Funeral Expenses: FSA Eligibility

What are funeral expenses?

Expenses for funerals typically cost $7000 or more. There are several different types of expenses that contribute to this figure. Funeral expenses are not eligible for reimbursement with any type of consumer-directed healthcare account. The expenses contributing to funeral costs include a headstone, grave liner or burial container, grave digging, grave plot, funeral service venue fee, embalming, casket, and funeral director's services. Other fees might include flowers, refreshments for the funeral service, a newspaper obituary, use of a hearse, etc.

Different funeral homes will offer different versions of funeral services with varying costs. Some funeral homes will offer more flexible options to reach a wider range of needs. Other funeral homes may offer singular package options or other standard rates for all customers.

Specific costs related to hiring a funeral home to assist with the burial of a deceased person include filing permits and securing copies of a death certification, legally-compliant storage of the human remains, cost of legally compliant transportation of human remains, and more.

Cremation (instead of burial) and associated costs of disposal, storage, and transportation are also considered funeral expenses. Caskets are typically the most expensive component of funeral expenses. The other most expensive component of funeral expenses is normally the funeral services fee, or basic services fee. This fee covers storage, paperwork, permits, and coordination of roles between the funeral home, cemetery and/or crematory. This fee is usually considered "non-declinable" meaning the funeral home will only offer one version of this service, and the service can not be declined as part of the overall work performed by the funeral home (The Federal Trade Commission).