Questions to Ask a Funeral Home

Take these questions with you

1. The arrangement
2. Price
3. Your choices
4. Timing and who does what
5. Casket, urn or container
6. Changes
7. In writing

You don’t need to ask every question. Pick the ones that fit your family. There’s a printable list at the end.

Start with the arrangement

“What type of arrangement are we discussing, and what does it include?”

Direct cremation, cremation with a service, immediate burial, and a traditional funeral with burial are priced very differently. Naming the arrangement first makes every other answer easier to compare. See how to choose a funeral home and compare prices.

Ask about price

1. What is the complete price?
   Ask for the total for everything you’re choosing, not a starting price.
2. What is included?
   Transportation, the container, staff time, and permits can each be in or out of a quote.
3. What is separate?
   Mileage, weekend services, and daily refrigeration are listed separately on some price lists.
4. Which costs are paid to another provider?
   Cemetery charges, death certificates, flowers, and an obituary are often paid to others. When the funeral home pays them for you, they’re called cash advance items, and any added charge must be disclosed in writing.
5. Can I have a copy of your General Price List?
   You can ask for prices by phone, and you get a price list to keep when you ask in person. See how to read a General Price List.

Ask about your choices

1. Which items are optional?
   You can choose only the goods and services you want. The basic services fee, and anything required by law or by the cemetery or crematory, are the exceptions.
2. What changes if we remove something?
   Some package prices depend on buying the casket or other items from the funeral home. Ask how the total changes. See packages vs. itemized pricing.
3. Can we have a viewing without embalming?
   Some funeral homes allow a short private viewing without it. Ask what applies. See preparation and embalming.

Ask about timing and who does what

1. When is payment due, and is any due before services?
   See how to pay for a funeral.
2. Who handles permits, the death certificate, transportation, and coordination with the cemetery or crematory?
   Know what the funeral home does and what your family needs to do.
3. How many certified death certificates are included?
   Most families need several. In Utah the first certified copy is $35 and each additional copy in the same order is $10.
4. What dates are available, and do weekends cost more?
   Can the service be held at our church or ward building instead of your chapel?
5. Who will be our contact from start to finish?
6. What help do you give afterward, and do you report the death to Social Security?
   “Aftercare” means different things at different funeral homes. Ask what it includes.

Ask about the casket, urn or container

1. Is a cremation container or casket included in this price?
   Some quotes leave it out. A $1,000 quote and a $1,300 quote may be for the same service once it’s added.
2. May we see your casket price list first?
   A funeral home must show it before showing you the caskets. You can also buy a casket or urn elsewhere with no handling fee. See caskets and urns.
3. For burial: does the cemetery require an outer burial container?
   See burial vaults and grave liners.

Ask about changes

“What happens if we change the arrangement, and how would the price change?”

Plans can shift: a date moves, family arrives from out of state, or you decide to add or remove a service. Ask how changes are handled and whether they change the written total.

Ask for it in writing

At the end of the arrangement discussion, the funeral home must give you a written, itemized statement of what you chose, each price, any cash advance items, and the total. Read it before you sign or pay. See your right to an itemized price list.

Printable list: questions to ask a funeral home

Ten questions on one page, with room to write the answers.

Print or save as PDF

Common questions