Yes. Funeral homes that sell funeral goods and services must give accurate price information over the phone when you ask about offerings or prices. The federal Funeral Rule is the nationwide rule that controls funeral pricing disclosures. It lets you shop by phone without visiting in person or giving personal details first.
Table of Contents
- What the phone rule requires
- How to ask without giving personal details
- What a lawful answer sounds like
- When a callback is allowed
- What the rule does not require
What the phone rule requires
The rule covers anyone who asks by telephone about funeral goods, services, or prices. The provider must share accurate information from three written price lists: the General Price List, the Casket Price List, and the Outer Burial Container Price List, according to the current text of federal rule 16 CFR 453.2 published by Cornell LII. It must also share other responsive information that is readily available.
That phone protection exists so families can compare costs before choosing. The Federal Trade Commission adopted it after finding that many funeral directors failed to answer telephone price questions, as explained in a 2009 FTC advisory opinion to Mark Duffey. You can call several homes in one afternoon and narrow the list.
How to ask without giving personal details
You do not have to give your name, address, or telephone number before getting prices. The FTC's consumer guide to the Funeral Rule states that funeral directors must give price information on the telephone if asked.
Ask directly for itemized prices from the written lists. A clear script helps you stay in control of the call.
- Ask for the General Price List prices for the services you want, such as basic services, transfer, embalming, viewing, ceremony, and cremation or burial.
- Ask for casket or outer burial container prices by model or material, not only for the cheapest or most expensive option.
- Write down each amount, the exact item name, and the name of the person who helped you.
What a lawful answer sounds like
A lawful answer gives specific dollar amounts for specific items. It should match what appears on the home's written price lists. Vague ranges, package-only quotes, or a promise to mail the list later do not satisfy the phone rule. The FTC warned businesses that quoting only packages or offering to send a price list instead of answering violates the rule.
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Its 2024 business guidance followed an undercover check of funeral-home calls. Ask for the separate charge if the answer bundles services together. For example, ask what direct cremation includes and costs, then ask separately about viewing, memorial service, urn, and transportation. Ask the same set of questions at each home so the totals compare fairly.
When a callback is allowed
A callback is sometimes lawful, but delay is limited. A home may use an answering machine or answering service. It may decline routine after-hours price disclosure if that is its normal practice.
Staff in an arrangements conference may take a message. In each of those cases, the home must promptly return the call with the requested information. Leave one number, state the exact prices you need, and ask when to expect the return call. If no one responds, call the next home and keep shopping.
What the rule does not require
The phone rule does not require a home to mail you its price list. It also does not currently require a home to post prices online. Online posting was only proposed in the FTC's 2022 review of funeral-industry practices. In-person shoppers receive stronger paperwork protection.
A home visited in person must provide a keepable written General Price List. Phone shoppers receive spoken information taken from those lists, which is why written notes matter during calls. Enforcement is active. FTC staff called 278 randomly selected providers in 2023 in its first undercover phone sweep, then sent warning letters to 39 homes in January 2024, as reported by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association summary of the sweep. Keep the names, dates, and quoted amounts from your calls.
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