Embalming is rarely required by law. Some states do require that a body be embalmed in certain circumstances (Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, and New Jersey, for example, require it when the body is being shipped or taken across state lines), but most don’t, especially if it’s a local funeral and the body won’t need to be moved between states. If you want a funeral where the body is viewed by friends and family members, then embalming may be required by the funeral home; however, it can cost up to $3,000 or more. Immediate burial, cremation or a closed-casket funeral eliminates the need for special preparations of the body and can save you lots of money. Don’t be fooled by a funeral provider who tries to talk you into paying for an embalming if you feel it isn’t necessary – the facts are:
Embalming doesn’t provide a public health benefit.
It doesn’t preserve a body forever; it may slightly prolong decomposition, but it’s going to happen regardless. Temperature has more to do with the rate of decomposition than whether a body has been embalmed.
Embalming is physically invasive.
It has no religious roots (some religions even consider it a desecration); it’s only a common practice in the US and Canada.
According to the Funeral Consumers Alliance, “The funeral industry promotes embalming and viewing as a means to show ‘proper respect for the body,’ and to establish the ‘clear identity’ of the corpse so that the reality of death cannot be denied by those who view the body. Many funeral directors are convinced that seeing the body is a necessary part of the grieving process, even if the death was long anticipated.” However, in her book Questions and Answers on Death and Dying, psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross says, “… the elaborate expensive display of an open casket with all the makeup in the slumber room enforces the belief that the person is only asleep, and in my personal opinion would only help to prolong the stage of denial.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are only three circumstances under which a funeral home is allowed to charge a fee for embalming:
If state law requires it, regardless of the family’s wishes
If the funeral provider has been given express permission to embalm the body from a family member or other authorized person; however, they’re required to specifically ask the designated person for permission to embalm – it can’t just be implied in vague terms such as “prepare the body.”
If the funeral provider has tried numerous times but cannot contact a family member or authorized person, and has no reason to believe that the family of the deceased does not want the body embalmed. But there is an exception to this: if, after going ahead with the embalming, the funeral provider manages to contact the family, and the family chooses a funeral service that doesn’t require embalming, the provider can’t charge for the embalming. In short, if the provider doesn’t have prior approval but embalms the body anyway, the family doesn’t have to pay for it.
One caveat: if you refuse embalming, watch out for “refrigeration costs.” Some funeral providers do require this, but in most cases it doesn’t cost more than twenty to fifty dollars per day to refrigerate a body. Don’t let anyone swindle you into paying as much for refrigeration as you would for embalming!