The High Cost of Dying: A Guide to Funeral Planning

This comprehensive overview of the funeral home business provides valuable inside information needed by thoughtful consumers, legal advisers, trust officers, and even clergy - all those who must confront the hard practical questions that surround one of life's most trying and emotion-filled experiences. Most of us try our best to be cost-conscious consumers. Yet when faced with the sad task of arranging a funeral, grief, sorrow, and guilt often make us vulnerable. The stress of heightened emotion prevents us from asking pertinent questions about our options and the costs involved. Perplexed by the mystery that surrounds funeral directors, survivors are left to struggle through this painful ordeal with little or no guidance. How does one select a funeral home? What obligations and functions are properly the family's and which should be expected of the funeral home? Who is financially responsible for the funeral? What funeral options are available and which are best? Is it possible to arrange a dignified yet affordable funeral? Is it crass to be concerned about costs at a time like this? These are some of the questions addressed by former funeral director Gregory W. Young in The High Cost of Dying. His easy-to-read reference guide aides consumers - those who are currently in need and those who just want to be prepared - to arrange a funeral while at the same time avoiding unnecessary charges. Young's compassion for the grief stricken and his in-depth understanding of funeral preparation combine to provide a unique perspective on the history and psychology of the American funeral. Unlike sensational media stories or muckraking books of the past, Young's valuable work offers an honest, straightforward view of this difficult and emotion-filled process. Readers will learn why a funeral can be so expensive and that, like any other business, funeral practitioners control only some of the costs involved. Surprisingly, he demonstrates how the funeral director can be a valued ally in holding down costs. Honest funeral practitioners will applaud the author's efforts to engage the public's interest in gaining a clearer image of what funeral home owners do to make their living. Each chapter of this information-packed book covers an important aspect of the contemporary funeral: the need for consumerism, the funeral in history, how the funeral director can help the survivors, making the choice between burial and cremation, the importance of the funeral arrangement conference, outlining the funeral contract, describing common funeral rip-offs, how to pre-arrange a funeral, answering frequently asked consumer questions, and much more. Of vital importance are the special features of this remarkable volume: the handy funeral arrangement checklist that helps consumers determine their needs; a discussion of price ranges for specific services, caskets and burial vaults, and miscellaneous expenses; and an appendix that contains both the current Federal Trade Commission Rule (1984) on funeral industry practices and the 1994 rule that will soon be implemented. Never before has so much valuable information been compiled by such a noted authority on a topic that will inevitably touch all of us.