Making Final Arrangements

Every day in the U.S., 6,700 people die.  The family and friends that remain are often left to make decisions regarding final expenses, such as funerals, memorial services, and/or burials.  Because people are generally grieving, they are unable to make clear-eyed financial decisions on final expenses.

The median cost of a funeral in the U.S. is now more than $7,000.  While there are laws in place to protect individuals from being taken advantage of, many people are unaware of less expensive funeral/burial options that could save thousands of dollars.  Equally often, people don’t want to be perceived as skimping on these final expenses.  As a result, people spend money they don’t have and then pay off funerals/burials for years to come.

Here are some ways to keep final expenses from overwhelming you or the loved ones you leave behind:

Plan ahead.  Make your own funeral arrangements before you die.  While this may sound morbid, you can save your family and friends a lot of grief by making key decisions and even paying for some of the expenses yourself.  You can:

• Choose and pay for your casket or urn.
• Decide that you do or don’t want a viewing.
• Decide on whether you want to be embalmed, quickly cremated or buried.
• Decide on the clothing you want to be buried or cremated in.
• Decide on whether you want flowers, directed donations, both, or neither.
• Decide on whether you want a funeral, a memorial, a graveside service, or no observation.
• Shop around and choose the funeral home you like best, or the one that seems to offer the services and prices your feel most comfortable with.

Comparison shop.  When choosing a funeral home, people often go with the one that friends or family members have used in the past.  While it’s an emotionally difficult and time-pressured time, comparing services and costs at funeral homes can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars.

Choosing a Casket.  Caskets are generally the single most expensive part of final expenses.  The average casket costs $2,000, but they can cost up to $10,000 or more.  People are often presented with “quality-” or “comfort-” related additional features, but many of these features are actually useless.  For example, a protective casket has extra rubber gaskets to provide the body with protection from the elements, increasing the price by hundreds of dollars.

While the Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to provide you with a price list of all caskets available, they often don’t show you the less expensive, plainer options.  The average casket buyer generally buys one of the first three models shown—often the one priced in the middle.

Many funeral homes also offer rental caskets, which is a good cost-saving option if you want to have a traditional viewing or funeral but don't want to purchase a casket. A rental casket has a removable interior. The body is placed in a simple wooden box inside the casket, giving the appearance that the body is actually in the casket. In fact, the body never touches the casket, and the wooden box is easily removed. The body can then be buried or cremated, and the funeral home can re-use the rental casket.

Understand what is and is not required.  Because people are grieving when preparing for a funeral, the question  “Is this required?” is not often asked.  When it comes to most final expenses, many things are not required.

The Funeral Rule allows funeral homes to charge a basic service fee to cover expenses common to all funerals, regardless of specific arrangements.  These common services include:

• Funeral planning
• Securing permits and copies of death certificate
• Preparing notices
• Sheltering remains
• Coordinating arrangements with cemetery, crematorium, and other third party vendors like florists

Most everything else is optional:

• Transporting remains
• Embalming or other body preparation
• Use of funeral home for viewing, ceremony, and/or memorial
• Use of equipment and/or staff for graveside services
• Use of a hearse or limousine
• Type of casket
• Use of an outer burial container
• Flowers
• Obituary notices
• Officiating clergy
• Ceremony musicians

Many people believe that embalming is required.  Check state laws.  With fast burials or cremations, embalming is often not necessary. This could save almost $1,000.

Review the itemized statement.  If you are working with a funeral home, after making your decisions, you must be provided with an itemized statement.  While the Funeral Rule does not require a specific format for this statement, it must include the cost of the items you have selected and a total cost.  If you have made arrangements for cash advance items, a good faith estimate must be provided.  Cash advance items include money you give to the funeral home to cover items third party vendors provide, such as:

• Flowers
• Pallbearers
• Officiating clergy
• Musicians
• Obituary notices

They must disclose any additional fee they charge above the cost of the item charged by the third party vendor.