9
• one price where the purchaser provides the casket; and
• a separate price for each form of immediate burial oered where you provide a casket or alternative
container. (You are not required to make an alternative container available for this purpose.
However, you may choose to oer this option.)
You also must describe in the GPL the services and container provided for each price. If the immediate
burial option is available with any casket on your Casket Price List, the General Price List can simply state
the price of the service and refer the customer to the Casket Price List for casket prices.
Item 5: Basic Services of Funeral Director and Sta (and Overhead)
The charge for services of funeral director and sta is a fee for the basic services that you furnish in
arranging any funeral.
(10)
This is the “basic services fee” that is discussed in the Required Disclosures
section. If the customer cannot decline this fee, the disclosure that appears on page 6 is required.
This basic services fee should include services that are common to virtually all forms of disposition or
arrangements that you oer, such as conducting the arrangements conference, securing the necessary
permits, preparing the notices, sheltering of remains, and coordinating the arrangements with the cemetery,
crematory, or other third parties. The basic services fee should not include charges related to other items
that must be separately listed on the General Price List and that the customer may decline to purchase.
Note: You should include any charges for the ordinary sheltering of remains by your funeral home
in this basic services fee. However, you can list a separate charge for sheltering of remains if:
1) a significant percentage of your customers do not use the funeral home to hold the remains at
any point, or 2) you receive a request to hold the remains for an unusually long period of time.
The basic services fee also may include overhead from various aspects of your business operation, such
as the parking lot, reception and arrangements rooms, and other common areas. It also may include
insurance, sta salaries, taxes, and fees that you must pay. Alternatively, instead of including all overhead
in your basic services fee, you can spread the overhead charges across the various individual goods and
services you oer. As a third alternative, you can combine the first two approaches: spread some portion
of the overhead charges across the individual items, while including the remainder of such charges in
your basic services fee.
Note: These are the only ways to recoup overhead costs. In addition, if this basic services fee is
non-declinable, the fee must include any charges for overhead that have not been allocated to
the other goods and services.
You have two options for listing your basic services fee on the General Price List.
Option 1: You may list a separate price for the basic services of the funeral director and sta, together
with a list of the principal services provided for the price and the required disclosures (see pages 5-7). If
consumers cannot decline this fee, you should include in this separate price all charges for “unallocated
overhead” — that is all overhead not distributed among the other items listed on the GPL.
Option 2: Instead of charging a separate basic services fee, you may include the fee in your casket
prices. With this alternative, you must include the appropriate disclosure (see page 6) on the General
Price List, together with the prices for the individual caskets or with the casket price range (if you have
a separate Casket Price List). This fee also must include all charges for the recovery of unallocated
overhead. As the disclosure indicates, you must specify the amount of the basic services fee that is
included in the price of the caskets. If the customer provides a casket obtained elsewhere, that same
basic services fee must be added to the total cost of the arrangements selected.
The Rule expressly states that the basic services fee is the only non-declinable fee allowed for services,
facilities, or unallocated overhead, unless state or local law requires otherwise. Other than the basic