Funeral Consumers Alliance

60 Minutes viewers!—If you caught the recent story on consumer abuses at cemeteries you'll want to learn how to protect yourself:        

—FCA's free Consumer's Guide to Cemetery Purchases

Everything you need to know about funeral and burial purchases is in the book the burialbusiness doesn't want you to read: Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death. Bonus—you can download the chapter that covers your state laws and consumer protections for just $5! 

—Your local Funeral Consumers Alliance chapter is your best advocate for finding meaningful, dignified, and affordable end-of-life arrangements. 

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Set your Tivos! 60 Minutes will air a segment on rampant consumer abuses in the cemetery industry this Sunday, May 20, 2012, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. The investigation will feature an interview with FCA executive director Josh Slocum talking to Anderson Cooper. FCA has worked with the 60 Minutes team for more than a year to represent the consumer's side of this grim story. 

Come on, you know you wanna come hang out with us in Tucson at our 2012 convention! It's open to the public, funeral directors. . .anyone. Here's the line-up. 

"VERDICT---This book is a boon for those looking to simplify and personalize caring for the dead. The inclusion of a compilation of each state’s funeral laws, including statutory citations and guidance for those investigating home funerals and burials and body donation, make this an essential purchase for consumer-protection collections."— Library Journal

Final Rights is the definitive book on the modern funeral industry. Written by FCA executive director Josh Slocum and Funeral Ethics Organization leader Lisa Carlson, Final Rights combines journalistic investigation with practical consumer advice. The only book of its kind, Final Rights unveils the tricks of the funeral trade (and how to avoid them) while calling out government regulators who dance to the $15-billion death industry's tune when they're supposed to be protecting you, the funeral consumer.

• In eight states the law says you have to hire a funeral home, even if you want to care for a deceased relative privately.

Our popular funeral planning kit, Before I Go, You Should Know, is now available in an enhanced version! The kit, which comes with a funeral planning booklet (featuring illustrations by Edward Gorey) you fill in, along with your state's advance medical directives ("living will"), can now be ordered with your state's individual chapter from the book Final Rights. Along with a free bonus chapter, Necessary Information, the enhanced kit will show you:

• How to file a death certificate and carry out a family-directed funeral

• Where to file a complaint against a funeral home or cemetery

• How well (or how badly) prepaid funerals are regulated and how to avoid being ripped off

• Regulations particular to your state that govern how funeral homes and cemeteries treat you

. . .and much more! Check it out in our bookstore.

Need information fast? Order a downloadable version of your state's chapter from Final Rights. You'll get an email with a link to your downloadable .pdf. Each chapter comes with a free bonus, Necessary Information. Just $5 (and $4 of that goes directly to FCA's charitable mission to protect you from funeral fraud)!