Estate
Your rights at a funeral home: the FTC Funeral Rule explained
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Last reviewed Nov 1, 2026.
Quick answerA federal rule, the FTC Funeral Rule, lets you buy only the funeral goods and services you want. Funeral homes must give prices over the phone, hand you a General Price List to keep, show casket and outer burial container price lists before showing the products, and give you an itemized statement of what you chose. They can’t say embalming is legally required when it isn’t, can’t require a casket for direct cremation, and can’t refuse a casket or urn you bought elsewhere or charge you a fee to use it.
Your rights, step by stepFederal law
- Call around. A funeral home must answer price questions by phone from its price lists. You don’t have to give your name first.
- Ask for the General Price List (GPL) when you visit. It’s yours to keep and itemizes up to 16 standard items (for example direct cremation, immediate burial, embalming, use of facilities, hearse).
- See casket and outer burial container price lists before you’re shown the products, so you can ask about lower-priced options not on display.
- Pick only what you want. The home can’t make one item conditional on buying another, except the basic services fee and anything required by law or by a cemetery or crematory, which must be explained in writing.
- Embalming isn’t routinely required. A funeral home can’t charge for embalming without permission (except when law requires it), and can’t claim the law requires it when it doesn’t.
- Cremation without a casket. If the home offers direct cremation, it must offer an alternative container.
- Bring your own casket or urn bought online or from a store. The home can’t refuse it or charge a handling fee.
- Get the itemized statement of everything selected, with prices and the total, before you pay. Cash-advance items the home pays a third party for (such as flowers, obituary notices, clergy honoraria or death certificates) must be disclosed if the home charges more than its cost.
- Telephone price disclosure; General Price List to keep; casket and outer burial container price lists before showing products; itemized statement. Source: 16 CFR § 453.2, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- Cash advance items defined, with examples. Source: 16 CFR § 453.1, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- Misrepresentations: embalming, casket for cremation, outer burial containers, cash advance items. Source: 16 CFR § 453.3, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- No casket required for direct cremation; alternative containers; no tying one purchase to another or extra fees, except the basic services fee and required items explained in writing. Source: 16 CFR § 453.4, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- No embalming for a fee without approval, except where law requires it. Source: 16 CFR § 453.5, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- GPL lists 16 items; you can supply a casket or urn bought elsewhere with no fee and without being there at delivery. Source: FTC – Shopping for Funeral Services (Sept. 2013), checked Nov 1, 2026.
What the rule doesn’t cover
The rule applies to funeral providers. It doesn’t apply to third-party sellers such as casket or monument dealers, or to cemeteries that lack an on-site funeral home. Paying in advance? See prepaying a funeral.
- The rule does not apply to third-party sellers such as casket or monument dealers, or to cemeteries without an on-site funeral home. Source: FTC – Shopping for Funeral Services (Sept. 2013), checked Nov 1, 2026.
Not yet verified: whether the FTC has updated this consumer guidance; the FTC’s current Funeral Rule web page could not be loaded today, so we cite the Rule itself and the FTC’s printed guide.
Who to complain to in each stateState law
Start with the funeral director. If that fails, file with the state regulator and with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
| State | Regulator | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | Board of Registration of Funeral Directors and Embalmers (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) | Licenses funeral directors and embalmers, inspects funeral homes, and takes disciplinary action. 7 Eagle Square, Concord; 603-271-2152. |
| California | Cemetery and Funeral Bureau | Online or emailed complaint form, or call 1-800-952-5210 for a mailed form. Covers funeral homes, crematories and private cemeteries, but not religious, city or county cemeteries. |
| Texas | Texas Funeral Service Commission | Complaints generally within 2 years of the event. Prepaid funeral contracts are regulated by the Texas Department of Banking. |
| Florida | Division of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services (Department of Financial Services) | Licenses and regulates funeral directing, embalming, cremation, preneed sales and cemeteries. |
| Ohio | Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors | Complaints filed through Ohio eLicense. Cemetery complaints go to the Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission instead. |
- NH board licenses, inspects and disciplines; contact details. Source: NH OPLC – Board of Registration of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- Complaint options and scope. Source: California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau – Complaints, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- Two-year complaint window; Department of Banking regulates prepaid funeral contracts. Source: Texas Funeral Service Commission – How to file a complaint, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- Division licenses and regulates the death care industry. Source: Florida DFS – Division of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services, checked Nov 1, 2026.
- Complaints via eLicense; cemetery complaints handled by the Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission. Source: Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors – For the Public, checked Nov 1, 2026.
Short on money for a funeral? See who pays for a funeral when there’s no money.
Related: Who decides on the funeral · VA burial allowance · Executor checklist
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