The FTC Funeral Rule: Your Rights and How to Read a Price List

What is the FTC Funeral Rule?

The Funeral Rule (formally the Funeral Industry Practices Rule, 16 CFR Part 453) is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. It applies to funeral providers, meaning businesses that sell both funeral goods and funeral services. Its main purpose is to let families see itemized prices and choose only what they want.

The Rule does not cover third-party sellers such as casket and monument dealers, or cemeteries that do not have an on-site funeral home. Ask those businesses for written prices too. State laws add their own rules, and those vary by state.

Your rights under the Funeral Rule

• Buy only what you want. You do not have to accept a package that includes items you do not want.
• Get prices by phone. A funeral home must give price information over the phone if you ask. You do not have to give your name, address or phone number first.
• Get a General Price List. When you ask about arrangements in person, the funeral home must give you a written, itemized price list to keep.
• See casket prices before the caskets. You have the right to see a casket price list before you see the caskets, so you can ask about lower-priced models that are not on display.
• See outer burial container prices. If the home sells vaults or grave liners and they are not on the General Price List, it must show you a separate price list.
• Use a casket or urn from somewhere else. The funeral home cannot refuse it or charge a fee to handle it, and you do not have to be there when it is delivered.
• Choose an alternative container for cremation. No state or local law requires a casket for cremation. Homes that offer cremation must make alternative containers, such as unfinished wood, fiberboard or cardboard, available.
• Skip embalming in many cases. No state law requires routine embalming for every death. Refrigeration is often an option. Direct cremation and immediate burial do not require embalming.
• Get a written itemized statement of everything you chose, with each price and the total, before you pay. It must explain any legal, cemetery or crematory requirement that makes you buy a particular item.

How to read a funeral home General Price List

Under the Rule, the General Price List (GPL) must show the funeral home's name, address and phone number, the words "General Price List," and an effective date. If the home offers these items, the GPL must list a price for each one:

Cash advance items are things the funeral home buys from others for you, such as flowers, obituary notices, clergy or musicians. Some homes charge only what they paid. Others add a fee, and the Rule requires them to tell you that in writing, though not the amount. If a price is not known yet, the home must give you a written good-faith estimate.

For direct cremation and immediate burial, the basic services fee is already included in the quoted price. The FTC tells funeral homes they should not add a separate non-declinable basic services fee on top.

Comparing funeral home prices: a phone script

Because the Rule requires price information by phone, you can compare funeral home prices without visiting. You can keep it short and polite:

"Hello, I am comparing prices for a funeral. Could you tell me a few prices from your General Price List? I'd also be glad to have the list emailed or mailed to me."

Then ask for each of these and write down the exact amount quoted:

1. The basic services fee (the fee for the funeral director and staff).
2. Direct cremation, using the lowest-priced container you offer, or one I provide.
3. Immediate burial, using the lowest-priced casket you offer, or one I provide.
4. A full funeral with viewing and burial, funeral home charges only, not cemetery costs.
5. A full funeral with viewing and cremation.
6. Your lowest-priced casket.
7. Whether you add a fee to cash advance items.

If a funeral home will not give prices by phone, you can note that and move on. Then compare totals for the same set of choices. Our funeral cost breakdown and funeral cost calculator help you line up quotes.

Example (hypothetical, not real data): A family calls three funeral homes about direct cremation. They write down the price with the home's container and the price with their own. When they compare, the gap between homes is larger than they expected, so they ask the lower-priced home for its General Price List by email before deciding.

Status of the FTC Funeral Rule update (as of November 5, 2026)

On October 20, 2022, the FTC voted to keep the Funeral Rule and to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. It asked for public comment on whether and how funeral providers should be required to share price information online or by other electronic means, such as email. The FTC held a public workshop on these questions on September 7, 2023.

As of November 5, 2026, we found no proposed rule and no final rule amending the Funeral Rule on ftc.gov or in the Federal Register. A May 14, 2026 Federal Register notice from the FTC, about extending the Rule's paperwork clearance, describes the Rule's existing requirements: itemized price lists, prices by phone, and an itemized statement. That means the federal Rule still does not require funeral homes to post prices online. State laws may add their own requirements.

If a funeral home does not follow the Rule

• Try to settle it with the funeral director first, and ask for the General Price List or itemized statement in writing.
• Contact your state's funeral board or the office that licenses funeral directors, or your state attorney general's consumer protection office.
• Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

If you are planning ahead, see our funeral planning checklist and prepaid funeral plans.