Regulating the death industry

Is there no truth in the venerable aphorism "Those who review the remains discount the soul"?

There are entire industries devoted to making it possible for those who wish to treat their beloved dead as did the ancient Egyptians – not only with embalming but with caskets – for which the Egyptians built pyramids.

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Why not cremation?

While this would deprive the families of our military dead of the traditional flag-draped casket, surely Old Glory can be displayed near the urn of an earthly body that had been immediately reduced to ashes, rather than subjected to months or years of gradual deterioration underground. And that urn can be buried at home.

Do all those who die – as we all will eventually – really abhor cremation so much as to pay the considerable costs of caskets, embalming, gravesites and tombstones?

Business writer Sandra Block of USA Today has written a particularly valuable article headlined "Plan funeral now to make sure you have the final word."

She reports the following:

For many families, a funeral will be one of the most expensive purchases they ever make. The average cost: $6,500, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. But some traditional funerals with a casket, limousines, a viewing and burial can exceed $20,000.

Given the expense, you should talk to several funeral homes and compare prices, says Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a consumer group. Don't let someone pressure you into buying the most expensive casket in the showroom.

Ms. Block also notes the existence of a law about which there has been too little media reporting:

A federal law known as the Funeral Rule is designed to protect consumers from unscrupulous funeral home operators. Unfortunately, few consumers know about the law, Slocum says. Among the provisions:

• A funeral home must provide you with an itemized price list of its products and services. Items usually include the fees for professional services, transportation and care of the body, costs of providing facilities and staff for a wake or viewing, flowers, music and preparation of obituary notices. The price list lets you choose only the products and services you want. It also makes it easier to compare the prices offered by different funeral homes.

  The funeral home is required to give you a free copy of the price list when you visit. It's also required to tell you its prices over the phone. If a funeral director refuses to do so, suggesting instead that you come in for an appointment, "That should be a warning sign," Slocum says.

• If state or local law requires you to buy a particular service, the funeral provider must disclose it on the price list, along with a reference to the law.

• When you visit a funeral home, the director is required to show you a list of caskets the company sells, along with descriptions and prices, before showing you the caskets. This rule is designed to prevent funeral homes from steering you to the most expensive models.

• If you buy your casket from somewhere else, the funeral home can't refuse to provide services. And it can't charge you an extra fee. This is an important provision, because a casket is typically the most expensive item bought for a traditional funeral. Prices range from $2,000 to $10,000.

• If you want a direct cremation – which means there will be no visitation or viewing – the funeral home can't require you to buy a casket. Upon request, the funeral home must offer an unfinished wood box or other alternative container.

• Funeral homes are barred from requiring embalming if you plan to be buried or cremated shortly after death. Except in certain cases, embalming isn't required by law, and funeral homes must disclose that fact to potential customers.

Many funeral homes allow individuals to pay in advance for their funerals. These prepaid plans appeal to people who prefer not to burden their families with funeral costs. Some prepaid plans are cash-value life insurance policies that will cover funeral costs. In other cases, funeral homes invest your money in a trust.

These plans aren't covered by federal law, and state regulation is uneven. Some families have lost their money when a funeral home went out of business. In October, a Kentucky funeral home director was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing $90,000 from prepaid funeral plans.

Others have discovered, after moving to another state, that their plans were non-transferable. "Prepaid funerals are the biggest segment of complaints we get," Slocum says.

Once you've decided on your final arrangements, write a letter of instruction for your survivors. Make sure it's in a place they can get to quickly. Any decisions about organ or body donations need to be made within hours of your death. Depending on your religious faith, you may want to be buried within two to four days.

If you want family and friends to make charitable contributions in your name, your survivors will need to include that information in your obituary, usually published shortly after death.

I am grateful to USA Today and to whatever legislators passed the federal rule.

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