Visitations, viewings, funerals, memorial services, and burials can be very expensive, typically between $1,500 and $20,000, depending on the level of services, your choice of casket, the number of ceremonies, venues, available amenities, and where you live. It is always important to remember that funeral homes, mortuaries, and crematoriums are all businesses and need to make a profit to operate. You should still be just as skeptical of the directors as you would be of any salesperson.
It is not uncommon for these expenses to result in unpayable debt and even bankruptcy, so trying to save on cost and figuring out how to pay for them may be vital to you and your family.
This section will run down the costs and provide some hints on how to control them.
When you have a visitation, viewing, funeral, and/or memorial service there are a multitude of expenses that add up quickly.
You will also be paying for burial plots or mausoleums, and markers or headstones.
Most of the costs or ranges listed are average prices and there will be many places where the cost is outside the range.
Embalming is done by the funeral home or mortuary and typically costs between $200-$725, although costs up to $1,700 have been reported.
Embalming is done by the funeral home or mortuary and typically costs between $200-$725, although costs up to $1,700 have been reported.
A casket often accounts for much of the cost after your loved one’s death. They can range from a simple $500 box to $20,000 or more, depending on the materials and design. Remember, you are primarily paying for the appearance.
As a burial vessel, they are not really intended to, nor can they, preserve your loved one’s body.
As a cremation vessel, they will be destroyed by the heat and fire, and therefore probably should not be expensive. An alternative is to rent a casket for appearance and purchase a much less expensive one for cremation.
It is not uncommon for you to be shown only the most expensive caskets, including many with superfluous features, so don’t hesitate to ask to see others.
An urn is a container that holds cremated remains – cremains.
Although the casket may be the major cost, the number of services/ceremonies affects the cost.
There are many costs associated with burial or interment as well. Unlike funeral homes, cemeteries are not bound by the Funeral Rule.
A mausoleum or crypt can cost $4,500-$8,500.
Public cemetery plots typically cost $700-$2,000, while private cemetery plots are $2,000-$5,000. This does not include the land, just the license to be buried or interred there.
Digging and filling the grave (opening and closing) can cost $1000-$1500. This price may include obtaining necessary permits, maintaining legal files, keeping records, the use of a casket-lowering device, and other items or services.
A burial vault typically costs $900-$10,000, while a grave liner may be $700-$1000.
A typical flat grave marker is $1,000, a simple headstone $1,000-$3,000, and an upright headstone $10,000 for, depending how elaborate you like it to be.
Perpetual or endowment care fees for the gravesite are typically 5% to 15% of the plot price. This is a one-time fee that does not include maintenance of headstones or other gravesite memorials.
There may be other costs that may or may not be associated with the funeral and burial costs.
It will not dishonor your loved one if you consider cost when scheduling events. In fact, they most likely would have been glad that you have not bankrupted yourself or unnecessarily reduced their beneficiaries inheritance. It is important to try and minimize the cost by finding out what your options are, how much they will cost, and avoiding emotional overspending. Funeral home prices are available by telephone without having to give your name, address, or telephone number. However, they are not required to put their prices on their website. If there is no reason to choose a particular cemetery, such as proximity to mourners or family members interred together, comparison shop for burial sites as well.
While you can’t change how much these things cost in your area, there are some measures you may consider to reduce your costs. The Funeral Consumers Alliance website may be able help you make choices about more affordable funeral-related costs.
You may not be at your best following your loved one’s death and decisions can be difficult. It will be a costly time that may require you to make financial decisions you’re not prepared for. Money from your loved one’s private estate will not be reliably available right away.
The most important financial decisions during this time involve your loved one’s funeral and burial. Depending on the circumstances, there are two ways to plan ahead. The first way applies if you have not made the plans before their death and you want to make sure you make the most responsible financial decisions. The second involves making plans well before your loved one’s death, sometimes even before they are ill.
If your loved one has just died and you are faced with the distressing task of planning and paying for funeral and burial (cemetery) or cremation costs, you must prepare yourself to work with the funeral director. This starts with research into the options available to you in your location and their costs.
Use this information to decide what you want ahead of time so you and your family don’t fall victim to emotional appeals for add-ons or packages that you neither want or need, but will allegedly show more respect for your loved one.
Refer to the Funeral Rule to learn your rights..
Although not anything you would look forward to doing, you and your loved one could look into and budget for funeral and burial (cemetery) or cremation costs well in advance of their death.
The major advantages are peace of mind that you will not have to face these decisions when the time comes and that you have funds available to pay for it. You will probably have less anxiety and stress for a variety of reasons.
Many families opt to commit to a funeral home or crematorium and pay for these services in advance. All states allow for these prepaid plans.
As with all purchases it is important to research options, comparison shop, get quotes from at least three funeral homes, and ask a lot of questions before agreeing to and paying for anything.
Unfortunately, there can be some drawbacks to doing this.
It is best to make a formal arrangement regulated by the state that locks in prices and guarantees that equivalent substitutes will be provided at no additional cost if products and services currently purchased are not available in the future.
Source – Using End-of-Life Services. National Care Planning Council.
Reference – Bill of Rights for Funeral Preplanning. National Funeral Directors Association.
If you do not want to prepay for funeral and burial (cemetery) or cremation costs, there are many options to save money specifically for these costs.
The average funeral or cremation is expensive and can be an enormous burden on many families. While there are many ways to save money on a funeral, you may want to consider financial assistance from one or more sources.
You will probably be at your most vulnerable after the death of your loved one and unethical people may try and take advantage of this. This may include funeral directors.
There are ways to reduce the risk of this happening. Above all, remember that you are protected by the Funeral Rule, and should know your rights before making any arrangements.
While not technically fraud, the most commonly encountered ploy is various forms of sales pressure to convince grieving family members to purchase unnecessary items and services or expensive packages with unnecessary items and services to prove their devotion to their loved one. Fraud is when you are given misleading or incorrect information.
Practices such as pushing gasketed or extra thick caskets and/or expensive burial vaults to slow decomposition, only displaying expensive caskets, unlisted prices, and misrepresentation of prices and legal requirements are prohibited under the Federal Funeral Rule.
Other sales tactics include:
See CBS Canada reports on Funeral home markups and upselling and Funeral home sales tactics.
Occasionally scammers will attend funerals or burials posing as debtors demanding payment of money owed them by the deceased.