Funeral Cost / What to Expect

Funeral planning: the 5-step process

A lot of decisions land fast, often within a day or two of a loss. Here's the sequence, broken down so you know what's coming.

Step 1: Pick a provider

First move: get your loved one into a funeral home or cremation provider's care. Hospice staff often help with this first call if they were involved. No provider picked in advance? Call around — you're not obligated to use the first or nearest name. Providers must give pricing over the phone by law, so a few quick calls are worth it.

Step 2: The arrangement meeting

Usually in person at the funeral home — this is where most decisions get made. Burial or cremation, service type (full traditional with viewing, memorial without the body, graveside-only, or no formal service), and a walkthrough of the itemized price list. Bring someone along, take the list home, ask for a day on anything non-urgent — all fine.

Step 3: The decisions that drive cost

Basic services fee: unavoidable, covers overhead regardless of other choices. Then: embalming vs. refrigeration (rarely legally required — provider must disclose when it actually is), casket or urn selection, disposition method. Choosing burial? Cemetery bills separately — plot, opening/closing, marker usually aren't on the funeral home's invoice.

Step 4: Paperwork running in parallel

Certified death certificate copies (get extra — banks, insurers, government agencies each want an original), obituary writing, burial/cremation permits. Many funeral homes bundle this coordination into the basic services fee — ask directly, it can save real hassle.

Step 5: Get the real number first

Prices set locally, provider by provider — the only way to know the total is to ask, in writing, itemized, before signing. Time permitting, get a second quote. Planning ahead rather than in the moment? This is the ideal window — a current estimate, no pressure, no clock.