Funeral Price Survey — 2011

Compliance of General Price Lists with the FTC Funeral Rule

The GPLs examined in the 2011 price survey were all in substantial compliance with the FTC Funeral Rule and with the similar requirements of the New York State Department of Health, but few lists were in full compliance. All of the lists contained mandatory disclosures, and most of the prices were presented in a manner prescribed by the FTC. The lists varied in format, some being customized for individual businesses while many used a generic format.

The most common violation of the Funeral Rule was a failure to list the combined price of supervision and facilities/equipment for each of the following: viewing/visitation, funeral ceremony, graveside ceremony, and memorial ceremony. The FTC document, Complying with the Funeral Rule, specifies that the combined price of each of these services be listed if the service is offered by the funeral home, while New York State requires separate pricing for supervision and facilities/equipment.

A common deficiency was failure to state what kind of “alternative container” would be used if a customer chose this option. The FTC defines an alternative container as “an unfinished wood box or other non-metal receptacle or enclosure, without ornamentation or a fixed interior lining, which is designed for the encasement of human remains and which is made of fiberboard, pressed-wood, composition materials (with or without an outside covering) or like materials.” Where the type of alternative container and its cost are an issue, you should ask the funeral director for a description and price of the one that will be used. 

A few funeral homes listed prices for direct cremation and/or immediate burial that would be at least as great or greater if the customer provided the burial or cremation container than they would be if the business provided it. Such practice amounts to an illegal charge for merchandise not provided.

One infraction of the Rule and of New York regulations was noted where the price for direct burial included both a casket or alternative container and a vault (see Table 1, footnote (i)), while no price for direct burial without a vault was given. Vaults are not required for all burials. They are sold by funeral homes, but any requirement for a vault is generated by a cemetery. The FTC requires that the following disclosure be added to a price list for vaults:
“In most areas of the country, state or local law does not require that you buy a container to surround the casket in the grave. However, many cemeteries require that you have such a container so that the grave will not sink in. Either a grave liner or a burial vault will satisfy these requirements.”

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