How to read a funeral home's price list (and the 5 lines to question)

The single most powerful consumer tool in the funeral world is a plain sheet of paper called the General Price List, or GPL. Federal law requires every funeral home to give you one — itemized, to keep — the moment you ask about arrangements in person, and to quote prices over the phone. Knowing how to read it changes everything.

What the GPL is

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, the GPL lists the price of every good and service the home offers, individually. That means you can build exactly what you want and decline the rest — you are never required to buy a package.

The one non-negotiable line

There's exactly one fee you can't decline: the basic services fee (the funeral director's and staff's core professional services). Everything else on the list is, in principle, optional. If a provider implies otherwise, that's your cue to slow down.

The 5 lines most worth questioning

• Embalming. Rarely required by law. If there's no public viewing, you can usually decline it. A home can't embalm for a fee without permission.
• The casket. Often the biggest single markup. You may buy one elsewhere (including online) and the home must accept it with no surcharge.
• “Packages” vs. itemized. Packages can bundle in things you don't want. Ask for the itemized total and compare.
• Cash-advance items. Flowers, obituaries, honorariums — sometimes marked up when the home fronts them. Ask if you can arrange these yourself.
• Vault or grave liner. Required by many cemeteries but not by law; prices vary widely.

How to use it

Get the GPL from two or three providers and lay them side by side. Because the format is standardized by law, the same line items appear on each — so you're comparing apples to apples. Our costs by state pages give you a fair baseline to check each quote against, and the questions-to-ask checklist keeps the conversation on your terms.

You are a customer making a major purchase, not a supplicant. The GPL exists to protect you — use it.