FAQs: Funeral Costs

1.	How much does a funeral cost?

2.	Why are funerals so expensive?

3.	Can the cost of funerals be reduced? If so, How?

4.	What happens if I have a problem with how a funeral was handled?

Question #1	How much does a funeral cost?
Answer:	The cost of a funeral depends entirely on your wishes for the funeral. Funeral costs are made up of professional services, charges for transporting the body and presentation of the body, casket costs, vehicle charges, and fees for the doctor, minister, or cremation, grave equipment, opening and closing of the grave space and obituary notices. Personalizing a funeral is also a factor in the cost. While we have many options to help you memorialize your loved one in a meaningful way, those options all have costs attached.

Question #2	Why are funerals so expensive?
Answer:	Funerals are expensive because they require a lot of work from a lot of people. Funeral directors spend as much as 40 hours working on a single funeral. The funeral home needs to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure that we’re available when a death occurs. Funeral costs also include merchandise such as the casket or the urn and services such as processing of paperwork, florists and placing the obituary in the newspaper. However, these days local family owned funeral homes are rare with most of them being large corporations, partnerships and funeral service businesses and just like corporate America these places are notorious for being the highest priced in town and over charging for their services and goods or offer special deals or incentives on a per basis, a large part of the money spent at these businesses do not even stay in the local economy.

Question #3	Can the cost of funerals be reduced? If so, How?
Answer:	Yes, most services are optional and embalming can be omitted if requested, you can select basic merchandise, you can buy a casket from another source other than the funeral home you are working with. We help numerous people with funeral merchandise like caskets, vaults, urns or keepsakes during their time of need or after the service. Other ways can be calling several funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries in the area and compare prices. However this needs to be done like for like though as no two funeral homes are the same.

Question #4	What happens if I have a problem with how a funeral was handled?
Answer:	We take pride in caring for the families who trust us during this difficult time. However, sometimes things can go wrong, and if they do, you are not alone. Funeral service in the U.S. is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state licensing boards. If a problem occurs, first discuss it with the funeral director. If it can’t be resolved, contact the FTC Consumer Response Center. Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20580 www.ftc.gov 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).