What makes a funeral expensive?
A funeral home is an expensive business to run. Go to a local funeral home and ask for a General Price List. They have to give you one if you ask. This list is mandated by the Federal Trade Commission, as is the language on it.The first item is the charge for the funeral director and staff. This is what the charge is for anyone to use the facility, and it covers the cost of overhead, salaries, taxes, insurance, utilities, etc. Funeral homes are businesses, and it costs money to run a business, as well as to keep up the appearance, pay the taxes, pay the employees, have health insurance, and any other expense a business incurs. There’s usually a large parking lot to maintain.There are charges for embalming, a specialized process which requires expensive chemicals. Hearses, limousines, call cars, and flower cars are expensive vehicles to buy and customize, and they all require gas, oil, and maintenance. There has to be an answering service for night calls, and staff has to be paid overtime for those calls. It’s a 24/7 business.Caskets are generally sold at a profit, and it’s really the only thing a funeral home sells that makes a profit. I always tried to sell American-made caskets because I believe in that. Those are more expensive. Some firms sell cheap, Chinese or Mexican made caskets at a higher profit margin. They look the same as the American-made but are of much less quality.Other charges not made by the funeral home are the cemetery plot, the opening and closing of a grave, the burial vault, flowers, and the newspaper obituary (sold as classified advertising by the paper, and sometimes as much as $1.00 a word). Death certificates, issued by the county, can be as much as $35.00 apiece.Incidental costs might include travel and housing for out-of-town family and guests, food, postage, video tributes, commercially made programs or memorials, an occasional security team, motorcycle escorts to the cemetery and so on.You might ask, how much are weddings? Funerals involve the same kind of planning, but you only have three or four days to do the same things—arrange a church or hall, get the flowers, get the musicians, put notices in the paper, get everyone from out of town there, get an officiant—you have the idea. All of this has a cost.
Why do I have to pay for the funeral of my parents?
Legally- you are not responsible at all for the funeral costs/ cremation/ or disposal of your parents remains. Ethically - in my opinion, you are.But in the case where a family is unable or unwilling to ‘claim’ a decedent - there are procedures in all US States to deal with this. In the state I live in it is the Sheriff of the county where the decedent lived (first choice) or where they died (second choice) if different.First the decedent will be offered to an anatomical program for donation. If not acceptable, the Sheriff’s Office will usually have an arrangement for a low-cost cremation with a local funeral home. The ‘cremains’ (ashes) are usually given to family- as no one else would want them. If the decedent had ANY property of value- the Sheriff will place a lien on it to recoup the cost of the cremation. If the decedent had nothing of value- the Sheriff’s Office is still responsible for the costs. In every case I know of the decedent is cremated (because it is the least expensive)- even if the family of the decedent is against cremation.For people who are counting on an anatomical program (whole body donation)- I would have a back up plan. The requirements to be accepted are quite narrow. Most people do not qualify due to weight. Even if you are ‘pre-accepted’ if there is a delay between when you die and when you are found, you may still be turned down. I have dealt with several families who were counting on this program to cover costs, who suddenly were looking for something else. The anatomical program is great- it is a much needed and very useful- and I have nothing against it.Another thing to consider- many states have a “victim’s of violent crimes” grant program that will cover the cost of a funeral if your parents were unfortunate enough to qualify.But you do not HAVE to pay for your parents funeral.
How does life insurance pay off or cover most of a funeral?
-I want to become a Lic. Funeral Director & Embalmer I work part-time in a family-owned independent funeral home (i don't like those chains) and by "family-owned" i mean it is independent and is owned by the original owners (not SCI, Dignity Memorial, or Stewart Enterprises, etc.) I have nothing against that, I just personally believe family-run independent funeral business are the best. I'm in high school, then im going to a community college that offers a great mortuary-science program. anyways getting back on topic, going in this field of professional career (or lifestyle has i call it) I want to know how is it people, average people, and families, can afford an average funeral which can range to $8,000-$10,000 these days. A "complete" Traditional service by itself w/o merchandise included yet is about $4,000 (I live in upstate NY and that's how it is mostly around here) lets not forget the casket, lets go with an 18 gauge steel casket priced for $3,500 ....and a burial vault, lets going with a concrete marbleon one for about $2,000 Ok, so so far you are paying the funeral home approx. $9,500.oo total now lets say you buy a single plot and a bronze flat maker for a grave (this goes to the cemetery costs, not funeral home) im guessing a single plot is about $750 and a in-expensive bronze marker is about $300? now the total grand cost is...that is $10,550.oo! -Remember that's typical funeral these days. Now, back to my main question...how is it that someone pays all of these costs off? How does life insurance or any other insurance take care of this. oh by the way, the person didn't prearranged services either. i know how prearrangements work, you pick what you like, the funeral home files it, and you begin to deposit payments (like any other payments) by months to put into a trust and cover the costs of the funeral you are planning for in the future.
What are some red flags when selecting a funeral home?
Up selling. Phrases like, “guaranteed for life,” and other nonsensical statements like that (given the context).Lack of willingness to explain what the law requires versus what the funeral home would like to sell you. For example, some states allow for a body to be cremated by itself, whereas other places require a casket. The casket does not have to be an expensive wooden one, rather can be a very basic one made from alternative materials.Lack of listening to what you want, and lack of being able to offer options when asked.Funerals are expensive. Don’t allow the emotion of the situation to interfere with your comparing costs between more than one funeral home.Generally speaking, I usually warn people away from “cremation societies,” and those places that only do cremations for a wide range of reasons.