OUR CURRENT PRICE GUIDE:
The following terms are used in our Price Guide. Here is an explanation to help you understand the different services.
CREMATIONS
Direct Cremation Cost includes Basic Services Fee. Direct Cremation Cost does NOT include crematorium fee which is generally $325-$450. Direct Cremation Cost is lowest cost using purchaser supplied container. Caskets, Embalming, and Urns are NOT required by New York State Law. DIRECT BURIALS Direct Burial Cost includes Basic Services Fee Direct Burial Cost is lowest cost using purchaser supplied container. Direct Burial Cost does not include cemetery charges. Caskets and Embalming are NOT required by New York State Law BASIC SERVICES FEE Basic Services Fee is mandatory for any type of service plus there are additional charges for services, visitation, hearse, embalming, preparation, cosmetics, if you want, plus many additional items that are offered. The costs of Caskets and Outer Linings should be on separate price lists. There are additional charges for cemetery costs and clergy. Embalming and Caskets are NOT required by state law. Some funeral homes require embalming for visitation or open casket services. |
Every three years we gather price lists from more than 45 local funeral homes. This price survey shows the published prices that these establishments have shared with us. We encourage you to be a savvy shopper before you select a provider from this list.
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Here is a guide to help you understand some of the terms you may find in a funeral home's General Price List. The Funeral Consumer Alliance of Central New York does not provide financial support to people who are making end of life arrangements. Planning the disposition of the body of the deceased person is best done before death. If someone has just died or is about to die, we understand that it is difficult to make these decisions while you are grieving and under time pressure. We hope this Price Guide and the Price Survey below will be helpful. There are four basic methods of disposing of the body of the deceased person CREMATION BURIAL ANATOMICAL DONATION GREEN BURIALS The Funeral Home General Price List (GPL) How funeral homes list their prices is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Funeral Rule. The Funeral Rule also established what measures funeral homes need to take to ensure their customers get accurate and complete information to make an informed decision. How does funeral home pricing work? The Funeral Rule mandates that all items be priced separately, and that you have the right to select only the goods and services you want. In addition, the law requires that the funeral home give you a copy of the General Price List (GPL) at the beginning of any discussion of arrangements, or give you prices over the phone. Required items on the price list: Below is a list of service items a funeral home is required to put on a General Price List, a list of consumer protections required to be printed on the GPL, and an explanation of the items on the price list. Basic Arrangements fee: This non-declinable fee includes funeral planning, getting necessary permits and the death certificate, preparing the death notice, holding the remains, coordinating arrangements with the cemetery, crematory or others, and a portion of the overhead. The fee is already included in the prices for direct cremation, immediate burial, anatomical gift donation, forwarding and receiving of remains and cannot be added to any of those prices. Additional Items- All additional items are optional: Embalming Other preparation of the body Use of facility and/or staff for a viewing, and/or funeral ceremony and/or memorial service and/or graveside service Limousine, hearse Forwarding and Receiving Remains Casket and/or Outer Burial Container (separate price lists are required.) Additional Services and Merchandise NOTE: A separate price list may include prices for package funerals. However, the funeral home's offer of package funerals must be in addition to, and not in place of, the required itemized list. Required disclosures General Price Lists must also display specially worded consumer-protection disclosures that explain the following:
In addition to the Basic ArrangementsServices fee by the funeral home, there is a separate charge by a crematorium for the cremation-New York State Law requires all bodies to be handled by a funeral home. The funeral home will arrange the cremation with a private crematorium and will pass on the fee to you. In addition to the Basic Services Fee by the funeral home, find out from the funeral director how much the crematorium will charge for the cremation Immediate burial: For this basic burial, without embalming, viewing, or service, you may choose to use the funeral home’s alternative container or minimal casket, or supply your own. Prices must be shown for the options offered; all will include transportation of the body and the Basic Services fee (see below). You may choose to pay extra to upgrade to a fancier casket. Cemetery expenses, such as a burial plot, digging the grave, a vault and marker, openings, closings, maintenance fee, and other expenses are additional expenses. Anatomical Donation: A donation of a body to the Anatomical Gift Program at SUNY Upstate Medical University helps health professionals study anatomy. The program requires that the donation is delivered to the University within 48 hours after death. The Anatomical Gift Program reserves the right to reject a body because of obesity, communicable disease, autopsy, or other reasons. The program has an annual memorial service in the spring. The program is willing to work with you if you want the cremated remains or use the body for some type of burial. For more information, their website is www.upstate.edu/cdb/donor/ , or you can call them at 315-464-4348. Since New York State requires all bodies to be handled by a licensed funeral home, the funeral home will arrange the transportation of a deceased person. Pricing methods for forwarding remains can vary such as a flat fee or hourly rate and may incur an additional mileage charge beyond a specified radius. Green Burial: A green burial is burying a body in a natural habitat and preserving the land without embalming, casket, grave liner, and headstone. Besides some cemeteries offering sections of their cemetery to be a “green “ burial place, the Green Burial Council, www.greenburialcouncil.org has certified one “green burial” site in our area- , Greensprings Natural Cemetery Preserve, 293 Irish Hill Road, Newfield, NY, 14867, 607-546-7577 , www.naturalburial.org The green burial price can be for the body or cremains and a stone memorial is also available. Since New York State requires all bodies to be handled by a licensed funeral home, the funeral home will arrange the transportation of a deceased person. Pricing methods for forwarding remains can vary such as a flat fee or hourly rate and may incur an additional mileage charge beyond a specified radius. Forwarding or Receiving remains: Transporting the body from the place of death to the funeral home may be a flat fee or hourly rate, and may incur an additional mileage charge beyond a specified radius. This fee is already included in the costs of direct cremation and immediate burial , Embalming: Embalming is NOT required by law and you must expressly give your permission before it can be performed. Though it is never a legal requirement for viewing a body, some funeral homes will insist on embalming if an open casket viewing or funeral is planned. Some funeral homes will permit a private family viewing without embalming. Other preparation: If you forego embalming but want a viewing, you may be charged for cosmetic work to prepare the deceased, such as washing and disinfecting, as well as dressing and casketing. Viewing or visitation: Funeral homes usually list a variety of charges for viewing or visitation, based on the time or day, number of hours, staffing requirements, and whether a funeral service will follow directly. If the establishment charges by the hour, don’t forget to multiply the rate times the number of hours you wish. Funeral ceremony and memorial service: You can choose a funeral service, with the body present, or a memorial service, without the body; both prices will be listed. You always have the option of using another venue like a church or other meeting place. If you wish the funeral director to conduct the ceremony off-site, you will be charged for his or her time. Graveside service: The price applies only when a formal service is held at the grave site, usually in lieu of a funeral or memorial service. All staff and any grave equipment supplied by the cemetery, such as lowering device, tents or chairs, would be extra. Hearse and limousine: Typically, the charge will be a flat fee, but additional mileages rates may apply. Often the funeral home will use a third-party vendor for the limousine, and will require advance payment. Forwarding and receiving remains: If the body must be transferred between two funeral homes, you will be charged a fee by each. The Basic Services fee and transportation of the remains are already included. If the body is to be shipped a long distance, or to one of a few states that require embalming for shipped bodies, you may need to add the cost of embalming to this price. Casket: This can be one of the most expensive parts of a full-service funeral. The funeral home must show you a separate and complete listing of caskets, with descriptions and prices, before showing you any. Some funeral homes offer the option of a rental casket. You have the right to buy a casket from a third party; the funeral provider is required by law to accept it, and not charge an illegal “handling fee.” The Funeral Rule prohibits the funeral home from claiming their products will delay decomposition of human remains for a long time since that is not true. Prices can range from $150- 20, 000. Outer burial container: The law does not require the use of a vault or grave liner to enclose the casket, but most cemeteries will require it in order to prevent ground subsidence and make mowing easier. You may specify either a vault or a less expensive concrete grave liner. The funeral home must give you a separate price list for the outer burial container. Additional services and merchandise: Items provided by third-party companies will be billed separately from those offered directly by the funeral home. Examples include death certificate, newspaper notice, hairdresser, cemetery, clergy, flowers, acknowledgment card, etc. Most funeral homes insist on payment in advance for these, and the costs are not covered in any prepayment plan. |