Services
Funeral homes & directors
The professionals who hold the logistics of the first week.
A funeral director coordinates almost everything in the first days: care and preparation of the person who died, transportation, filing the death certificate, scheduling the service, and the paperwork most families have never seen before. A good director is part planner, part guide — they have done this thousands of times and can tell you what can wait. By U.S. law (the FTC Funeral Rule), funeral homes must give you an itemized price list on request, and you may decline any item on it.
When you’ll need them
The first call, usually within hours of the death — the funeral home typically brings the person who died into their care.
What it typically costs
The non-declinable basic services fee typically runs $2,200–$3,500. A full funeral with viewing and burial has a U.S. median around $8,300; with cremation, around $6,300. Every itemized price list is negotiable in parts — you can decline individual items.
Typical U.S. ranges, for orientation only — prices vary widely by region and provider. Always ask for an itemized price list.
Questions worth asking
- Can I see your general price list? (They must provide it.)
- What is included in the basic services fee?
- Can we hold the service somewhere other than your chapel?
- How many certified copies of the death certificate should we order through you?
- Do you handle the obituary submission, or do we?
Keeping track of who you’ve chosen?
The family workspace has a vendor list built for exactly this — contacts, status, payments, and who’s pointed at it, shared with your whole family. Free.
Open a workspaceAre you a funeral home provider?
Join the partner program — earn 50% of every archive a family you refer makes permanent, and be first when provider listings open.
Become a partner