Get the prices.
When you discuss arrangements or prices in person, you must be offered a General Price List to keep. Providers must also give price information over the phone.
Free funeral rights guide for families
Understand funeral prices. Know your rights.
Plain-language help with funeral prices, the General Price List, and what you can say no to.
Funeral arrangements involve personal choices and real costs. This guide helps you read the line items, tell choices from requirements, and have informed conversations with providers about your needs and budget.
Get my starting guideFree guides. No account required.
Start with your situation
Help for the decisions in front of you.
Two questions. You don’t need to enter a name or any details about the person who died.
Know what’s required.Question what’s optional.Keep the choice yours.
02 / Understand your options
You have rights.
Even when you’re overwhelmed.
Start with these federal protections. They apply to businesses covered by the FTC Funeral Rule.
Choose the pieces.
You can generally select individual goods and services. A nondeclinable basic services fee and legally required items may still apply.
Question “required.”
Embalming is not routinely required by law. If someone says it is necessary, ask whether that comes from law, the selected service, or the provider’s policy.
Ask for the other price lists.
When discussing caskets or outer burial containers, you must be offered itemized prices before viewing the items. These prices may be on the General Price List or separate lists.
Bring your own casket.
A provider generally may not refuse to use a casket you bought elsewhere, and may not charge you a fee for using it.
Get it itemized in writing.
At the end of an in-person arrangements discussion, the provider must give you a completed Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected, including the itemized costs and total.
Read the FTC’s Funeral Rule guidance . These protections apply to providers covered by the Rule. State requirements and your specific circumstances matter.
Ask what “required” means
A law, a policy, or a recommendation?
Understand requirements, alternatives, and prices ↗
When you’re arranging a funeral, those distinctions matter. Before agreeing to a charge or giving up an option, ask what the requirement is based on.
Required by law?
Ask the provider to identify the rule and explain why it applies to your arrangements. Check state-specific questions with the relevant regulator.
A funeral home’s policy?
Ask for the policy in writing, which services it affects, and what alternatives the provider offers. Another provider may have different policies.
A recommendation?
Ask why it is recommended, what it costs, and what happens if you decline. Explain your preferences and budget before choosing.
Told embalming is required for a viewing?
You can ask:
“Is that a legal requirement or your funeral home’s policy? If it’s required by law, can you show me the rule that applies? If it’s your policy, what viewing or visitation options are available without embalming, and what would they cost?”
Start with the FTC Funeral Rule consumer guide and your state’s resources.
03 / Put the price list to work
Before you sign,
ask these questions.
Use this checklist with the General Price List and your written estimate.
Checklist marks are not saved when you leave or reload this page.
If something doesn’t add up
Where to take a concern.
Start by asking the provider to explain in writing. If the answer is still unclear or you think a rule was broken, these are the places to go.
The FTC
The FTC enforces the Funeral Rule. You can report a concern at reportfraud.ftc.gov .
Your state funeral board
Find the relevant agency in our state guides. Funeral licensing, cemeteries, permits, and prepaid contracts can have different oversight.
Your state attorney general
Find your state consumer protection office and follow its complaint instructions. Keep price lists, itemized statements, and messages. A complaint does not guarantee a refund.
A little clarity
The questions behind the bill.
Does an expensive funeral mean someone broke the law?
No. A high price or markup alone does not establish a Funeral Rule violation. The Rule concerns disclosures and sales practices; it does not set price caps. Compare equivalent services and document what you were told.
Can this site certify a price list as compliant?
No. This site offers educational information and a manual checklist. It does not assess uploaded documents, certify compliance, or determine whether a provider violated the law.
What information does this site collect?
The site code has no account system, analytics scripts, or document uploads and does not set cookies. Your answers to the two starting questions are placed in the address of the next page and may appear in hosting request logs. See the privacy page for details.
Why Morticians Audit exists
Experience in funeral service.
A purpose rooted in consumers.
From the founder
I’m a former North Carolina–licensed funeral director and embalmer. In my experience working in the industry, I saw sales take priority over honoring people and respecting families’ budgets. Those experiences conflicted with the reasons I entered funeral service, and they led me to leave. They inform this project; they do not describe every provider.
My guiding belief is that grief should never be treated as a sales opportunity. Families deserve room to choose, and thoughtful providers deserve recognition for helping them do that.
I created Morticians Audit to put consumers first—with clear information, practical help, and respect for their choices. Honoring someone you love should never require spending more than you can comfortably afford, or more than you choose to spend.
Useful help, without pressure.
This site’s guidance and manual checklist are free, with no account or payment required. The goal is to help you understand costs and ask informed questions at your own pace.
Trust through transparency.
Personal experience informs the questions we ask; linked official sources support the guidance. We distinguish experience from legal requirements, and we say so where state-specific guidance is still being researched. A high price alone is not proof of wrongdoing.
Covering costs, respecting choices.
The aim is to cover the cost of keeping this resource useful and available. There is currently nothing for sale here. If optional paid tools are introduced, their prices and limits will be explained upfront, while essential rights information and basic guidance remain free.
Fair to families. Fair to providers.
Funeral homes are businesses with real operating costs: staff, facilities, vehicles, equipment, and availability when families need them. Prices need to cover those costs and allow a sustainable profit. The purchase cost of an item alone does not explain the full cost of providing a service.
Our focus is transparent pricing, accurate explanations, and meaningful choices. A higher price or profit margin alone is not evidence of exploitation. Pressure, misleading claims about requirements, and unexplained charges deserve questions. Clear answers help families and conscientious providers work together.
Get in touch
Questions, feedback, or a correction?
Email Jessica H, founder of Morticians Audit, with questions about this resource, suggestions for useful guidance, or something you think needs correcting.
Please keep your message general. Don’t email death certificates, medical records, financial account details, or other sensitive documents. Email is not a secure document-upload service.
You don’t have to prove love
with a bigger invoice.