Funeral Consumer Tips, by Robert Falcon

FUNERAL CONSUMER TIPS FROM ROBERT FALCON

SOURCE: Robert Falcon's Facebook Timeline (October 30, 2013) and the
Funeral Consumers Alliance

"TIP : If you think funeral prices are high wait, until you get to the cemetery.

If your family has chosen to bury your loved one in a cemetery, the cost can be as little as $0 to as much as $100,000. How can this be possible?

Cemeteries are not the same when it comes to price or in some states regulation. So it is very easy for the rules of the game to be changed in the middle of it. You will find cemeteries vary from small family cemeteries, to church or non-profit cemeteries, National and State Veterans Cemeteries and Corporate Owned cemeteries. So how do you know who owns the cemetery? easy ...just ask?

So the basic strategy at a cemetery is to understand that spaces typically closer to a 'feature' (pond, tree, statue, etc) may be more expensive. There are mausoleums (single crypt, family crypt, private crypt to large buildings), lawn crypts ( a space with a glorified concrete container already in the ground). The next thing is to understand if you own the space or if you own the rights to be buried in a space? Many of the larger cemeteries will sell you 'interment rights' which means the cemetery owns the land and you have the right to be buried in the space.

Another consideration is wether the cemetery requires an outer container (gravebox, concrete liner, or vault) to be used. These outer containers are required by the cemetery for maintenance purposes and can add to the overall cost from $300 to as much as $ 40,000. I have encountered many cemeteries in 27 years that will use the term 'vault' when trying to sell this container, but when I ask "what their minimum requirement is?" they will say a gravebox or concrete liner is ok.

Opening and closing (digging the grave and closing the grave) cost can vary from $0-2,000 depending on the cemetery. Some cemeteries have contracts with particular grave services to and your are forced to use their service.

Many cemeteries will also sell monuments (gravestone, markers, memorials, headstone) and they may have some minimum requirements like flat markers only, bronze on granite, some may even have height and size restrictions. The important advice here is. If you are planning a funeral today for a loved one, leave buying a monument out of the discussion today. This is something that should be done in time but not a necessary immediate expense.

So my best strategies for saving at the cemetery.

1. If you are your loved one was a veteran, understand you have a grave space, opening and closing, grave liner and marker provided to you at no cost in a veterans cemetery.

2. If you are dealing with a immediate death. Purchase the items you need today- grave space, outer container, and opening and closing service. Understand the cemetery may have different fees for opening and closing based on weekday versus weekend service.

3. Buy the memorial later. A memorial will be the last thing you buy and the first thing you see every time you come to visit the cemetery. So take your time and shop around. You do not have to buy the memorial from the cemetery in most cases.

4. Understand that unlike a funeral home, a cemetery does not have to offer you a price list. Many cemeteries offer spaces based on location."