator. Anyone charged with murder or voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death loses the right while the charges are pending. Other states have similar lists, so check your own state's law.
If you have firm wishes, put them in writing and name an agent who has authority over disposition in your advance health-care directive or other document your state recognizes. Tell your family where the document is.
Preneed arrangements
A preneed arrangement is a contract, made before death, for funeral goods and services or cemetery property, often paid for in advance or by installments, sometimes funded by a trust or an insurance policy. The FTC Funeral Rule governs price disclosures but doesn't apply to the business of insurance (16 CFR 453.8(c)), and the rules for how preneed money is held are set by each state. Ask, in writing:
- Exactly which goods and services are covered, and whether the price is guaranteed or will change.
- Where the money is held: in a trust, in an insurance policy, or elsewhere, and what share of each payment goes into it.
- What happens if you move, change your mind, or the funeral home closes or is sold. Can you cancel, and what refund will you get?
- What happens to any surplus or shortfall at the time of death.
State protections
California requires the general price list to tell the person arranging a funeral that they are entitled, before any contract is drafted, to a copy of any preneed agreement the establishment holds that was signed and paid for by or on behalf of the deceased (Business and Professions Code 7685(a)(2)). The establishment must also disclose, on a separate form signed before the contract is drafted, whether it holds a preneed agreement for the deceased (7685.6). Virginia requires cemetery companies to keep preneed and perpetual care money protected, and lets its Cemetery Board ask a court for a receiver when trust funds are at risk (Va. Code 54.1-2313.1). Illinois regulates cemetery preneed sales under its own statutes.
Cemetery property and perpetual care
Buying a burial plot, crypt or niche gives you a right of burial, not ownership of land in the usual sense. Ask what the purchase price includes: the opening and closing of the grave, the vault or liner the cemetery requires, the marker and its installation, and endowment or perpetual care. In Virginia, a cemetery may not promise perpetual care without adequate provision for it, and every cemetery company must keep a perpetual care trust fund of at least $50,000 (54.1-2316). Many cemeteries require an outer burial container; the FTC rule requires funeral providers to tell you that state or local law usually doesn't, but many cemeteries do.
Paying for a funeral
Common sources include savings, a payable-on-death bank account, life insurance, a preneed contract and veterans' benefits. Eligible veterans may be entitled to burial in a national cemetery and to a government headstone or marker; check with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Funeral homes typically ask for payment or proof of funds at the arrangements conference. Ask whether they will accept an assignment of insurance proceeds.
Comparing providers ahead of time
Planning in advance is the best time to compare, because you aren't deciding under pressure. Call several providers and ask for prices from their general price lists; the Funeral Rule requires them to answer price questions by phone. Visit one or two and ask for the general price list in person. Write down the arrangement you want, such as a direct cremation, an immediate burial, or a funeral with viewing, and compare totals for that same arrangement.
Keep the paperwork together
Put your written wishes, any preneed contract, the receipt and trust or policy documents, the deed or certificate for cemetery property, military discharge papers if a veteran's benefit applies, and the names and license numbers of the providers you chose in one place, and tell at least two people where it is. Review it when you move or your family changes: a preneed contract tied to a funeral home in another city may be transferable, or may not, depending on the contract and state law. When the time comes, the person arranging the funeral can take that folder to the arrangements conference and compare what was promised with the general price list and the itemized statement.
Using this site
Look up funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries by city on this site, check each license on the state's own lookup, and keep the license numbers with your plans. Our listings show only what the state publishes: license type, number, dates and, where a state publishes it, discipline or status reason. We don't sell rankings, and featured listings never change the order.
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.