Consumers Alliance of the Finger Lakes (FCAFL)

Ten Questions About the Use of a ’s General Price List (GPL)

This document is intended to assist anyone trying to obtain and use a large number of the who wants to evaluate the cost of a funeral, GPLs on your own. Then obtain the current using the price list that is made available by a GPLs only from the funeral homes that funeral home. We recognize that details other interest you the most. But remember that the than price may affect your choice of a funeral actual prices your survivors will pay will home, such as location, recommendations depend on the prices in effect at the time of from family and friends, personal visits to the your funeral. funeral homes to see what they are like and how customers are treated by the staff, and so 3. How do I get started using a GPL? on. This article deals only with using a price First decide what type of funeral you want. list to assist your deliberations. For example, if you are interested in Direct (cremation with no ceremony), 1. What is a General Price List? you will find on the GPL a package price Every funeral home is required to have a including an alternative container for the body General Price List (GPL) showing the prices (see Question 9 for a description of this of all of its services and merchandise. Anyone container) and a price if a container is supplied can obtain a GPL from a funeral home. To do by your survivors from a source other than the this in person, it is wise to call ahead to make funeral home. The listed prices include sure that someone will be on hand to supply transport of the body to the funeral home, staff the list. Let the funeral home know you want services, securing authorization for the the information for advance planning of a cremation, and transport to the crematory. The funeral. If transportation is a problem, ask the ashes will be brought to the funeral home for funeral home to mail you a copy of the GPL. retrieval by survivors. Additional charges will Or you can ask for specific information, like be made for use of the crematory and for each the cost of Direct Cremation or Direct , that is obtained for your over the phone. Funeral homes are required to survivors by the . answer reasonable requests for information If you are interested in Direct Burial over the telephone. (burial with no ceremony), the GPL will show a package price with and a price without a 2. Are the GPLs from our area useful body container included. The nature of the and easy to read? container that is supplied varies with the FCAFL examines GPLs from nearly 40 funeral home, from an alternative container to funeral homes in its service region to perform a casket (see Question 9). The listed prices a price survey at two-year intervals. The style include the transport of the remains to the of a GPL varies from one establishment to funeral home, staff services, securing another, but with some effort one can find and authorization, and transportation of the body compare prices for the same services at to the . In addition, cemetery and multiple funeral homes. That is how the burial expenses and the fee for any copies of survey is done. If you want to do the death certificate must be paid. comparative shopping, it is a good idea to If you are interested in body donation we consult the price survey report currently advise that you look at the Resources page at posted at this FCAFL web site rather than this FCAFL web site for links to information about Anatomical Gift programs. If you Example 1. Ceremony followed by burial. want to know what a funeral home would If you want a ceremony at the funeral home charge to transport your body to a medical before the body is buried, but without a institution, you should contact the funeral viewing, then in addition to the Basic home. There is no standard policy for setting Arrangements you would choose the prices to deliver a body to a medical following: transfer of remains (body pickup), institution. Only a few funeral homes among supervision for funeral service (ceremony), those surveyed list a price for this service. use of funeral home facilities for funeral ceremony, livery service (hearse and/or other 4. What if I want a ceremony or other vehicle(s)), a casket (or alternative container) services along with my cremation or burial? for use during the ceremony and then for New York State has published a helpful burial. pamphlet (A Consumer’s Guide To Arranging a Funeral) available here: Example 2. Ceremony followed by https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/0704. cremation. If you want a ceremony at the pdf. This pamphlet explains funeral services funeral home before the body is cremated, but and terms and emphasizes the rights that without a viewing, then in addition to the consumers have while planning and Basic Arrangements you would choose the purchasing the services required for a funeral. following: transfer of remains (body pickup), Remember that cemetery costs are supervision for funeral service (ceremony), additional to those charged by funeral homes, use of funeral home facilities for funeral and crematory charges are added to the price ceremony, livery service, and a casket (or of cremation listed in the GPL. Some costs alternative container) for use during the associated with burial are avoided if one ceremony and then for cremation. chooses a “green burial” cemetery rather than a traditional cemetery. For more information Extras and variables on green burial in the Finger Lakes area, The choice of casket can add greatly to the consult the Green Burial page on the FCAFL cost of a funeral. A price range for body website: containers rather than the price of each http://www.fingerlakesfunerals.org/green- available container may be listed on the GPL. burial. In that circumstance the customer will be To plan with costs in mind, you will have given a separate list of the prices of all to work carefully with the GPL from the containers handled by the funeral home. funeral home of your choice. For any type of Rental of a casket for use at the ceremony funeral arrangement other than direct (e.g., with an alternative container used cremation or immediate burial, one must start afterwards) is permitted in New York State, with a non-refusable charge for overhead in but a listing for that service is rare among the the operation of the funeral home. This charge GPLs surveyed in our area. is listed under Arrangements, and covers the If a viewing is desired, the funeral home item listed as "Basic Arrangements" by the can insist on embalming, at a cost additional funeral home. Then you add in, item by item, to that for supervision and use of the facilities the services and merchandise listed in the GPL during the viewing. that you need for the kind of funeral you want. If a graveside service is desired, there will Note that for viewings and ceremonies the use be charges for supervision of the service and of the facilities offered by a funeral home can for setting up the facilities at the cemetery. be charged separately from supervision of the For a memorial service at, or arranged by, facilities. In some cases, prices are listed for a funeral home there will be charges for use and supervision combined. supervision and use of the facilities.

For a burial, a (traditional) cemetery can a. misrepresenting legal, crematory, and require an outer enclosure (also called a cemetery requirements. liner or vault) that will contain the casket or b. embalming for a fee without permission. alternative container and prevent the soil at the c. requiring the purchase of a casket for direct grave from sinking below the surrounding cremation. surface. These enclosures are sold by d. requiring consumers to buy certain funeral and funeral homes. goods or services as a condition for Urns for cremains are also offered for sale furnishing other funeral goods or services. by funeral homes. If cremains are buried, e. engaging in other deceptive or unfair cemetery costs are in addition to other costs of practices. cremation. Additional merchandise (e.g., memorial 7. What does the Funeral Rule specify cards, register book) will be charged about GPL contents? separately. The Rule requires the funeral director to If transportation beyond the locality or itemize the prices the goods and services that county is required, then mileage charges will are offered for sale so consumers may choose result. only those elements of a funeral that they want. Sixteen items of goods and services are “Complete” typically specified, together with the price of In the FCAFL’s price survey reports, the each item. It is from these listings that one can prices of eight services and merchandise items tabulate the cost of a particular set of funeral are added together to produce a full-service services. funeral cost index for each funeral home. The In addition, all GPLs must include the tabulation shows how each component adds to following disclosures in close proximity to the the price of a funeral. The index can be used relevant parts of the price list (Quotes indicate to compare costs at the funeral homes FTC language.): included in the survey. a. "The goods and services shown below are those we can provide to our customers. 5. Is the General Price List (GPL) of a You may choose only the items you desire. funeral home regulated by state and federal However, any funeral arrangements you select agencies? will include a charge for our basic services Yes. The so-called "Funeral Rule", and overhead. If legal or other requirements enforced by the Federal Trade Commission mean you must buy any items you did not (FTC), has been in effect since 1984. Access specifically ask for, we will explain the reason to the Funeral Rule is available via the in writing on the statement we provide Resources page at the FCAFL web site. New describing the funeral goods and services you York State enforces regulations similar to selected." those of the Funeral Rule. The Funeral Rule b. "Except in certain special cases, requires a funeral director to supply embalming is not required by law. Embalming consumers with a GPL that has accurate, may be necessary, however, if you select itemized prices and other disclosures about certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral funeral goods and services. with viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an 6. Are there general prohibitions that arrangement that does not require you to pay apply to what a funeral director can say for it, such as direct cremation or immediate and do? burial." The Funeral Rule prohibits the funeral c. "If you want to arrange a direct director from: cremation, you can use an alternative container. Alternative containers encase the body and can be made of materials like or a burial vault will satisfy these fiberboard or composition materials (with or requirements." without an outside covering). The containers we provide are... (specify containers)" 9. Are there opportunities for confusion d. "This fee for our basic services and in reading a price list? overhead will be added to the total cost of the The FCAFL looks for variations that funeral arrangements you select. (This fee is would cause confusion about the cost of the already included in our charges for direct same items at different funeral homes. The , immediate , and forwarding most common source of confusion was what or receiving remains.)" kind of "alternative container" might be used e. If the funeral home uses a separate for a particular service at a given price. The casket price list, the GPL should state the definition of an alternative container is as range of prices for the caskets sold, together follows: with the following disclosure: "A complete (a) Alternative container. An “alternative price list will be provided at the funeral container” is an unfinished wood box or other home.” non-metal receptacle or enclosure, without f. If the funeral home uses a separate burial ornamentation or a fixed interior lining, which vault price list, the GPL should state the range of is designed for the encasement of human prices for the outer burial containers sold, remains and which is made of fiberboard, together with the following disclosure: "A pressed-wood, composition materials (with or complete price list will be provided at the without an outside covering) or like materials. funeral home." Therefore, the FCAFL recommends that in any case where the type of container and its 8. Do the price lists at funeral homes in cost are an issue, the client should ask the the southern Finger Lakes area comply funeral director for a description and price for with the requirements for GPLs? the container that will be used. The text of the price survey report posted at this web site lists the departures from 10. Should I be wary while using the compliance discovered in GPLs from our price list? service area. Most of these departures are GPLs require careful reading, but an minor. educated reader can use a GPL to compile the The Alliance survey found an irregularity cost of services at a funeral home. Being wary in two GPLs that might be considered an about cost includes considering all the sources infraction of the Rule, where the price of a of expense that apply to the funeral you are casket (or alternative container) and vault planning. Readers are reminded that the "full were lumped together under one price. Vaults service funeral price index" in the FCAFL add materially to the cost of burial. They are price survey report does not include the cost of sold by funeral homes, but any requirement a burial container (casket, urn) or vault (outer for a vault is generated by a cemetery. The enclosure) or cemetery charges. Also, the required FTC disclosure on a price list for price of direct cremation does not include the vaults is as follows: "In most areas of the crematory charge. country, state or local law does not require It always pays to insist on an itemized list that you buy a container to surround the casket of charges, and the buyer should use that list in the grave. However, many cemeteries to ascertain that each charge is for a service or require that you have such a container so that merchandise that he or she actually wants. the grave will not sink in. Either a grave liner

Compiled by Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Finger Lakes www.fingerlakesfunerals.org Revised May 2017