A General Price List looks like a dense page of legal sentences and dollar amounts. Most of those sentences are required by federal law, word for word, and the prices follow a set list of items every funeral home must show if it offers them.
Start with three things: the date at the top, the basic services fee, and the lines for the kind of funeral you have in mind. If a word stops you, our funeral terms glossary explains it in plain English.
When do you get a General Price List?
The list comes from the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule. When you start talking with a funeral home in person about prices, the type of funeral, or specific goods and services, it must hand you a printed list to keep. That applies wherever the conversation happens, including your own home, and it's free.
You don't have to visit to get prices. A funeral home must answer price questions over the phone, and it can't make you give your name or number first. It doesn't have to mail or email the list, though many will. Our guide to your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule covers the rest.
What's on the list
The rule lets each home put its prices in any order, so no two lists look alike. They share the same parts, though.
At the top: the home's name, address and phone number, the words "General Price List," and the date the prices took effect.
Just above the prices: a required paragraph saying you may choose only the items you want, and that if a law or other requirement makes you buy something you didn't ask for, the home will explain why in writing.
Then the prices. If the home offers them, it must list:
- Forwarding remains to another funeral home, and receiving remains from one
- Direct cremation, as a range, with a separate price when you provide the container
- Immediate burial, as a range, with a separate price when you provide the casket
- Transfer of remains to the funeral home
- Embalming, and other preparation of the body
- Facilities and staff for a viewing, a funeral ceremony and a memorial service
- Equipment and staff for a graveside service
- Hearse and limousine
- Caskets and outer burial containers, as individual prices or a range
- The basic services fee
Transfer, hearse and limousine may be priced per mile or per hour, often a flat fee up to a set distance plus mileage beyond it. Compare the same trip.
A few more required sentences sit beside specific prices. Next to embalming: it isn't required by law except in certain special cases, and you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that doesn't need it. Next to direct cremation: you can use an alternative container, and which ones the home provides. Next to outer burial containers: in most areas the law doesn't require one, many cemeteries do, and a grave liner or a vault meets that requirement.
The basic services fee: the one charge you can't decline
This fee covers the work every funeral needs: the arrangements meeting, planning, permits, notices and coordination with the cemetery or crematory. It can include the home's overhead. The rule allows it to be the only service fee you can't turn down.
The General Price Lists of 1,657 funeral homes we checked between September 19 and October 23, 2026 put the middle basic services fee at $2,800. The middle half of homes charge between $2,145 and $3,395.
The fee is already included in the direct cremation, immediate burial, forwarding and receiving prices, and the list must say so, so don't add it twice. Some homes fold it into their casket prices instead; the list must then say how much, and that amount is added back if you bring your own casket.
Packages, and the separate casket and vault lists
Packages are allowed, but the FTC says they must be offered in addition to itemized prices, never in place of them. A package can be a fair deal or include things you'd skip. Add up the itemized lines you'd actually choose and see.
Caskets often appear on the GPL only as a range, with the sentence "A complete price list will be provided at the funeral home." That's the casket price list, which the home must offer when you start discussing caskets and before it shows you any. Outer burial containers (grave liners and vaults) work the same way. Ask for both lists first, since lower-priced models may not be on display.
Cash advance items
Some charges are things the home buys from others for you: cemetery or crematory fees, death certificates, flowers, obituary notices, clergy or musicians. These are cash advance items, and they may not appear on the GPL at all.
They do appear on the itemized statement you get at the end of the arrangements meeting, with a good faith estimate if the price isn't known yet. If the home adds its own charge or keeps a rebate, the statement must say "We charge you for our services in obtaining" those items.
How to compare two lists line by line
Choose the services you want first. Copy the price for each from both lists into two columns, then add them up.
Example: two made-up price lists for a funeral with a viewing
| Line on the list | Home A | Home B |
|---|---|---|
| Basic services fee | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| Transfer of remains | $500 | $300 |
| Embalming | $1,000 | $800 |
| Viewing | $700 | $400 |
| Funeral ceremony | $800 | $600 |
| Hearse | $500 | $300 |
| Total for these lines | $5,500 | $4,900 |
Home A has the lower basic services fee, but Home B costs less for these choices. The casket, any outer container and the cemetery's own charges come on top for both.
Things that should make you ask questions
- No date. The rule requires an effective date, and an undated list may be old.
- "Package only." Itemized prices must be offered too.
- A second fee you can't decline, such as a "casket handling fee." Only the basic services fee may be non-declinable.
- No immediate burial price for when you provide the casket, or no direct cremation price for when you provide the container.
- A missing disclosure, such as the embalming sentence.
Ask the funeral director first. The FTC takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and your state funeral board may help with your case. State rules are on our funeral law by state pages.
How our price pages read these lists
Our price pages are built from the lists themselves. We take the price from the same line on each home's current General Price List (direct cremation, immediate burial, embalming and so on) and note when we checked it, so homes compare on the same item. See a state, for example our Texas burial cost page, or search funeral homes by ZIP code. Prices change, so confirm the current list with the home.
Frequently asked questions
Can a funeral home refuse to give me its General Price List?
No. A funeral home must give the list, free, to anyone who asks about arrangements in person. It doesn't have to mail or email it, but it must answer price questions on the phone.
Is the basic services fee included in direct cremation?
Yes. The direct cremation, immediate burial, forwarding and receiving prices already include it, and the list must say so. You don't pay it again on top.
Why does the list show caskets only as a price range?
The rule lets a home show a range on the GPL and keep individual prices on a separate casket price list. The home must offer that list before showing you any caskets. Ask for it, and for the outer burial container list too.
Sources
- eCFR: 16 CFR Part 453, Funeral Industry Practices
- FTC: Complying with the Funeral Rule
- FTC: The FTC Funeral Rule
- FTC: Shopping for Funeral Services
- FTC: Shopping for Funeral Services by Phone or Online
- FTC: Funeral Costs and Pricing Checklist
- HonestFarewell: checked General Price Lists