MiddletownJournal.com

HAMILTON — Lola Winkler of Hamilton knew the sometimes high cost of a funeral. She and her husband Myron had buried several aunts and uncles.

To prepare for the costs of their own funerals, the couple purchased a headstone and intended to pre-plan their arrangements. But before they had a chance, Myron passed away last March at the age of 69, leaving Lola to make the funeral decisions and pay the approximate $5,000 bill.

"He had some insurance, and I was able to take care of it," she said. And she was able to hold off payment until the insurance check came in.

The average price for a funeral in America is $6,500, not including burial and headstone expenses, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, which represents the $11-billion-a-year industry. That makes a funeral the third most expensive purchase many will make in a lifetime, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Consumer advocates say it's wise to shop around, because death can come suddenly and emotions can overtake common financial sense.

"It's hard enough to grieve over the death of a child, but then to be staring at interest rates of 16 or 18 percent on a credit card and worrying about paying your bills, you're just giving yourself misery for years," said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit watchdog group based in South Burlington, Vt. "This is why funeral planning ahead of time must be considered a normal part of family life for everybody."

Funeral homes aren't likely to post their prices on billboards and storefront windows, or even on Web sites or in newspapers.

You'll have to look at the funeral home's General Price List for that information, a shopping guide of sorts required of all funeral homes by the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule.

The rule requires funeral homes to provide customers the list prior to discussing arrangements and to anyone else who requests the list, customer or not.

The list is supposed to detail complete, accurate, itemized price information and other disclosures about the funeral home's goods and services so consumers can make informed decisions and buy only what they want.

"There should be no surprises — no surprises of omission or commission," FTC spokesman Frank Dorman explained. "You got to put everything on the table."

Among several items, "everything" includes the embalming fee, plus the disclaimer that embalming is not required in Ohio; charges for a visitation, funeral and memorial service; the charge for a hearse and limousine (if offered) and a non-declinable "basic fee" for the funeral director's services and overhead.

The Journal-News reviewed nearly 20 general price lists from Butler County funeral homes to check their compliance with the Funeral Rule. Most appeared substantially compliant, although formats varied. Some disclosures lacked the precision the FTC requires and a few bundled services that need to be offered individually.

Donald Jordan, owner of Hamilton's Green-Hall and Jordan and Middletown's Hall-Jordan & Pretty memorial chapels, did not make his price list available when asked over the phone.

The Funeral Rule does not require funeral homes to provide the list until a face-to-face meeting occurs, but when a request was made in person to an employee at Hall-Jordan & Pretty, it was denied. The employee said any request would have to be made in person to Jordan at his office in Forest Park, though he would not schedule a time to meet.

FTC attorney Sara DePaul said only the commissioners can decide whether the refusal is a violation but confirmed face-to-face meetings trigger the rule to provide the list.

"Some employees, however, may or may not be authorized to give out the price list and the Funeral Rule does not speak to who may or may not be authorized," DePaul said.

Funeral Rule violations can carry FTC penalties of up to $10,000.

FTC spokesman Dorman said his agency conducts area "sweeps" of funeral homes to check for compliance. In lieu of penalties, violators can participate in the FTC's Funeral Rule Offenders Program, a five-year compliance training and monitoring program run by the National Funeral Directors Association.

Twenty-three years after the FTC adopted the Funeral Rule, "there's still a lot of work to be done," said Slocum. "The majority of the price lists I see are in pretty poor shape. Many of them are lacking the required disclosures to consumers. Many of them are lacking the basic stripped-down options for burial and cremation. And even those that are free of violations, they're frequently written very confusingly."

Funeral directors are mixed on the price lists' value.

Mark Ivey, who recently took over management of the funeral home at Rose Hill Burial Park in Hamilton, said the list can be overwhelming and not convey the whole story.

"Most consumers just want to know the bottom line," he said. "How much is the funeral going to be? That's why we sell a traditional package."

In fact, nearly every price list from local funeral homes includes pages of package deals. Those grouped services — which the Funeral Rule attempts to deconstruct — are the most common choice of customers, said Bob Webster of Webster Funeral Home in Fairfield.

"A lot of people, when I hand (the price list) to them, just throw it away," he said, adding the Funeral Rule is a "big waste of time" and can actually cost the customer more.

The nondeclinable charge for basic services the FTC allows funeral homes to charge is often very arbitrary and can vary greatly. Funeral homes in Butler County charge a basic service fee ranging between $830 to more than $2,000.

"It's bad because that just gives us the right to charge somebody more than we need to charge them," Webster said. "If they were smart, you would take that (basic service fee) and divide it amongst everything else."

Slocum agreed, and encourages consumers to shop around ahead of time.

"Pick these price lists up from four or five funeral homes, bring them home and look at them side by side, jot your questions down," he said. "Anything you don't understand, ask a funeral home, ask a funeral consumers group who's familiar with funeral pricing practices."