Choose a funeral provider: price lists and your rights
What the federal Funeral Rule requires of funeral providers, how to get prices by phone and on the General Price List, and how to compare at least two providers on the same arrangement.
- Start here: the essentials
- 1. The Funeral Rule and whom it covers
- 2. Prices by phone and the three price lists
- 3. The basic services fee, packages and buying only what you choose
- 4. Comparing providers: one script for every call
- 5. Prepaid contracts, family-directed care and complaints
- 6. The rule in detail and its history
- 7. See it
- 8. Practice
- 9. Your arrangements
- 10. Check your work
- 11. Knowledge check and scenario
Start here Essentials
At minimum, get prices for one arrangement from two providers, asked the same way, and write them side by side. Everything marked Go deeper can wait.
- Write the arrangement you are pricing in one line, for example "direct cremation, alternative container, we provide the urn" (buying only what you choose).
- Call at least two providers and ask each the same questions from the call script. You do not have to give your name first (one script for every call).
- Ask each to email or text its General Price List (the three price lists).
- Write each total and what it includes on the comparison sheet, including the basic services fee (comparison sheet).
- Choose a provider, or call a third if the two answers do not line up (when to call another).
Minimum time: about 45 minutes of calls. Done when: the comparison sheet shows two or more providers' prices for the same arrangement, each with its basic services fee.
1. The Funeral Rule and whom it covers Understand
The Funeral Rule is a federal regulation, 16 CFR Part 453, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It sets what a funeral provider has to tell you about prices, and what it may and may not require you to buy (eCFR, 16 CFR Part 453, the rule text). Terms used in this chapter are collected in the glossary.
The rule has been in force in its present form since 1994. The FTC began a review in 2020, published an advance notice in 2022 asking whether to require online price lists, and held a public workshop in 2023. As of October 2026 it has proposed no amendment, and the rule text is unchanged (reginfo.gov, the rulemaking's official record). In 2026 the FTC renewed the rule's paperwork clearance with the same four duties: a General Price List, casket and outer burial container price lists, prices by phone, and an itemized statement at the end of the arrangements. Federal rule
Who the rule covers
The rule applies to a funeral provider: any business that sells or offers to sell both funeral goods (such as caskets and containers) and funeral services (such as transfer of the body, embalming or arranging the service) to the public. The test is what the business sells, not what it calls itself.
That matters for your comparison: a cemetery's opening and closing fee or a separate crematory's charge may not appear on any federal price list, so you ask for those prices separately (Goods, prices and the statement).
| Business | Covered? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A funeral home | Yes | Sells goods and services |
| A cemetery or crematory that also sells funeral goods and services | Yes | Meets the goods-and-services test |
| A cemetery with no funeral home on site, selling only plots and its own charges | No | The FTC's cemetery page says the rule covers cemeteries only when they sell both |
| A casket, urn or monument seller | No | Sells goods only |
| A body donation program | Not addressed by the rule | Ask the program for its own terms (Burial, cremation and other choices) |
The FTC's consumer page on the rule names casket and monument dealers, and cemeteries without an on-site funeral home, as outside it (FTC, The FTC Funeral Rule).
Why the rule matters on the first day
Most families call one funeral home, often the one nearest or the one the family used before. The FTC's page on choosing a provider says that limiting the search to one home risks paying more than necessary (FTC, Choosing a Funeral Provider). The rule makes a comparison possible in an hour: prices by phone, a written list to keep, and the right to pick items one at a time. A 2021 survey reported by two consumer groups found that only 25 percent of adults knew funeral homes have to give phone quotes and an itemized price list (Funeral Consumers Alliance and Consumer Federation of America, 2021 report).
You can call providers before the person has died, and before you have chosen burial or cremation. If the person died at home under hospice, ask the hospice nurse how long the body can stay at home while you call (The first hours). If the person died in a hospital or facility, ask the staff how long they can hold the body. Ask the authority
This manual does not rate funeral homes or say whether a price is fair. It says what the rule requires and what to compare. If you think a provider broke the rule, report it to the FTC and your state funeral board; they decide whether it did. Your state may add duties of its own (New York's attorney general, for example, describes a price list given by phone as well as in person), so a provider's obligations where you are can be wider than the federal rule.
2. Prices by phone and the three price lists
The rule gives you price information in four forms. Each has a trigger: the moment the provider has to hand it over.
| Disclosure | When the provider has to give it | What it shows | Keep it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prices by phone | When you ask by phone | Accurate information from the price lists, and other readily available information that answers your question | Write it on the call sheet |
| General Price List (GPL) | In person, when you begin discussing prices, the type of arrangement, or specific goods or services, at the funeral home or anywhere else | Each service's price, the price ranges for caskets and outer burial containers, and the basic services fee | Yes; the rule says it is given "for retention" |
| Casket price list | In person, when caskets come up, and before any casket is shown | Every casket and alternative container not needing special order, with a description and price | Ask for a copy |
| Outer burial container price list | In person, before any vault or liner is shown | Each vault and grave liner with its price | Ask for a copy |
| Itemized statement (Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected) | At the end of the arrangements discussion | Each item you chose with its price, cash advance items, and the total | Yes; check it before you sign (Goods, prices and the statement) |
Prices by phone
The rule requires a provider to give accurate price information by phone to anyone who asks. You do not have to give your name, address or phone number first, under the FTC's consumer page. FCA's one-page rights summary says the same: the funeral director may not require personal information before giving prices (Funeral Consumers Alliance, Your Funeral Rights). Federal rule
A phone price is only as good as the question. "How much is a cremation?" invites a range or a starting price. "What is your total price for direct cremation with your least expensive alternative container, and does that include the basic services fee and the crematory fee?" gets a number you can compare. The call script below is built for that.
By email or text
The rule does not require a provider to mail, email or post its price list. The FTC says many homes email or text price lists on request, and many post them voluntarily (FTC, Shopping for Funeral Services by Phone or Online). Ask. A GPL in your inbox lets you read the lines yourself instead of relying on notes from a call, and it is the document you check the itemized statement against later.
If you are arranging from a distance, the same FTC page says the home has to give you an itemized list of what you chose, with a price for each item, before you accept the arrangements. Ask for it by email or text and read it before you agree.
What the FTC's undercover calls found
In November 2024 the FTC reported on undercover calls its staff made to funeral providers (FTC consumer alert, Calling a funeral home about prices and services, November 2024). Some providers:
- gave no prices by phone;
- needed several calls before giving prices, especially after hours;
- quoted different prices for the same services on different calls;
- gave estimates or ranges instead of specific prices;
- left out required third-party or government fees unless the caller asked.
The FTC's advice is to ask what each service costs and includes, ask for itemized prices if offered a package, ask about transportation, permits, death certificates and obituary notices, and call another provider if one will not give accurate prices by phone. This chapter's call script follows that advice. Convention
3. The basic services fee, packages and buying only what you choose
The basic services fee
The basic services fee pays for the provider's staff and overhead: the arrangements conference, planning, getting permits, placing notices, coordinating with the cemetery or crematory. The rule calls it the "services of funeral director and staff." Under 16 CFR 453.2(b)(4), it is the only fee for services, facilities or unallocated overhead that a provider may make non-declinable, unless other law requires one. FCA's rights pamphlet says the same: the fee is included in every arrangement and the family can't decline it. Federal rule
The call script asks, every time, whether a quoted price includes the basic services fee. A direct cremation price on a GPL should include it under the rule; a price read out from a website or a package may not. Write the fee in its own row on the comparison sheet so two providers' totals are counted the same way.
The rule lets the provider show the fee in one of two ways:
- A separate line on the GPL, with a statement that it will be added to the total. In this case the prices for direct cremation, immediate burial, forwarding and receiving remains already include it.
- Built into the casket prices, with a statement that the same fee is added if you provide the casket.
Buying only what you choose
Every GPL has to carry the sentence "You may choose only the items you desire." You pay for the items you select, the basic services fee, and anything a law, cemetery or crematory requires and the provider explains in writing.
The rule makes it unfair for a provider to make one good or service a condition of buying another, unless law requires it, and to charge any fee beyond the basic services fee, the items you selected, and items required by law or by a cemetery or crematory and explained to you in writing. A provider does not have to supply a combination that is impossible, impractical or excessively burdensome. Federal rule
Three applications come up on the first calls:
- A casket or urn bought elsewhere. The FTC's consumer page says a provider cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought elsewhere, or charge a fee for it, and you need not be there when it is delivered. Details are in Goods, prices and the statement.
- A casket for cremation. The rule makes it unfair for a provider or a crematory to require a casket for direct cremation, and a provider that arranges direct cremation has to make an alternative container available: an unfinished wood box or other non-metal container without ornamentation, such as fiberboard or pressed wood.
- Embalming. The rule allows a provider to charge for embalming only when law requires it in the circumstances, or when a family member or other authorized person gave approval beforehand, or in a narrow case where the family could not be reached. Ask before any pickup whether they will embalm, and say no if you do not want it (Goods, prices and the statement).
Packages
A package is a set of goods and services sold for one price. The rule allows packages, but the FTC's provider page says they may be offered only in addition to the itemized prices, not instead of them. A package can cost less than its items bought separately, or more, or include items you do not want. Compare the package price with the sum of only the items you would choose from the GPL. If an item in the package is one you do not want, ask what the price is without it.
Name the arrangement before you call
Prices differ most between arrangement types, so price one type at a time. The rule defines two simple ones:
- Direct cremation: cremation without formal viewing, visitation or a ceremony with the body present. A memorial or gathering can still follow.
- Immediate burial (the FTC's consumer pages call it direct burial): burial without formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present, except a graveside service.
A traditional funeral adds viewing, a ceremony with the body present, and usually embalming and a casket. Burial, cremation and other choices covers how to choose among them. If you have not chosen, price direct cremation and immediate burial from each provider; those two lines on a GPL already include the basic services fee, which makes them the easiest to compare.
4. Comparing providers: one script for every call
Call at least two providers. The FTC's choosing-a-provider page says to compare the total cost of everything together as well as single items. Ask each provider the same questions in the same order, and write the answers on the provider calls sheet as you go. The same questions make the answers comparable; a different question to each provider gets answers you cannot line up. Convention
| # | Ask | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "I'm comparing prices for [the arrangement in one line]. What is your total price for that?" | One arrangement, one total. Say "comparing"; the rule does not require you to give your name. |
| 2 | "Does that include the basic services fee?" | The fee is the one item you can't decline; it has to be in every total you compare. |
| 3 | "Is the cremation (or the cemetery) charge included, or billed separately?" | The FTC lists a crematory fee as a direct cremation cost when the home does not own the crematory. |
| 4 | "What is your least expensive container (alternative container, or casket for burial), and its price?" | The lowest-priced item may not be on display (Goods, prices and the statement). |
| 5 | "What is your price if we provide the container or urn ourselves?" | The GPL has to show a separate direct cremation price when the buyer provides the container. |
| 6 | "What other charges will there be: transfer from [the place of death], mileage, permits, certified death certificates, an obituary notice?" | The FTC's sweep found third-party and government fees left out unless asked. |
| 7 | "Will you refrigerate rather than embalm, and is there a charge?" | Embalming needs your permission; the FTC says refrigeration is often an acceptable alternative. |
| 8 | "Can you email or text me your General Price List today?" | Not required by the rule; many homes do it on request. |
| 9 | "Who owns the business?" (optional) | The FTC notes a home that looks local may belong to a national company; ask if that matters to you. |
For a burial, replace question 3 with "Does your price include anything at the cemetery, or is that all separate?" and add the cemetery's own costs later (Burial, cremation and other choices, Goods, prices and the statement). If the person died away from home, ask the provider near the death for its price for forwarding remains and the provider at home for receiving remains; both are GPL lines that include the basic services fee.
When to call another
Call a third provider when:
- a provider will not give a total by phone, or gives only a range;
- the two totals cover different things and you cannot tell which items differ;
- a provider says an item is required and will not say which law or which cemetery or crematory requires it.
A local nonprofit funeral consumer group can help. FCA's planning pamphlet suggests contacting a local affiliate and says some have negotiated discounts or run price surveys (Funeral Consumers Alliance, Four-Step Funeral Planning). Treat an affiliate's survey as a reference with its own date, not as the price you will be quoted.
Writing the comparison
On the comparison sheet, give each provider a column and each line item a row: basic services fee, the arrangement's main line (for example direct cremation with alternative container), transfer, crematory fee if separate, death certificates, and anything else the provider named. Where a provider's total includes an item, write 0 and "incl." in the note rather than a second price. Leave a price blank until the provider answers; the sheet totals each column and marks a total over any blank as incomplete. Under these quoted prices, the totals show which provider is lower for this arrangement; the itemized statement settles the final price (Goods, prices and the statement).
Checking a license
Every state and DC except Hawaii had a funeral regulatory board or office in 2021, per the FCA and Consumer Federation of America report; its Appendix A names each one (for example, the Washington Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers). Massachusetts's board, for example, says on its consumer fact sheet that you can check a funeral director's license through the state's online license search or by phone. Search for your state's funeral board and ask how to check a license there. Varies by state
5. Prepaid contracts, family-directed care and complaints
When a prepaid contract exists
A preneed (prepaid) contract is an agreement, made before death, to buy funeral goods or services from a provider. If the person signed one (Who decides covers finding it), the provider named in it is the first call, but not necessarily the end of the comparison. Ask the provider for a copy of the contract and its current GPL, and compare them line by line: what the contract covers, what it leaves out, and what the provider says will cost extra now.
State law governs prepayment, and the FTC's planning page says protections vary widely, with some states offering little effective protection (FTC, Planning Your Own Funeral). It also says moving the arrangement to another provider, or a death away from home, often brings extra cost. New York's attorney general describes New York prepaid money as held in trust with interest (New York Attorney General, Funeral Services brochure, 2026). Texas's Department of Banking describes, for its state, a refund on cancellation of a trust-funded contract that is in most cases 90 percent of payments plus half the interest. These are two states' examples. Ask your state's funeral board or attorney general what applies where the contract was signed. Varies by state
A plot bought years ago does not tell you whether the cemetery's opening and closing fee is paid. The cemetery may be a separate business from the funeral home (Massachusetts's board says they are separate in that state), so ask the cemetery directly.
Family-directed care
Family-directed care means the family does some or all of the steps a funeral provider would. If you are considering it, read the caution first; the state limits and what the family takes on are under Go deeper.
This manual does not teach the physical care of a body or how to transport one. If you are considering family-directed care, read your state's rules first, ask your state funeral board and the local vital records office what a family may file, and ask the crematory or cemetery whether it accepts a body from a family. A home funeral guide or doula can give resources; in Massachusetts, the state board says they may offer only resources and direction, not hands-on care.
The FTC's choosing-a-provider page says that in most states people are not legally required to use a funeral home to plan and conduct a funeral. FCA's list of states that restrict caring for your own dead names nine that require a funeral director for some steps: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York (Funeral Consumers Alliance, the nine states that restrict caring for your own dead). The steps differ by state: in Iowa, FCA lists making cremation arrangements; in New York, filing the death certificate, removal and transport, the permit, and supervising burial or cremation. This is FCA's compiled list as of 2026; confirm with your state's funeral board or vital records office. Varies by state
Family-directed care can mean doing every step, or hiring a provider for some (transport, or the cremation itself) and doing the rest. FCA's home funeral pamphlet lists what the family takes on: the death certificate and permit, a container, cooling the body, transport, and finding a cemetery or crematory that accepts a body from a family (Funeral Consumers Alliance, How to Arrange a Home Funeral).
Where complaints go
FCA's rights pamphlet lists three places: the state funeral board, the state attorney general, and the FTC (FCA gives the FTC's number as 1-877-382-4357). Keep the GPL, your call notes and the itemized statement; they are the evidence. The board or the FTC decides whether the rule was broken. Ask the authority
6. The rule in detail and its history Go deeper
Every line the GPL has to itemize
Under 16 CFR 453.2(b)(4), a GPL carries the business name, address and phone, the caption "general price list" and an effective date. If the provider offers them, it itemizes:
| Line | Note |
|---|---|
| Forwarding remains to another funeral home | Includes the basic services fee |
| Receiving remains from another funeral home | Includes the basic services fee |
| Direct cremation | A price range, a separate price when the buyer provides the container, and a price for each direct cremation with an alternative container; includes the basic services fee |
| Immediate burial | A price range and a separate price when the buyer provides the casket; includes the basic services fee |
| Transfer of remains to the funeral home | |
| Embalming | With the disclosure that embalming is not required by law except in certain special cases |
| Other preparation of the body | |
| Use of facilities and staff for viewing | |
| Use of facilities and staff for funeral ceremony | |
| Use of facilities and staff for memorial service | |
| Use of equipment and staff for graveside service | |
| Hearse | |
| Limousine | |
| Casket price range (or each price) | Unless on a separate casket price list |
| Outer burial container price range (or each price) | Unless on a separate list |
| Basic services of funeral director and staff | Shown separately, or built into casket prices with a disclosure |
Required disclosures include "You may choose only the items you desire," the embalming statement, the alternative container statement beside direct cremation, the outer burial container statement (in most areas law does not require one, but many cemeteries do, and a grave liner or a vault meets the requirement), and, where the provider marks up or earns a rebate on cash advance items, a statement that it charges for its services in obtaining them. The rule also requires providers to keep each price list for at least a year after last use and each statement for a year. Section 453.8(c) says the rule does not apply to the business of insurance.
Why online prices are still not required
The FTC's 2022 advance notice asked whether to require providers to post itemized prices online or send them electronically, and also raised crematory fee disclosure, a reduced basic services fee, new forms of disposition, the embalming disclosure and readability (Federal Register, 2022 advance notice). The 2023 workshop examined the same question (Federal Register, 2023 workshop notice). The Spring 2025 regulatory agenda listed the next step as staff review of comments; the 2026 agenda does not list the review. The FTC's May 2026 paperwork notice asks to keep the rule's information duties for three more years and does not mention amending the rule (Federal Register, May 2026 paperwork notice). An advance notice is a question, not a rule; until a final rule is published, online posting is voluntary.
Penalties
The FTC can seek civil penalties for rule violations. For penalties assessed after January 17, 2025, the maximum under section 5(m)(1)(A) of the FTC Act is $53,088 per violation (eCFR, 16 CFR 1.98). The figure is adjusted for inflation; older summaries carry lower numbers. The FTC's November 2024 alert reports what its undercover calls found and advises consumers; it does not, in the text we read, list penalties from that sweep.
How state boards inform consumers
The 2021 FCA and Consumer Federation of America report graded each state regulator's consumer information. Seven earned an A (Arizona, California, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia); five a B, including Washington; seven an F. The grades are five years old and the websites may have changed, but the appendix is the only directory-style list of regulators we found. Use it to find your board's name, then search for the board's current site.
7. See it See it
Sam Okoro prices direct cremation. Ellen Okoro, 71, died at home in Spokane, Washington, at 4:10 a.m. on a Tuesday, under home hospice care. Her handwritten note asks for cremation and "no funeral." Sam, her only child, decides. Late that Tuesday morning Sam writes the arrangement in one line, "direct cremation, alternative container, no viewing, we provide the urn later," and calls two providers with the call script while Dev Raman sits beside them and takes notes on the provider calls sheet. (The call time and Dev's note-taking are details added for this example.)
| Line | Provider A | Provider B |
|---|---|---|
| Direct cremation with alternative container, total quoted | $1,450 | $2,190 |
| Basic services fee included? | Yes (said on the call) | Yes (shown on the GPL) |
| Crematory fee included? | Not answered clearly | Yes |
| Certified death certificates included? | Not answered clearly | No; price per copy on the GPL |
| GPL by email | Promised for the afternoon | Received during the call |
Known: both providers quoted the same arrangement; both quotes include the basic services fee; Provider B's GPL is in Sam's email. Washington is not on FCA's list of nine states that require a funeral director for some steps, though Sam is using a provider anyway.
Assumed: Sam assumes Provider A's $1,450 is a complete price. That is Sam's assumption, not something the call settled.
Open: whether the $1,450 includes the crematory fee and death certificates. Provider A's GPL settles the first; the itemized statement settles both (Goods, prices and the statement). Under these quoted prices Provider A is lower, potentially by less than $740 once the open items are added. Sam writes both columns on the comparison sheet and waits for Provider A's GPL before choosing. If it does not arrive by the evening, Sam calls a third provider.
The Feld family and a prepaid contract. Ruth Feld, 91, died on a Thursday evening at a nursing home in Rochester, New York. Ten years ago she signed a prepaid contract with a Rochester funeral home, and she owns a plot beside her late husband in a Jewish cemetery. The rabbi advises burial as soon as possible, with the funeral on Sunday so Aaron can fly in from San Diego and to avoid Shabbat. Aaron coordinates calls from California; Miriam handles on-site tasks in Rochester.
Aaron calls the funeral home named in the contract first. He asks for a copy of the contract and the current General Price List by email. When Miriam meets the director in person, the rule entitles her to the GPL to keep at the start of the discussion. Aaron lays the contract beside the GPL and marks each contract item on the GPL. He calls the cemetery separately about opening and closing, because the cemetery is a separate business.
Known: a contract exists with a named provider; the plot exists; the family wants a Sunday funeral.
Assumed: Aaron assumes the contract covers the basic services fee. That is his reading of the contract, not the provider's confirmation.
Open: what the contract covers, and whether cemetery opening and closing is part of it. The funeral home answers the first and the cemetery the second; New York's trust rules are in the attorney general's brochure. Whether the basic services line on the final statement was already paid under the contract is settled by comparing the contract with the itemized statement (Goods, prices and the statement). New York is on FCA's list of nine states that require a funeral director for some steps; the family is using one.
Free sources that show the rule at work:
- FTC, The FTC Funeral Rule: the consumer's list of rights in one page.
- FTC consumer alert, November 2024: what undercover calls found and what to ask.
- Funeral Consumers Alliance, Your Funeral Rights: a printable one-page summary from a nonprofit consumer group.
- eCFR, 16 CFR Part 453: the rule text, if a provider disputes what it says.
8. Practice Practice
Minimum: two providers called with the script, and their totals for one arrangement on the comparison sheet, each with the basic services fee. Time: about 45 minutes, plus waiting for emailed price lists. Materials: a phone, the call script on this page, the provider calls sheet and the comparison sheet, and an email address or phone that can receive a price list.
- Write the arrangement in one line. Use the type from your decisions sheet; if it is not decided, price direct cremation and immediate burial.
- Pick two providers. Include any provider named in a prepaid contract, and one other. If the person died away from home, include one near the death and one near home.
- Call each with the script, in order. Write each answer on the provider calls sheet during the call: the date, who you spoke with, the total, and anything not answered.
- Ask each to email or text the GPL. Tick "sent price list" when it arrives.
- Fill the comparison sheet. One column per provider, the basic services fee in its own row, 0 with "incl." in the notes where a total includes an item, and a blank where the provider has not answered.
- Mark what is still open. For each unanswered item, write who answers it: the GPL, the provider, or the itemized statement.
- Choose, or call a third. Record the choice, or "comparing", on the decisions sheet.
Read one GPL line by line against the table in the rule in detail. Tick each required line and disclosure you find. A missing disclosure is a question for the provider, not proof of a violation; the provider may not offer that item.
9. Your arrangements Your arrangements
The box below reads your setup: where the death happened, your state, whether a provider is chosen or named in a plan, and whether cost is a concern.
10. Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Did every provider get the same questions, about the same arrangement?
- Does each total on the comparison sheet say whether it includes the basic services fee?
- Is each third-party charge (crematory, cemetery, death certificates) either in a total or written as its own row?
- Do you have at least one GPL in writing, by email, text or in hand?
- Is each open item paired with the person or document that answers it?
Worked example
Sam's sheet (fictional) meets the first, second and fourth criteria: the same script, both quotes with the fee, Provider B's GPL received. It fails the third for Provider A, whose crematory fee and death certificates are not answered. Sam marks both as "Provider A GPL, then statement" and holds the choice until the GPL arrives. That is a complete Start here result: two prices for one arrangement, each with its fee, and the gaps named.
Common mistakes
- Comparing a package with a single line. One provider quotes a "cremation package," the other its direct cremation line. Ask the first for its direct cremation price from the GPL.
- Taking the lowest number at face value. A lower total may leave out the crematory fee or the certificates. Question 6 of the script catches it.
- Signing before the comparison. A provider may send a contract with the price list. Read the GPL first; the itemized statement comes at the end of the arrangements (Goods, prices and the statement).
- Assuming a prepaid contract covers everything. Lay it beside the current GPL and ask what is extra.
- Calling only one provider because it holds the body. The person can be moved; ask the second provider its transfer price.
What is still unresolved
This chapter does not settle the final price: the itemized statement does (Goods, prices and the statement). It does not settle what goods to buy (Goods, prices and the statement), which arrangement to choose (Burial, cremation and other choices), or how it is paid for (Paying and benefits). Whether a provider broke the rule is for the FTC or your state board; what a prepaid contract obliges is for the provider, the contract and your state's funeral board or attorney general.