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"Death Care" is the new term for the funeral and mortuary business. In spite of not wanting to be looked at as a business, Death Care is indeed big business and will continue to grow. There is a built-in market, so to speak. Some 2.1 million people in the United States die each year. At the present time the average cost of death care is $5,700. There is probably no form of commercial enterprise which the public is in such complete ignorance as is the funeral business. Today there is a wide range of products and burial options available. Many people are preplanning their funerals. Planning for your death can be as simple or as complicated as you want it. The following information is provided so you can go into the process as an informed consumer and save yourself and your family a lot of hassle and grief.
Characteristics:
Some common terms associated with Death Care:
Prearranged Funeral - Specifying the mode and cost of your final disposition while still alive.
"Guaranteed" Prepaid Funeral Plan - The funeral home promises to provide the services and merchandise you select and pay for in advance regardless of how much costs have increased by the time you die.
Pre-Need Sales - Buying graves and mausoleum crypts for future occupancy and/or paying all funeral expenses needed by making small installments over a period of time.
Remains - The body of the deceased.
Cremains - Cremated ashes of the deceased.
Grief Therapy - Creating an appropriate atmosphere to move the funeral party through a drama in which social relationships are stressed and an emotional catharsis or release is provided through ceremony.
Grief Specialists - Funeral directors are promoting themselves as so-called grief specialists, following up with comforting calls to bereaved family members after the burial, etc.
Memory Picture - The last glimpse of the deceased in an open casket. Perpetual Care Fund - A surcharge of 10% to 20% of the cost of the grave site. The monies collected are kept by the cemetery owner as an endowment fund for future upkeep and care.
Grave Liner or Vault - Cemeteries require that a casket be enclosed in a steel or concrete container.
Opening and Closing Fee - Each cemetery has a standard rate, typically between $300 and $500 for removing and replacing the overlying earth. The cost can double on a weekend or holiday.
Memorial Societies - Nonprofit organizations staffed primarily by volunteers that promote "dignity, simplicity and economy in funeral arrangements."
FTC's Funeral Rule - Rules the FTC adopted in 1984 that ban deceptive practices by funeral directors, mainly the withholding of itemized price information.
Pay on Death Bank Account or Totten Trust - Monies deposited in a special bank account that specifies at the time of your death the money in the account be payable to whomever you designate. This is not a trust instrument and has no trust terms.
Pre-Need Life Insurance - An insurance policy the funeral director buys on your behalf (you usually pay the full premium amount in a one lump sum) to pay for your prearranged funeral.
The funeral industry estimates that the average individual has to arrange for a funeral only once in fifteen years.
Characteristics: (Continued)
Even though the cost of the funeral is the third largest expenditure, after a house and car for an ordinary American family, it is most unlikely that the buyer will have discussed the funeral with anybody in advance.
The funeral buyer is generally not in the mood to compare prices, examine and appraise quality, and usually needs to make an on-the-spot decision.
The average person is faced for the first time at a moment when they are least in a position to quibble with the necessity of buying a product of which he/she is totally ignorant.
There are many decisions you will have to make beyond just picking out a casket, i.e., whether you want the casket to be left open or not; whether you want to be cremated or buried; flowers or not, etc.
Often when death comes unexpectedly to the ordinary home, burial instructions are found too late, i.e., tucked away in a safe-deposit box or contained in a will which is not read until after the funeral.
The purpose of embalming is to make the corpse presentable for viewing in an open casket.
The FTC Funeral Rule requires funeral directors to note on their price lists that embalming is usually not a legal requirement.
People are often astonished to learn that in any state embalming is not done for sanitation reasons nor is it required by law except in certain special circumstances, i.e., when the body is shipped by common carrier.
One substantial item of funeral expense which is not included in the normal expenses is the cost of shipping the dead by train or plane. One in ten of all the dead are shipped elsewhere for burial.
A little over three-fourths of all funerals are what the industry calls "regular adult funerals." The remainder are limited service funerals for infants and limited fee funerals for indigents or funerals for servicemen, handled by contract with government agencies.
The simplest prepaid funeral plans are those that are "guaranteed."
Special bank trust funds, annuities, savings accounts, even life insurance contracts can be set up to pay for your funeral when the time comes.
The percentage of your prepaid funeral fund the funeral director must invest in a trust account to be held until your death is based on state law. Many states require 100%, some go as low as 50%.
You are responsible for income tax on any interest earned on any funeral fund, annuity, savings account, or trust fund regardless of the fact that the funeral home, not you, gets the proceeds in the end.
Funeral services usually include:
1) Professional services of a funeral director or staff.
2) The hearse and other transportation services.
3) Embalming and preparation, if an open casket.
4) The funeral ceremony.
5) Facilities for your loved ones to pay their last respects.
6) Other services, such as music or religious services.
The merchandise includes:
1) Casket for your body or urn for your ashes
2) Any other burial container, such as a cemetery vault
3) Flowers, notices and or thank-you cards
Many cemeteries require the use of vaults in all burials because they prevent the grave caving in due to the eventual disintegration of the casket, not for the external preservation of the dead.
In most states, the signature of next of kin must be obtained before an autopsy may be performed, or before the deceased may be cremated, or before the body may be turned over to a medical school for research purposes (provision must be made in the decedentžs Will or Personal Letter of Direction for this).
No organization will pay for organ or body donations. However, the receiving organization will usually transport the body free of charge.
Characteristics: (Continued)
Frequently people do not know of the existence in their community of a publicly owned cemetery and few take the trouble to go there to make advanced arrangements.
If you go to a funeral home, you must be shown a price list. Prices must be given for three categories: caskets, containers (liners or vaults) and miscellaneous goods and services. This last category includes such things as embalming, transporting the body, and using the funeral home for visitation. The following can be used as a guideline to compare funeral costs:
| Service Costs |
Low |
Average |
High |
|
Take deceased to funeral home |
$38 |
$82-$110 |
$247 |
| Take deceased to final location |
$82 |
$121-$165 |
$247 |
| Embalming |
$137 |
$247-$302 |
$550 |
|
| Three-hour viewing |
$55 |
$165-$220 |
$770 |
| One-hour ceremony |
$55 |
$165-$220 |
$770 |
| Services of funeral director |
$165 |
$550-$770 |
$1,705 |
| Burial |
$396 |
$792 |
$1,375 |
| Cremation, including services |
$605 |
$795-$990 |
$1,540 |
| Grave liner |
$110 |
$330-$385 |
$577 |
| Grave Vault |
$220 |
$495-$605 |
$935 |
| Casket Prices |
Low |
Average |
High |
Minimum Casket Plywood
- Fiberboard or softwood with flat crepe interior |
$220 |
$440-495 |
$1,540 |
Minimum Steel
- Flat crepe interior |
$385 |
$660 |
$550 |
Basic Steel
- Steel; Flat crepe interior; Adjustable bed |
$605 |
$1,045-$1,265 |
$1,765 |
Standard Steel
- Steel; Better crepe interior; Adjustable bed |
$682 |
$1,320-$1,980 |
$2,530 |
|
| Polished Wood
- Poplar or pine; Crepe interior; Adjustable bed |
$863 |
$1,540-$1,760 |
$2,860 |
Oak
- Solid oak; Crepe interior; Adjustable bed |
$990 |
$1,760-$2,090 |
$3,080 |
Grave site costs may include the burial plot plus the grave liner or vault, the grave stone, opening and closing fees and a charge for perpetual care.
Cemetery costs are driven largely by land values. In 1989 the average price nationwide for a single cemetery plot was $526. Regional averages ranged from $385 in the Northeast to $703 in the West.
Religious and municipal cemeteries may place restrictions on plot ownership. Most municipal cemeteries allow anyone to purchase a grave site but offer discounts to local residents.
Cremation is growing in acceptance. Nationally the rate for cremation is between 15% and 20%. On the West coast the rate is already over 40%.
In many cities, cremation costs as little as $265.
The average cost of a small 24" x 12" granite grave marker is $395. A large stone in granite or white marble 35" x 24" can run $1,250 or more.
Individual Application/Rules:
If you decide to donate your body parts or entire body as an anatomical gift, contact a medical school or tissue bank in your area. Let someone know how you feel about organ donations, transplants, and autopsies. Air your thoughts now, and put them in writing in your Trust document or Personal Letter of Direction.
The financing of prepaid funerals can be very complex so donžt be bullied into making a quick decision.
Before you sign any prepaid funeral contract, talk to your lawyer or financial planner about which contract, if any, you should use.
Remember the prepaid funeral financing that a funeral home is promoting is usually made for the benefit of the mortuary.
Get in writing that any "excess" in your prepaid funeral account will go to your estate, otherwise it will end up in the funeral director's pocket.
Ask what happens if you move and want to change funeral homes. Some morticians will let you out of a contract if you move, others will not. Get it in writing.
Find out if the funeral home "guarantees" the price no matter how many years have passed or how much costs have increased by the time you make the final trip in the front door.
Find out what the tax consequences are of any funding arrangement you might enter.
Find out if there is a grace period during which you can cancel the contract. You should be able to change your mind for a fixed period of time at least.
Find out if the plan includes the cemetery costs and a gravestone.
Talk about cremation, ashes, memorial services, burial plots, or any feelings you have about "procedural" matters.
Choose a proper time to discuss your funeral plans with your family. A "moment of opportunity" (a major life change) may arise to do so, such as retirement, a milestone birthday, a move to a new home, or the death of a relative.
Include your funeral plans in your Personal Letter of Direction as part of your revocable living trust.
About 2,000 Americans die traveling overseas each year. Make local burial arrangements or transportation of remains back home part of your travel insurance package.
All funeral directors must give you an itemized price list. If you don't get one, go elsewhere.
You don't need a lawyer to set up a Totten trust. Go to your bank to establish the account. You are responsible for taxes on the income and when you die, the balance is included in your estate.
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