Dear readers: today we’re in luck. Josh Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance (a great watchdog organization that makes sure your life savings don’t expire when you do) has a few thoughts about where in America you shouldn’t die.
Dying is hard enough, and funerals aren’t much fun either. Most of us put off funerals too late, leaving our survivors at the mercy of a $15 billion dollar a year mortuary and cemetery industry.
As the director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly — from so-called regulatory boards that ignore consumer complaints to law-makers who’ve decided you don’t have the right to buy reasonably priced caskets, or even skip the funeral home and do it yourself. Here’s five of the worst offenders:
Alabama
Get out while you still can. Not only does Alabama have some of the weakest laws in the nation on pre-paid funerals, its regulatory office is a shambles. A 2007 state audit found the Alabama Board of Funeral Service had no idea how many funeral homes were licensed — and the Board also appeared to be falsifying its inspection records. Also, the Board staff didn’t have Internet access. In fact most of the records were written in longhand, on paper!
Georgia
A state that’s just peachy if you happen to own a cemetery or funeral home. Cemetaries are now allowed to charge a $125 penalty if customers buy a headstone from an independent dealer.
The Funeral Consumers Alliance tried to help an elderly man who claimed that the funeral home he used to bury his wife substituted a much cheaper casket for the model he’d actually bought. The state board never answered his letters of protest (complete with documentation). On the other hand, the state board was indignant enough to fine those funeral homes that failed to keep the state-mandated 24 bottles of embalming fluid on hand at all times.
Louisiana
One of the few remaining states that still requires a funeral director’s license to sell caskets. The predictable results for consumers: a 200-600 percent markup over wholesale on the fancy boxes.
Oh — and you’re legally required to hire a funeral home in Louisiana, even if you want to carry out a family member’s funeral privately, or with church help.
Michigan
Like 6 other states (Utah, New York, and Connecticut among them), Michigan says you have to hire an undertaker even if you want a home funeral for your relative. The idea that a state could bar a family from laying out its own dead would have shocked your great-grandma who likely attended many home funerals. And it ought to shock you today.
Can you imagine a law requiring you to put Mom in a nursing home, even if you wanted to take care of her at home?
In addition, Michiganders are required to have a funeral home supervise every burial — and get a funeral director’s “certification” on every death certificate. Just what is this funeral director certifying? I asked. But the state doesn’t seem to know.
Hawaii
A great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to die there. Hawaii’s pre-paid funeral laws are neck-and-neck with Florida’s: ie. the worst in the nation.
Funeral homes in Hawaii get to skim 30 percent of your prepayment off the top before providing you with goods or services. If you change your mind about the arrangement (or move) — too bad.
Josh Slocum is director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national non-profit 501 (c) (3) nonprofit watchdog organization dedicated to ensuring consumers get affordable and dignified funerals. For more information check out the FCA web site www.funerals.org. Next week he’ll tell readers how to avoid some of these outrages.
The 30% pre-pay skim off is the norm with many funeral home providers, especially of the “Dignity Memorial Network” (Service Corporation International). Avoid these funeral homes like the plague. They enroll the money in insurance.
Pre-planning and pre-paying is a good thing, if done as a trust where the 100% of the money remains the consumer’s. Too many times I’ve seen families of the deceased burdened with funeral bills (due by the day of the service) which they aren’t able to pay. Don’t shuffle off the burden to your survivors. Take care of it yourself beforehand.
It can be done right.
All consumers should be aware (especially in Florida and Hawaii) that purchasing a pre-paid funeral plan involves a contract and should be treated with the respect contracts deserve.
Commenter rwilhelm says that Service Corporation enrolls the money in insurance. This is false, at least in Florida. Here, they can place the money in an insurance policy, which would be owned by the client, but they choose to secure the money in a trust with surety bonds. Of course, they are only required to bank a certain amount of that, and their contract states clearly how much of a refund the consumer is entitled to receive if they cancel the contract.
And while many consumers might complain that they should be able to cancel their contract at any time, the argument ignores the concept of contract law and the intention of a pre-paid funeral contract.
If you want the most freedom, you should invest your money in a separate account, either as a trust or insurance policy.
However, you’ll be forfeiting the price guarantees offered by funeral homes with pre-paid contracts.
And be aware, that while Mr. Slocum gets paid to scare you into believing that all funeral homes are predatory and out to steal your money, most funeral homes are run by caring, competent people who are well-respected in their communities and want the best for their neighbors.
The most effective way to plan a funeral is far in advance. Talk to your friends and find out who is the best funeral home in town. Search for a funeral home that treats you with respect and offers the services you want at prices you can afford.
(In the interest of disclosure, you should know that I work with a large number of funeral directors, write a daily funeral industry blog and am finishing a book for funeral professionals.)
Mr Totten,
wasn’t speaking specifically of FLA. My experience has been with both MD and CA and there SCI does enroll the money in insurance. Quite the contrary, while at SCI I was told we expressly could not write trusts because it “didn’t make the company enought money.” The two large funeral chains, both SCI and Stewart, both seek to enroll pre-need money in insurance. I know this firsthand, having worked at an SCI location and later having Stewart try to recruit me.
Understand where you are coming from, you’re being paid to spin for the funeral industry as a whole.
Mr. Wilhelm,
Why you neglect to share your full name here or on your website is a puzzle. And why your non-profit company, which sells a pre-need product to consumers, isn’t described on the world’s larger lists of non-profit companies, is a concern for me.
Your last comments are hard to refute, as I don’t know how SCI and Stewart operate in Maryland or California. But since Florida was specifically mentioned in Mr. Slocum’s scare piece, I chose to enlighten readers with accurate information.
And in the interest of full clarity, I don’t get paid to spin for the funeral industry as a whole. In fact, my position, as a writer of an industry-specific blog and book for funeral professionals, is wholly separated from the public at-large.
90% of my income is derived from the manufacture of products. And while I can’t be certain how much of your income comes from the funeral pre-arrangement plans your group sells without seeing your non-profit tax return, I am relatively comfortable guessing that much of your Guardians of Trust paycheck is created by convincing the public that the “big, bad funeral industry” is out to get them.
Were you to simply tell people to invest their money on their own for a healthy return, you would lose the very cash you’re trying to generate. To make any money, your organization has to convince people to stop pre-paying funeral homes and start giving the dough to you. And to generate a decent income, you have to trade in fear and scare tactics, much like Mr. Slocum.
I find it disheartening that you share two paragraphs with people who are terminally ill, in the hopes that they’ll hand you some money for their pre-arrangements.
But your’s is just another pre-pay plan and I’m left to wonder, how much is G.O.T.’s “pre-pay skim?”
My apologies to those readers who are more interested in the important things, like caring for a terminally-ill loved one. As a former Hospice employee, I know how precious this time is to you and your family.
It’s my apologies to readers Mr. Totten, who are more interested in learning and knowing about what they need to know about funeral arrangements, than they are your snarkiness about whistle-blowers like Mr. Slocum and myself. As you write an “industry-specific blog and books for funeral professionals” and that you “sell products to the industry” indicates that you have an inherent bias and your sympathies lie with the industry. That’s fine. It’s a free country.
As a mortuary science graduate, former funeral director, and “advance planning specialist” I have seen up close and personal what helps and what hurts families. I’ve seen SCI push salespeople to call bereaved families to push pre-needs not 24hrs after a death in the family. I’ve witnessed families being ripped off by overpaying pre-arranged funerals enrolled in insurance. I’ve seen price lists have errors that are never fixed because they benefit “the company”. I’ve seen shoddy service. Just about a month ago and SCI funeral home in Texas somehow got the toe tags mixed up and buried the wrong person! You call that service? I call it an embarrassment. The bottom line here is I have figured out a better way to do pre-arrangements that looks out for the interests of the family and not the company or corporation. I’m proud to be leading a crusade toward common sense. What the average consumer doesn’t know about the funeral industry can hurt them. That’s what I’m here to do. And I’m on the attack.
Dear Readers:
Mr. Wilhelm describes his experiences with a few funeral homes owned by a corporation that owns less than 5% of the funeral homes in the United States. He asks, then, that you extrapolate that to tar the almost 90% of the industry that is still owned by individual families who live in the communities they serve.
The clear implication, if you accept his “guilt by association” tactic, is that all funeral homes are evil and are looking to hurt you and your family with predatory practices.
There are more than 2 million deaths each year in America. If just 10% of those families were being robbed and mistreated, you would see over 200,000 angry families. From my experience, a family slighted or mistreated when a loved one has passed away is quite often vocal in complaint and seeks out legal redress and the help of the local and national media, which are eager to share stories of “big, bad funeral homes.”
So why, then aren’t there more stories from your neighbors and your local news anchors, if even a fraction of what Mr. Slocum and Mr. Wilhelm claim is true?
Mr. Wilhelm is right about something: I do have a vested interest in preserving the reputation of the funeral industry, just as he has a vested interest in tearing down traditional pre-funding options.
But what Mr. Wilhelm fails to acknowledge is that individual investment, where you don’t have to pay fees to Mr. Wilhelm’s company or to the corporations he rails against, is a more sound way to safeguard your money and maximize your return.
As with any product or contract for professional services, funeral providers should be chosen based upon their merits and your comfort level. No one should choose a funeral home by saying “we might as well use this one.”
Research, ask questions and, most importantly, plan in advance. Even if you don’t pay ahead of time, you should plan a funeral with the same care and attention you would plan a wedding or other important life event.
Mr. Totten,
individual investment is a terrific thing. If that’s what people want to do then I”m all for it. I’m a public advocate, an educator who gives away his knowledge gained from experience free to the public for their benefit. Most people don’t know alot about the funeral industry and its practices, both good and bad. I’m doing what little I can to educate them because - when it comes to the funeral industry - what they don’t know can really hurt them.
Allow me to direct you to read AARP Magazine’s article “R.I.P. Off” from the Jan/Feb 2008 issue. It describes - in depth - some of the egregious things that have happened in the funeral industry with regards to pre-need funerals. The funeral industry has a very bad reputation, and has no one to blame but itself. All people have to do is google “pre-need scandals” or “funeral scandals” to find out what just recently happened in the midwest with Lincoln Insurance. Having received “cease and desist” orders from state officials to stop doing business, they have yet to calculate the amount of pre-need funds stolen from the very people they were intended to protect. There are at least two scandals out here in CA involving price “padding” and one hasn’t even hit the news wires yet. In addition, Grandview Cemetery in Glendale, CA was shut down after investigators found graves resold, bodies stacked, cremains piled up, etc. The former owner committed suicide.
It’s these things I’m also crusading against, not just charges for “cost of insurance”. You should know that casket prices used to be marked up upwards of 800% until CostCo and casket storefronts got into the game. That (competition) forced the funeral industry to back off casket mark up, though they start padding it somewhere else, usually in the form of “Professional Service” fees which I’ve seen as high as $3500. Moreover, funeral homes charge for refrigeration and - at the locations I know of - it’s the same - $695 - as the embalming charge. It’s simply unjustifiable. Refrigeration for $695??? A “alternative container” for a direct cremation (in reality a cardboard box) for $95? A known error on price lists that list the cost of a minimum outer burial container as $795 when it should be (per the manufacturer directly stated to me) $385???
And oil companies get bad press because they make an average profit of .08 cents a gallon.
Wow.
Here’s some practical advice for anyone planning funeral services:
Choose a funeral home that makes you feel comfortable. Preferably, you know the people who own it, run it or work for the firm.
Ask questions. Don’t understand exactly why you’re being charged a fee? Ask. If you’re at all uncertain, take your time to talk to other people. Call another funeral home or the FTC.
Most importantly, plan ahead. You will be better able to take your time and choose the right firm if you don’t feel pressured because the death has already occured.
Also, be wary of people who try to scare you into buying their product. People who use the tactics of fear to sell their product prey on weakness and worry. That is true for a funeral director who pressures a client to buy products AND an alternative pre-funding seller who warns you that “the big, bad funeral industry is out to get you!” just so you’ll give your money. It’s also true for consumer groups that give quotes to the press, in hopes that you’ll send them a membership check or buy their literature.
As a funeral professional, I care deeply about the way my industry is portrayed and I’m appalled by the tiny fraction of my colleagues who give the rest of us an undeserved bad name. I’m equally disgusted with those who use these stories to push their own agenda or sell their newspapers.
Magazine articles like R.I.P. Off, which scare readers with polarizing words and scary stories before admitting that “most funeral directors operate honestly,” trade in the tactics of fear to sell their own product.
Are there serious mistakes and crimes committed by funeral professionals? Of course, just as there are in all other fields. But just like in other professions, the bad guys in the funeral industry work separately from the good guys and these “evil-doers” infuriate the majority who do their jobs with compassion and care.
While it’s easy for some so-called consumer advocates (who generate their income by scaring you) to rail against the evils of the funeral industry, it’s harder to be so vitriolic about real people, face to face.
The next time you’re concerned about whether the funeral industry is “out to get you” or wants to steal your money, visit your local funeral home and talk with a funeral professional about what they do. Ask your friends and neighbors about their experiences with local funeral homes. Talk with your hospice nurse or your doctor.
What you’ll find is that most funeral directors give up valuable time with their family to help their neighbors during times of difficulty.
But don’t take my word for it. Ask around. And make an informed decision. Not a fear-based one.
Why not use the “FORUM” portion of thecheckoutline to post your opinions? It will give you far greater exposure!
best
Judy
I live in Virginia where recently a funeral director was charged with collecting pre-arrangement funds and not placing those funds in an insurance product of bank account as required by Virginia law.
The sad part of this story is that he had been reported months earlier for drastic violations
and the board of funeral directors allowed him to continue to operate with a minimal fine.
He would not have taken the amount of money that he is accused of taking had they shut him down earlier.
I have lost over $ 5000 in a prearrangent with Fortis because I endured a period of financial harship and had to cancel my funeral prearrangement. Those crooks should be out of business. They are are owned by Hillenbrand Industries which also owns Batesville Casket Company. I have told my friends and family to never buy a Batesville Casket.