What’s Included vs. What’s Extra
A funeral price may cover some goods and services while leaving other costs separate. Before you agree to a price, make sure you know what is included, what may cost extra, and what you may need to pay to someone else.
Funeral cost breakdown: the price you see, and what’s outside it
May be included
Depends on the provider and arrangement
- Basic services
- Transportation
- Staff or facility services
- Viewing or visitation
- Funeral or memorial service
- Casket, urn, or other merchandise, if listed
May be separate
Often billed by the funeral home or someone else
- Cemetery costs
- Crematory costs
- Burial, opening and closing
- Urn or marker
- Death certificates
- Flowers
- Obituary
- Other optional services
The price you see may be only one part of your total cost. What falls into each column depends on the provider and arrangement.
What does “included” mean?
An advertised price can include several goods or services, but the details vary. One provider’s package may include something another provider charges for separately.
The name of the package isn’t enough. Look at what is listed in the price.
Ask: “Is that included?”
A few common costs, and the question to ask about each one.
- Transportation
- Is the first transfer of your loved one included? Is there a separate mileage or transportation charge?
- Viewing or visitation
- Are the room, staff, setup, and time included?
- Funeral or memorial service
- Does the price include the facility, staff, setup, and service time?
- Casket or container
- Is it included in the advertised price, or chosen and priced separately?
- Cremation
- Is the cremation itself included? Are there separate crematory, permit, or other charges?
- Cemetery
- Does the funeral home’s price include cemetery costs, or will those be paid separately?
- Final resting place
- What about a burial plot, niche, opening and closing, or a marker?
Some costs may be paid to someone else
A funeral home may arrange some services for you. That doesn’t mean those costs are in the funeral home’s price. Another provider could be a cemetery, a crematory, or someone else involved in the arrangements.
“Which costs are paid directly to you, and which will I pay to another provider?”
When the funeral home pays an outside cost for you, like death certificates, an obituary, or flowers, it’s called a cash advance item. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, the funeral home must tell you in writing if it adds a charge to these or gets a discount or rebate on them.
Optional doesn’t mean included
Depending on the arrangement, some items may be optional. If you choose them, they may add to the total. For example:
- Flowers
- An obituary
- Upgraded merchandise
- Extra visitation time
- Memorial products
- A marker or other memorial
Before you agree to a price
- What exactly is included in this price?
- What costs extra?
- Which costs will we pay to another provider?
- Are there any optional charges we haven’t discussed?
- What happens if we remove something or change the arrangement?
- Can you give us the complete itemized total in writing?
“What will our total cost be, including anything we will need to pay separately?”
Ask the provider to show what is included in their price, what is charged separately, and what will be paid to another provider.
Your General Price List can help
A funeral home’s General Price List shows individual goods and services and their prices. Use it to confirm what is included in the arrangement you’re considering, and what is priced separately. See how to read a General Price List.
Ready to see how these choices apply to your situation?
Your Wayfinder Plan can help organize the options you’re considering and give you a clearer picture of what to ask and compare.
Build My Wayfinder Plan- General Price List, itemized pricing, and cash advance items: FTC Funeral Rule (consumer guidance); Complying with the Funeral Rule.
This page is general information, not legal advice.