Funeral Law II 2.3 Study Guide

16. Paraphrase and give an example of the Cash Advance Disclosure.

"We charge you for our services in obtaining:" -if you charge a service fee above the actual cost of the obituary

When must the Casket Price List be offered to the consumer?

-face to face discussion about offerings on the CPL or the price of those offerings -given prior to the funeral director showing casket models to the customer

List the parts of the Introduction of the Outer Burial Container Price List.

-introductory matters -outer burial container listings -mandatory disclosure -distribution of outer burial container price list

Are there any services you can charge for, even if the family does not want the service, in order to get a service the family does want? If so, state which items can be required.

-non-declinable service fee -if the family wants a public viewing you can charge for embalming -embalming if the state requires embalming for certain cases

When must the funeral director give the General Price List to the consumer?

-to anyone who asks in person about funeral goods, funeral services or the prices of such goods or services -must give to the consumer to keep -any person who inquires about funeral arrangements including competitors, journalists, representatives of businesses, religious societies, government agencies or consumer groups

List the 16 prices which are required to be itemized on the GPL.

1. basic services of funeral director and staff 2.embalming 3. other preparation of the body 4. services and facilities for viewing 5. services and facilities for funeral ceremony 6.Services and Facilities for Memorial Service 7. services and equipment for graveside services 8. transfer of remains to funeral home 9. hearse 10. limousine 11. casket price range 12. outer burial container price range 13. forwarding remains 14. receiving remains 15. direct cremation 16. immediate burials

what are the six disclosures required on the GPL

1. consumer's right to select only the goods and services desired 2.embalming 3. alternative containers for direct cremation 4. basic service fee 5. casket price list 6. outer burial container price list

List the 3 mandatory disclosures required on the Statement of Goods and Services.

1. listing of legal and other requirements 2. embalming approval 3.marked-up cash advances

List the 3 situations for which the funeral home can charge for embalming.

1. state or local law requires it 2. you have prior permission to embalm 3. exigent circumstances (you cant find the family and have no reason to believe that they do not want an embalming)

7. A family at your funeral home selects Funeral Package A. This package includes Basic services of FD and staff, Embalming and other prep, 1 night Visitation and a funeral the next day, followed by Cremation. When completing the Statement of Goods and Services, can you list only 1 price, that being the price for the package? Explain when you can or why you can not.

Certainly you can list only 1 price on the statement of a package arrangement, but you must list every item that is included in the package.

At Patterson's Peaceful Parlors, we offer transfer of remains to the funeral home at the following prices, $75 within the county in which the funeral home is located, and $2 per loaded mile outside of that county. Is this legal?

Certainly, you may charge a different fee within the county and outside the county, provided it is stated on the GPL.

Paraphrase the embalming disclosure.

Embalming is not required by law. However, some services do require a body to be embalmed. If you choose not to pay for embalming, you may choose an option that does not require embalming.

Under which of the 16 itemized prices would the utility bills fall?

basic services of funeral director and staff

Give two examples of illegal tying arrangements.

if a funeral home refused services to a family who purchased a casket or product from a third party vendor or charged a fee for handling, inspecting or delivering third party merchandise -if a FD only offers funeral services to a family if they agree to buy a product such as a casket from them

If I include the prices of every casket I offer on the General Price List, must I also make a Casket Price List?

no

Patterson's Peaceful Parlors does not offer limousines as part of their services. Must they include Limousine on the GPL?

no, ,you only need to write in what applies to your FH, each FH makes their own GPL

Can the funeral director complete the Statement of Goods and Services after the family leaves the funeral home provided the statement is given to the family at the visitation or funeral?

no, it must be filled out fully so that the family has all the prices at the conclusion of the arrangements

When making arrangements with a family, the funeral director makes the following statement: "As you will note, the prices for all of our services are listed in the General Price List." She then points to the the GPL on the corner of the desk. If she does this prior to any discussion of funeral goods and services, has she met the FTC requirement?

no, need to physically give the GPL to the customer

Must the Casket Price List be offered to the consumer for Retention?

no, the fd may request that the list be returned after the caskets have been shown

Patterson's Peaceful Parlors uses an answering service for calls after 5 pm. Must the answering service give out price information?

no, they can take a message and the funeral director can get back to the caller during normal business hours in a timely manner

If a family calls to inquire about your prices, must you, the funeral director, give the prices out over the telephone?

yes

If the funeral home prefers, may they attach the casket price list to the General Price List?

yes

Must a GPL be given to the consumer of a Pre-Need Funeral Arrangement?

yes ,since the funeral rule applies to pre-need arrangements as well as arrangements, the distribution of GPL should be made to all pre-need customers

A family chooses direct cremation and does not wish to have embalming. They do wish to have an identification viewing. Can you charge them other preparation of the remains for the ID viewing?

yes you can charge for any service you provide; however if it is just a viewing for id purposes you may not want to

A local florist sells flowers for $100 to consumers who enter her store. If the funeral home orders the flowers instead of the family, the florist only charges $90. Can the funeral home charge $100 for this or not? If so, are there any stipulations to this purchase?

yes you can, but you need to disclose this on the statement of goods and services that you charge for the service of ordering the flowers (even though the customer did not get charged more you did make money on it)

Can a funeral home charge a fee for a funeral which is held off site, such as at a local church or other hall?

yes, this price should be seperately listed on the GPL

Paraphrase the mandatory Disclosure of the Outer Burial Container Price List.

In most areas of the country, state or local law does not require that you buy a container to surround the casket in the grave. However, many cemeteries require that you have such a container so that the grave will not sink in. Either a grave liner -or a burial vault will satisfy these requirements.

Can the funeral home offer a package price for arrangements that include the "traditional" funeral except the deceased will be cremated instead of buried? If the funeral home can offer this package, can they charge less for this package then the price would be if the items were purchased separately?

Yes, they can charge less for the combination than the component parts, as McDonald's charges less for value meals than for the component parts. and as long as they do not discount basic fee charges

How long must Price Lists be kept?

a one year period from when the price list was last distribute

Who must comply with the Federal Trade Commission Funeral Rule?

all funeral providers; you are a funeral provider if you sell or offer to sell both funeral goods and funeral services to the public funeral goods are all products sold directly to the public in connection with funeral services

When making the removal from a residence, the funeral director asks for and receives permission to embalm. Is this discussion of Embalming a "triggering event" that would necessitate the funeral director giving the consumer a copy of the General Price List?

no, you are not required to offer a General Price List if you remove the deceased for transportation to the funeral home and, at that time, only request the authorization to embalm. When you request authorization to embalm, however,you also must: Disclose that embalming is not required by law (except in special cases, if relevant); Refrain from further discussion about prices or the selection of funeral goods or services while you remove the deceased. Any further discussion of prices or the selection of goods or services at this time would trigger the requirement to provide a GPL.