Family
The pricing rules that protect funeral purchasers
Federal rules require itemised pricing and prohibit certain bundling, and they exist because this is a purchase made under time pressure.
Federal rules require funeral providers to give an itemised price list on request, including over the phone, and to let you buy individual items rather than only a package. Comparing two or three itemised lists is possible and is the single most effective thing a family can do.
Providers may not refuse to handle a casket or urn bought elsewhere, nor charge a fee for doing so. They also may not state that embalming is required by law in circumstances where it is not.
Some help exists for costs in specific situations — survivor benefits for certain workers, veterans' burial allowances and plot entitlements, and county indigent burial programmes — each with its own route and none automatic.
Deciding in advance, written down and shared with the family, removes the pressure that makes this purchase expensive. Prepaying is a separate decision with its own risks, and the protections for prepaid funds vary considerably by state.
What to do next. Ask two or three providers for their itemised price lists and compare them before agreeing to anything.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.