Lifestyle

6 Things Funeral Homes Hope You Never Research Before You Need Them

By Erica Coleman · July 19, 2026

No one wants to research funeral home pricing until they have to. That’s exactly what the industry counts on.

A funeral is purchased in the worst possible circumstances — under grief, time pressure, and emotional distress, often by people who have never done it before and hope never to do it again. The average American funeral now costs between $7,000 and $12,000, and the pricing practices that drive that number have been documented, regulated — and frequently violated — for decades.

Here’s what the FTC wants you to know before you need it.

You have a legal right to an itemized price list. The FTC’s Funeral Rule, in place since 1984, requires every funeral home to provide a General Price List to anyone who asks for it — in person or over the phone. The list must itemize every service and product, allowing you to see exactly what each element costs rather than being presented with a bundled package price. In a 2023 undercover sweep of more than 250 funeral providers, the FTC found violations on 39 calls — most commonly a refusal to answer price questions over the phone. If a funeral home refuses to give you prices on the phone, that refusal is itself a violation of federal law.

You can buy a casket anywhere and bring it in. This is the piece of information funeral homes least want families to know. The Funeral Rule explicitly prohibits funeral homes from charging a “handling fee” for receiving a casket purchased from an outside vendor — including from Amazon, Costco, or an independent retailer — and from refusing to use it. Caskets purchased independently can cost 40% to 70% less than the same casket sold by a funeral home. The funeral home must accept it without adding surcharges.

Embalming is almost never legally required. Funeral homes sometimes present embalming as mandatory. It is not — not under federal law, and not under most state laws. It may be required in specific circumstances, such as when a body is being transported across state lines under certain conditions or when there’s a long delay before burial. But for most funerals, particularly those with prompt burial or cremation, embalming is optional. The FTC requires funeral homes to disclose this in writing. If they present it as required without explaining the actual legal basis, that’s a Funeral Rule violation.

You can choose only the services you actually want. Funeral homes cannot require you to buy a package that includes services you don’t need. The right to select individual goods and services — rather than accepting a bundled arrangement — is guaranteed by the Funeral Rule. In practice, many funeral homes lead with packages because packages drive higher revenue. The family that doesn’t know they can say “I only want the direct cremation and the death certificates” may end up paying thousands more for services they never requested.

Prices vary enormously between providers in the same city. Unlike most consumer markets, funeral home prices are not publicly available online in most cases — the FTC has been moving toward requiring online pricing disclosure but as of 2026 has not finalized that rule. That means the only way to compare prices is to call multiple providers and ask for their General Price List. Studies consistently show that funeral home prices for identical services in the same metropolitan area can vary by 100% to 200%. The family that calls one provider and makes a decision without comparison shopping may be spending twice what was necessary.

Pre-planning locks in a price — but the contract matters. Funeral pre-planning, in which you pay in advance for your own arrangements, can be a genuine financial protection for your family. It can also be a source of fraud, since pre-paid funds are sometimes mishandled or spent before they’re needed. If you’re considering a pre-need contract, check whether the funds will be held in a state-regulated trust, ask what happens if the funeral home goes out of business before you need it, and have the contract reviewed by someone who isn’t selling it to you.

The average person arranges two or three funerals in a lifetime — usually under the worst possible circumstances. The families who know these rules in advance consistently make better decisions and pay less than those who don’t.