By the Numbers
The Price Is Not Right
More than 60% of funeral home websites in the United States provide little to no pricing information. That figure comes from a survey cited by the FTC as it reviews the Funeral Rule for the digital age. The survey found that most funeral homes treat prices as information available only in person or by phone, not online.
This is legal. The Funeral Rule, written in 1984 and last substantively amended in 1994, requires funeral providers to give consumers a General Price List (GPL) at the time of arrangement. It requires them to provide prices over the phone if asked. It prohibits them from requiring personal information before quoting a price.
But nothing in the Rule requires funeral homes to publish prices on the internet.
A consumer in 2026 can comparison-shop for a $12 phone case, a $200 airline ticket, and a $3,000 medical procedure online. For a $7,848 funeral, the expectation is that they drive to each funeral home, sit in the lobby, and request a paper price list.
Obitley covered the broader Funeral Rule rewrite in May. Read that piece for the full background on what changes are under consideration. This article focuses on one specific proposal: mandatory online price disclosure, the single most contested amendment in the review.
What the FTC Is Considering
In January 2026, the FTC opened a public comment period to gather feedback on potential updates to the Funeral Rule. The review focuses on how funeral providers should disclose prices online and through electronic means.
The key proposals under consideration:
Mandatory online pricing. Funeral homes would be required to post their General Price List on their website. This would be the first time in the Rule's 42-year history that online disclosure is mandated. Currently, the FTC requires GPLs to be available in person and by phone, but the internet is treated as optional.
Review of existing disclosure requirements. The FTC is evaluating whether the current disclosure format (a multi-page document handed across a desk at the arrangement table) meets consumer needs in 2026. The format was designed for a world where families visited funeral homes in person and reviewed printed documents together. The Funeral Rule was built for that transaction.
Electronic means disclosure. The FTC is considering how the Rule should address pricing shared via email, text message, online portals, and third-party platforms. The current Rule predates all of these channels.
Why the 60% Number Matters
The FTC cited a survey finding that over 60% of funeral home websites provide little to no pricing information. This was a primary driver behind the decision to open the comment period.
The number reveals something structural about how the industry operates. Funeral pricing is not just undocumented online. It is often designed to be discovered only inside the funeral home, where the consumer is already emotionally committed, already sitting with a director, and already under time pressure from a pending burial or cremation.
The Funeral Rule was written to prevent exactly this scenario. The requirement to provide prices over the phone, the prohibition on requiring personal information before quoting prices, and the mandated itemized GPL all serve one purpose: getting price information to consumers before they are inside the arrangement room.
The Rule works for the world it was written for. It does not work for the internet.
What the Industry Says
The funeral industry has resisted mandatory online pricing for years. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), the industry's largest trade group, has historically argued that funeral pricing is too complex for a simple online list, that every service is customized, and that families need guidance from a licensed director to understand their options.
The complexity argument has a surface plausibility. A General Price List can run several pages and include dozens of line items, from basic services fees to embalming to hearse rental. But hospitals, insurance companies, and auto repair shops all publish complex pricing structures online. The complexity is not unique to funerals.
A stronger version of the industry argument is that online pricing commoditizes funeral service by reducing a relationship-based profession to a price comparison. This argument carries more weight in the independent funeral home community, where owners compete on personal service rather than on being the cheapest option.
The counterpoint is that consumers are not asking funeral homes to stop providing guidance. They are asking to see prices before they are sitting across from a director, grieving, with a body that needs disposition within days. Price transparency does not eliminate the relationship. It gives the consumer a choice about where to build one.
The Enforcement Reality
The FTC continues to enforce the Funeral Rule. Violations can result in civil penalties of over $50,000 per violation, and the FTC has brought more than 25 enforcement actions against funeral providers in recent years. The Rule's existing requirements are not suggestions.
But enforcement of the current Rule only reaches in-person and phone transactions. A funeral home that provides its GPL when asked over the phone but never mentions prices on its website is fully compliant. The enforcement mechanism assumes a world where consumers call funeral homes for prices. In 2026, consumers Google them.
The FTC's own survey data confirms this gap. If more than 60% of funeral home websites do not provide meaningful pricing information, the current Rule is not failing. It is succeeding at regulating a transaction model that fewer consumers use.
How This Connects to Consolidation
The online pricing gap does not affect all funeral homes equally.
Service Corporation International (SCI), the nation's largest funeral home operator with approximately 15% of all locations, publishes prices on its Dignity Memorial website. SCI has the scale, the IT infrastructure, and the legal resources to comply with any online pricing mandate on day one.
Independent funeral homes do not. A family-owned funeral home with a basic website, or no website at all, faces a real cost to building and maintaining an online GPL. The NFDA's resistance to mandatory online pricing reflects this disparity. The largest players can absorb the compliance cost. The smallest players cannot.
This creates a paradox. Online price transparency helps consumers compare options and could drive business to lower-cost independent homes. But the compliance cost of a mandate could accelerate the closure of those same independents, feeding the consolidation trend Obitley has tracked across multiple investigations.
The FTC is aware of this tension. The public comment period is partly designed to surface data on how a mandate would affect small and independent providers.
What Families Can Do Right Now
The Funeral Rule already gives consumers rights, even without the proposed online pricing amendment. Here is what works today:
Call and ask. The Rule requires funeral providers to answer phone inquiries about prices. You do not need to provide your name, address, or any personal information. Call multiple funeral homes and ask for their General Price List over the phone. Take notes.
Request the GPL in writing. Ask for the price list before you visit the funeral home. You have the right to receive it at the time you ask, not after you sit down for an arrangement conference.
Compare at least three providers. The same service can vary by thousands of dollars between funeral homes in the same city. The FTC's own consumer guidance recommends comparison shopping.
Know what you must buy and what you can decline. The Rule guarantees your right to select only the goods and services you want. You cannot be required to purchase a casket for direct cremation. You cannot be required to purchase embalming if the body will be buried or cremated within a certain timeframe. You cannot be required to purchase a "package" that includes services you do not want.
File a complaint. If a funeral provider refuses to give you prices over the phone, requires personal information before quoting prices, or tries to bundle unwanted services, file a complaint with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC uses complaint data to prioritize enforcement.
What Comes Next
The public comment period is open. The FTC will gather feedback on the proposed amendments, with particular attention to the online pricing disclosure question. The timeline for a final rule depends on the volume of comments received and the complexity of the regulatory drafting process.
Based on the FTC's typical rulemaking timeline, a final amended Funeral Rule could appear as early as late 2027. Between now and then, the comment record will shape which provisions make it into the final text and which get watered down or dropped.
The funeral industry will submit comments opposing mandatory online pricing. Consumer advocacy groups will submit comments supporting it. The outcome depends on whether the FTC prioritizes the consumer interest in transparency over the industry interest in controlling when and where price information is revealed.
More than 60% of funeral home websites hide their prices. The FTC is asking whether that should be allowed to continue. The answer to that question will shape how every American family shops for a funeral for the next generation.
What This Means for You
*Sources: FTC Funeral Rule, 16 CFR Part 453; FTC public comment period announcement, January 2026; survey data cited by FTC on funeral home website pricing transparency (>60% with little or no pricing info); NFDA General Price List survey data; FTC consumer guidance on funeral shopping (consumer.ftc.gov); Obitley, "FTC Funeral Rule Rewrite: What's Actually Changing," May 10, 2026; FTC enforcement data on Funeral Rule violations (2020-2024).*
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