What Is Not Included in a Prepaid Funeral Plan?

Why a plan can look complete and still leave a bill

Most prepaid plans have two parts. The guaranteed part covers what the funeral home controls. Those items are provided as written whenever they’re needed, even if prices have doubled by then.

The second part is a set of cash advance items: money set aside for things the funeral home pays others for. Because the funeral home doesn’t set those prices, the plan holds an estimate, not a promise. A plan written ten years ago estimated ten-year-old prices.

The other way a plan falls short is simpler. A buyer sometimes trims items to bring the price down, then tells the family “everything’s taken care of.” The family finds out what was trimmed at the funeral home, during the arrangement meeting.

What prepaid plans most often leave out

• Cemetery charges: the plot, the fee to open and close the grave, and any vault the cemetery requires. A plan with a funeral home doesn’t cover the cemetery’s bill unless the contract says so.
• The headstone or marker, which is usually bought separately from a monument company or the cemetery, often months after the funeral. Cemeteries add their own fees for setting it; Salt Lake City Cemetery charges $90 to monitor a flat marker and $112 for an upright one.
• Weekend and after-hours charges. A Saturday burial costs more at most city cemeteries. At Salt Lake City Cemetery the Saturday fee adds $469; at Sandy City Cemetery it adds $478.
• Death certificates. Utah charges $35 for the first certified copy and $10 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. Eight copies cost $105.
• Obituary notices, flowers, and honorariums for clergy or musicians, which are usually cash advance estimates.
• Bringing someone home from another state. A Salt Lake County funeral home charges $995 to $3,999 to receive a body, based on the price lists we collected, on top of what the sending funeral home charges. See if a death happens away from home.

Example: one allowance, four cemeteries

Say a plan set aside $800 for opening and closing the grave. Here is what that $800 meets at four city cemeteries in Salt Lake County, using each cemetery’s current weekday fee for a full burial. The family pays any difference.

Two things change the answer quickly. A non-resident pays more at each of these cemeteries except Riverton, which lists one fee; at Sandy the non-resident difference from $800 is $832. And a Saturday burial at Salt Lake City Cemetery comes to $1,641 for a resident, more than twice the allowance.

City cemeteries usually update their fees each July. For the rest of each cemetery’s fees, see how cemetery costs work.

How to check a plan you already have

If you bought a plan years ago, or a parent did, an hour with the contract will tell you where the gaps are.

1. Find the itemized contract. Not the receipt or the welcome letter, the page that lists each item. If you can’t find it, the funeral home keeps a permanent file and can give you a copy.
2. Sort the items into two lists. What is guaranteed, and what is an allowance or cash advance amount. Write down the dollar amount next to each allowance.
3. Check the cemetery separately. Is the plot already owned, and where is the deed? Is opening and closing in the plan, or in a separate cemetery contract, or nowhere? Does the cemetery require a vault, and is one in the plan?
4. Compare each allowance with today’s price. Use the cemetery’s current fee schedule and the funeral home’s current price list. The difference is roughly what your family would pay now.
5. Ask the funeral home for a current statement. For a trust-funded plan, ask for the trust balance. For an insurance-funded plan, ask for the policy’s current value.
6. Close the gaps you care about. You can usually add items to the plan, or buy a second policy for one piece, such as the headstone. Some families buy cemetery property directly from the cemetery instead; see buying a cemetery plot ahead of time.
7. Put the contract where your family will look. Keep it with your will and tell the person most likely to make the arrangements which funeral home holds the plan.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Which items are guaranteed, and which are allowances that could fall short?
• Does this plan include anything from the cemetery? If not, what will the cemetery charge?
• Is the headstone or marker in this plan?
• What happens if a death happens out of state or far from home?
• If an allowance runs short, who pays? If there is money left over, where does it go?

On money left over, Utah sets the rules: for an insurance-funded plan, extra insurance money goes back to the policy owner or their heirs; for a trust-funded plan, money for items that aren’t provided is refunded to the buyer or their heirs. The full guide covers this and the rest of the questions: how prepaid funeral plans work in Utah.

Common questions