• Home
  • Events and Programs
  • News
  • Price Surveys
  • Speakers
  • Contact Us
  • Join
  • Home Funerals
  • Articles
  • 5 Tips
  • Newsletter
  • Greater Columbia Price Survey 2022
Funeral Consumers Alliance of South Carolina

​5 Tips for controlling funeral costs
​

Special thanks to the Consumer Federation of America for making this brochure possible.


Making funeral arrangements at the last minute can be stressful, expensive, and disappointing

in terms of services received. Planning ahead can provide the following benefits:

—Significant cost savings, quite possibly cutting funeral costs by half.

—Funeral service items you really value and want.

—Peace of mind because when funeral services are needed, survivors will have far fewer

complex decisions to make quickly.




Here are five tips to allow you to take control of your funeral choices.


Talk it Out Ahead of Time

A frank conversation with family can make everyone’s wishes and needs clear—which services

are important and meaningful, and which are not.

Some options to talk about:


*Cremation or whole-body burial?

*
Viewing/calling hours? A graveside service?

*Funeral ceremony at the funeral home or house of worship, a family-led memorial service at

another 
location, or no ceremony?



​Know Your Rights

The Federal Trade Commission’s “Funeral Rule” gives you specific rights when arranging a

​funeral. They include:


—The right to receive an itemized price list (called a “General Price List”) at the beginning of any

funeral 
arrangements discussion with a funeral home.

—The right to price quotes over the phone.

—The right to buy goods and services item by item, rather than as a package.

—In most cases, the right to decline embalming.

—The right to a written, itemized estimate before the funeral takes place.

—The right to supply your own casket without paying a “handling fee” at the funeral home.



Shop Around

In the same town or region, some funeral homes may charge twice as much as others for the

same 
services. The choice of funeral home is often the single biggest factor affecting how much

you pay.



—See if there’s a Funeral Consumers Alliance group in your area. These groups offer cost comparison

surveys and may be able to tell you which local funeral homes are most affordable.


—Pick several funeral homes and ask them for a “General Price List”. While the Funeral Rule

doesn’t 
require funeral homes to mail or provide price lists electronically, pro-consumer funeral

homes will do so. If 
you visit in person, the funeral home must give you a price list to keep.

Consider doing business with a 
funeral home that posts its prices online or is willing to email

their price list on request.




Keep it Simple

All funeral homes have to offer two simple services: Direct Cremation and Immediate/Direct

Burial. These 
services do not include embalming or any ceremonies, and they’re usually the

most affordable choices.


—For Direct Cremation, $800 to $1,200 is a reasonable price range.

—For Immediate/Direct Burial, $1,000 to $1,500 is a reasonable price range. Remember that the

casket is 
usually extra and that cemetery fees are always extra.

—Body donation to a medical institution may be free. Check with the medical schools in your

area. Some 
require hiring a funeral home to complete the death certificate and to transport the

body.


Instead of paying a funeral home for a ceremony, survivors can arrange a memorial service later

at 
home, a house of worship, or at a venue like a restaurant banquet room.



Avoid Expensive Extras

Some funeral homes will try to sell you or your survivors goods or services that may offer little

benefit but 
do drive up costs.

—Sealed or “protective” caskets cost more than the non-sealed but don’t “protect” the body from

decay. All 
bodies will eventually decompose, and no special or costly casket will prevent that.

—If the cemetery requires a rigid outer container to surround the casket, choose a simple

concrete 
grave liner.

—More expensive sealing vaults, like sealing caskets, don’t do anything extra yet cost more.

—Pay close attention to the items included in any package funeral. Packages may include items

you don’t 


want or need. You have the right to choose goods and services item by item.


Proudly powered by Weebly