Funeral Consumers Alliance

1/11/12—Once again cemetery owners are trying to undo the state's ban on combination funeral home/cemetery businesses. Representative Evan Wynn is sponsoring LRB 3490. And their arguments sound reasonable on the surface: consumers will get one-stop shopping and economies of scale will lower prices. And if it were any other business, those would probably be true. But the death business is unique. Consumers are largely unaware of their options and legal rights, and those who arrange funerals when the death occurs are not often thinking clearly and rationally. There's simply too much potential for abuse. 

• Many people believe they're obligated to use the funeral home located on the cemetery's grounds. A surprising number of consumers who've contacted FCA believed this, whether the cemetery implied it or not. Combo businesses know this, and it insulates them from having to compete on price or service since they have a market that thinks its captive. 
• Combo businesses owned by large chains are well-known to aggressively steer consumers toward spending all their funeral money on-site. Given that these chains are usually among the highest-priced in a given area it's easy to see how grieving families can be persuaded to overspend. One California family told FCA the chain-owned cemetery where they intended to bury their mother refused to let them use the on-site chapel---even though the family was willing to pay for it---unless they used the funeral home for all services. The family refused, noting the prices were sky high, and found a family-owned funeral home that accommodated them for less. 

"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 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)!