Respecting the Deceased and Kin - Funeral directors talk about pricing and ethics Part 2 of a Series

By Worth Wren

December 11, 2014

When death comes, human beings tend to be unprepared.  In Fort Worth earlier this year, legal charges were brought against a funeral home, alleging abuse of corpses destined for embalming, funeral and/or cremation services.  Reports told of long delays.  Implications were many, including: Survivors did not get the mortuary services they paid for, expected, to respect their deceased loved ones.

Disrespect for the dead, however, can come in far more subtle ways while impacting the pocketbook of the living.  For that reason and others, Nuestra Voz de North Texas asked two mortuary directors in Fort Worth to help inform readers about professional procedures and ethical pricing for mortuary services.  Their contributions plus various Websites made this story possible.  “Make sure you know what you are getting or not getting for the price,” said John Goobeck, vice president and director in charge at Greenwood Funeral Homes and Cremation, Fort Worth.  What about the headstone and its engraving, other grave markers and the death certificate?  Are there any other legal documents or permits required, with fees?  “Each funeral home has its own packages which may or may not include the casket,” said Dina Salinas, funeral director for Calvario Funeral Chapel, Fort Worth.  Goobeck said: “It is unfortunate that families going through the shock of a family member’s death are not always in the best frame of mind to make decisions.”  While survivors are grieving and possibly confused, hurriedly making funeral arrangements after the loved one’s death, the big decisions can become a source of regret and unwanted expense or missed opportunities for preferred add-on services, the experts warn.

Typical mortuary service prices depend on a few dozen possible options that may seem complicated:

               _Packages can run from about $1,200-$1,600 for cremation without a service to $4,000, $5,000 or more for cremation with a full open-casket service, which requires embalming.

               _Funeral-service averages, including embalming and burial, often fall in the $4,000-$10,000 range – but can go to almost no limits on expense.

               _Cemetery plots typically pump the costs considerably higher:  Like dealing in real estate, it’s LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

“Prices for funeral and cremation services vary greatly,” Goobeck said.  “However, according to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA),” he added, “the national median cost of a funeral for calendar year 2012 was $7,045, not including the cost for cemetery, memorial markers, crematory cost, newspaper obituaries or flowers.”  Salinas cautioned that every funeral home and every cemetery can have many differences on options, prices, restrictions and contract terms.  “My best advice?  Don’t wait until death enters the picture, leaving the surviving loved ones to make all the decisions or leaving yourself up all night trying to make the decisions for the deceased and the family,” Salinas said.  “It’s important that family members know all their options before a decision is made,” Goobeck said.  “Many families don’t know what questions to ask.  You don’t want to hear a family say, ‘We never knew you could do that.’ ”

Salinas and Goobeck agreed on basic advice:

               _Make pre-arrangements.  Go to each funeral home being considered.  Look around.  Do your research.  Tour the crematory.  Check out Websites.

               _Find out who owns the funeral home and/or crematory and how long the firm has been in business.  Ask trusted friends or clergy and/or previous clientele.

               _Meet the director, other managers and the counselors.

               _Closely examine all options, details and pricing – from cemetery plots to ceremony sites for spreading the ashes; from embalming or cremating to writing the needed obituary; from memorial service facilities to the flowers; from visitation or wake requirements to police escorts for cemetery processions, and more.

The list is long.  For cremation, make sure the funeral home or crematory never gives up possession of the body throughout the process.

               _Look at the caskets.  Do some comparison shopping.

               _Get answers to all your questions.

“Technically, there is no description for a ‘complete’ cremation or funeral service,” Goobeck said.  “In many ways it is like asking what does a house cost or how much is a wedding.”  A standard package, for example, might include fees for transporting the deceased to the mortuary, bathing and embalming and dressing the body, placement/arrangement in the casket, renting visitation and funeral location/facilities, using the hearse, conducting the services and providing the memorial sign-in book and service program cards.  The casket, flowers and obituary charges will often be separate.

What about a limousine for pallbearers and boutonnieres for the minister, pallbearers?  And “cemeteries often have rigid rules and restrictions concerning burial,” Salinas cautioned.

“Whatever is decided in advance of need, make sure you can always upgrade or make other changes later,” she said.  Goobeck cautioned: Check to ensure that all prices and fees “are presented in advance to each and every family member” involved or concerned with making arrangements.  “As in any business, reliability starts with the trustworthiness of the people that work at a firm,” he emphasized.

For additional information, concerns and complaints about Texas mortuary services, procedures, advertising, pricing, professional standards and ethics – prospective funeral home clientele have several source options, including these:

               The Texas Funeral Service Commission, Federal Trade Commission and related federal laws, Texas Health & Safety Code and related state laws, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the National Funeral Directors Association.   And county laws, city ordinances and local health agency regulations may also apply. 

We welcome any questions or comments to this story or others. You may do so by visiting nuestravozdetc.com and click on contact us.

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