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After a death

Check a funeral bill against the Funeral Rule

Answer eight questions with the price list and the bill in front of you. The page lists what to ask the funeral home about, and the rule each item comes from. Your answers stay in this page and are not saved or sent anywhere.

1. When you first talked about prices or the kind of funeral, did they give you a printed price list to keep?
2. At the end, did you get a written statement listing each item you chose, its price, and the total?
3. Is there a charge for embalming that no one in the family approved?
4. Is this a direct cremation, and were you told you must buy a casket for it?
5. Did you bring a casket bought somewhere else, and is there a fee for using it?
6. Is anything on the bill that you did not ask for, other than the basic services fee?
7. Were you told a law, a cemetery or a crematory requires something (embalming, a vault, a casket)?
8. Are there items the funeral home paid others for you (death certificates, obituary, flowers, clergy)?

Tap an answer to each question. What to ask appears here as you go.

Where each item comes from

  • Price list to keep when you start talking prices or arrangements: 16 CFR 453.2(b)(4)(i).
  • Itemized written statement with each price and the total: 16 CFR 453.2(b)(5)(i).
  • No embalming fee without prior approval, unless the law requires it or the family could not be reached: 16 CFR 453.5(a).
  • No casket required for a direct cremation; an alternative container must be offered: 16 CFR 453.3(b), 453.4(a).
  • The only fees allowed as a condition are the basic services fee, what you chose, and what is required and explained in writing: 16 CFR 453.4(b)(1).
  • Any legal, cemetery or crematory requirement must be named in writing on your statement: 16 CFR 453.3(d)(2). In most areas, state or local law does not require a vault, though many cemeteries do: 16 CFR 453.3(c).
  • Items paid to others must be itemized, and a markup or rebate on them must be disclosed: 16 CFR 453.2(b)(5)(i)(B), 453.3(f).
Text read 2026-10-27 at eCFR, 16 CFR Part 453. This is the federal rule only; your state may add more. General information, not legal advice.

Next

Help paying for a funeral → After a death: the practical part → Report a funeral home to the FTC →