What does a funeral bill actually itemise?
Three things, and the Federal Trade Commission names them. A basic services fee that every funeral carries and you cannot decline. Charges for the other services and merchandise you choose, which is where the casket, the embalming, the viewing and the hearse sit. And cash advances, which are things the funeral home buys from someone else on your behalf, such as flowers, the obituary notice and the officiating clergy. The checklist below is that structure. It has no prices in it, because this page does not know what your funeral home charges and will not pretend to: you fill it in from the General Price List they are required to give you, and your browser adds it up.
A bar for each of the 4 parts of the checklist below, sized by how many itemised lines it holds, so the part where most of the decisions sit is visible before you scroll.
What the law entitles you to before you pay
The Funeral Rule is a federal regulation, and these are rights rather than courtesies. The Federal Trade Commission states each of them on its own page.
- A written, itemised General Price List when you visit a funeral home, which is yours to keep. It lists every item and service the home offers and the cost of each one.
- Price information over the telephone if you ask for it. You do not have to give your name, address or telephone number first.
- A written casket price list before you are shown the actual caskets, so you can ask about lower-priced ones that may not be on display.
- A written outer burial container price list, if the home sells containers and does not list them on the General Price List.
- A written, itemised statement after you decide and before you pay, showing every good and service selected, the price of each, and the total.
- The right to buy only what you want. You do not have to accept a package that includes items you do not want.
- The right to use an alternative container instead of a casket for cremation. No state or local law requires a casket for cremation.
- The right to supply a casket or urn bought elsewhere. The home cannot refuse to handle it or charge you a fee for doing so.
One thing that is commonly assumed and is not true
The Funeral Rule does not require a funeral home to publish its prices online. It requires the home to hand you the list in person and to quote by telephone on request. The Federal Trade Commission puts it plainly: although they are not required to do so, many funeral homes mail their price lists, and some post them online. That is why comparing funeral prices from an armchair is harder than comparing almost anything else, and why the practical move is the telephone call the Rule already entitles you to make.
The checklist
Grouped the way the Federal Trade Commission groups a funeral bill. Fill in the figures from the price list you were given. Nothing here is stored or sent anywhere, and the page supplies no prices of its own.
Total of what you entered $0.00
How to use it on the telephone
The Rule gives you prices by telephone without identifying yourself, which makes a short call the fastest way to fill this in for several homes at once.
- Ask for the basic services fee first. It is the one charge you cannot decline, so it is the floor at that home.
- Ask which items are inside that fee and which are charged separately, because the split differs between homes.
- Ask for the casket price range, including the lowest-priced casket. The Rule entitles you to that list before you are shown anything.
- Ask whether embalming is being assumed. It is generally not required by law, and the FTC says removing it can save hundreds of dollars.
- Ask whether any cash advance item carries a service fee on top of what the vendor charged.
- Fill in one column per funeral home and compare the totals rather than the headline package prices.
Questions
Does the funeral home have to give me prices over the phone?
Yes. The Federal Trade Commission states that funeral directors must give you price information on the telephone if you ask for it, and that you do not have to give them your name, address or telephone number first.
Why does this page not just tell me what a funeral costs?
Because it would have to make the number up. The Federal Trade Commission requires the itemised price list to be given to you in person or quoted by telephone, and does not require anyone to publish it online, so there is no published list to quote the way this site quotes a kennel or a clinic. The structure of the bill is published, and that is what this page gives you.
Is embalming required by law?
Generally not. The Federal Trade Commission says embalming is not necessary or legally required if the body is buried or cremated shortly after death, that a provider may not falsely state it is required by law, and that eliminating it can save hundreds of dollars. Some states require embalming or refrigeration if there is a delay, and refrigeration is usually an acceptable alternative.
Can I buy a casket somewhere else?
Yes. The Federal Trade Commission states that a funeral provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought elsewhere, cannot charge you a fee for handling it, and cannot require you to be there when it is delivered.
Do I have to buy an outer burial container?
Not by law. The Federal Trade Commission states that outer burial containers are not required by state law anywhere in the United States, though many cemeteries require them to stop the grave caving in, which is a cemetery requirement rather than a legal one.
Does this send my figures anywhere?
No. The arithmetic happens in your browser and nothing is stored or transmitted. With JavaScript switched off the checklist is still a readable, printable list, which is most of what it is for.
Where these figures come from
This page carries no prices at all, which is deliberate rather than an omission. Every statement of what you are entitled to comes from the Federal Trade Commission and is linked below, and both pages cited are dated July 2012 on the page and were read again on 9 October 2026. The rule they describe, 16 CFR Part 453 on the eCFR, up to date as of 7 October 2026, has not been amended since 1994. The Funeral Rule is federal and applies across the United States; it does not apply to third-party sellers such as casket and monument dealers, or to cemeteries with no on-site funeral home. Individual states add their own requirements, and whether any state compels a funeral home to post its prices online was not checked here, so this page does not claim one does.