Arkansas Funeral Costs: Prices, Laws and Your Rights

Arkansas has no official average funeral price, so costs depend on the funeral home, the cemetery and whether you choose burial or cremation. The NFDA's 2023 national medians were $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 for viewing and cremation, before cemetery charges. Arkansas law does not require embalming, though a body not buried within 48 hours must be embalmed or refrigerated unless it is cremated within that time.

How much does a funeral cost in Arkansas?

No Arkansas agency publishes funeral prices, so any single "Arkansas average" is an estimate. The most cited benchmark is the NFDA's 2023 General Price List study, which gives national medians for the funeral home's charges plus a casket.

Those figures exclude the cemetery plot, the opening and closing of the grave, a marker, flowers and the obituary. Direct cremation and immediate burial, which skip the viewing and service, cost much less, but no verified Arkansas survey of those prices is available.

The reliable way to find your local price is to compare. The FTC Funeral Rule says a funeral home must give you prices by phone without asking for your name, and a written General Price List when you visit. Prices can differ by thousands of dollars between homes in the same town. Our guides on the General Price List and funeral home fees show what each line means, and low-cost funeral options lists ways to spend less.

What are Arkansas's embalming and paperwork rules?

• Embalming. Arkansas Code 20-17-107 says a dead body is not required to be embalmed. A body not buried within 48 hours after death must be embalmed or refrigerated, and neither is required when the body is to be cremated within 48 hours. The FTC adds that many funeral homes have a policy requiring embalming for a public viewing, but that is not required by law in most states.
• Medical examiner cases. It is unlawful to embalm a body that the State Medical Examiner may examine without authorization, so wait for clearance in an unexpected death.
• Death certificate. The funeral director, or the person acting as the funeral director, who first takes custody files the death certificate and gets the medical certification from the physician. The certificate is due within 10 days of the death.
• Authorization for disposition. Arkansas issues a final disposition authorization to a licensed funeral director or a person acting as one, on application to the state registrar.
• Keeping the body at home. The National Home Funeral Alliance's January 2026 summary says no Arkansas statute or regulation addresses how long a body can stay at home. Our home funeral FAQ covers the general picture.

Is a funeral director required? The Funeral Consumers Alliance lists nine states that require one, and Arkansas is not among them. Because the paperwork laws speak of a "person acting as" a funeral director, call the Arkansas Department of Health's vital records office before you plan a family-led funeral.

Who decides the funeral arrangements?

Arkansas Code 20-17-102, the Arkansas Final Disposition Rights Act of 2009, lets any adult of sound mind sign a declaration saying how their remains should be handled. It must be signed by the person or by someone at their direction and witnessed by two people, and no one else's consent is needed. You can use the declaration to name the person who carries out your wishes.

Without a declaration, the right goes in this order:

1. A person named on a DD Form 93, if the decedent died while serving in the military
2. The person named in the decedent's declaration
3. The surviving spouse
4. A majority of the surviving children
5. The parents, then a majority of siblings, grandparents and grandchildren
6. A guardian, then other next of kin by degree of kinship
7. A government representative with a statutory duty to dispose of the remains, then a VA or veterans service organization representative for veterans

A person can lose the right in several ways. (The statute text we checked is the FindLaw copy current as of March 2024, so confirm with an attorney or the Arkansas legislature's site if a dispute depends on it.) The statute lists not acting within two days of being told of the death or five days after the death, whichever is earlier, being unwilling to take on the cost when the estate cannot pay, being estranged from the decedent, and having a divorce complaint pending or living apart for more than 90 days before the death. If people with an equal right cannot agree, any of them or the funeral director can ask the circuit court in the county where the person lived to decide. While the dispute continues, the funeral director can embalm or refrigerate the body and add that cost to the bill. Disputes like this are worth a call to an attorney.

How do you get an Arkansas death certificate?

The Arkansas Department of Health charges $10 for the first certified copy and $8 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time. If it finds no record or makes no copy, state law lets it keep $10 as a search fee. Online orders add a $5 processing fee and a $1.85 identity verification fee. You can also order by mail, by phone or in person at 4815 West Markham Street in Little Rock, where most requests are filled the same day if you arrive by 4 p.m. and have acceptable identification. Our guide on how many death certificates you need helps you order the right number.

What about cemetery costs, vaults and veterans cemeteries?

Cemetery charges are separate from the funeral home's. Expect a plot or space, a fee to open and close the grave, and sometimes a separate endowment care charge, and ask for a written price list before you buy. The FTC says no state requires a burial vault, but many cemeteries do, so ask the cemetery for its rules. Our guides cover cemetery plot costs and vaults and liners.

Eligible veterans, spouses and dependent children can be buried in a VA national cemetery with no charge for the grave, opening and closing, or a vault or liner, according to the FTC. The VA lists Fayetteville National Cemetery and Fort Smith National Cemetery as open, Little Rock National Cemetery as closed, and the Arkansas State Veterans Cemeteries at North Little Rock and Birdeye as open. See national cemetery eligibility.

Who can help pay for a funeral?

• Veterans. The VA pays a limited burial allowance toward costs for eligible veterans. See the VA burial allowance guide.
• Social Security. The Funeral Consumers Alliance notes a one-time $255 payment to an eligible surviving spouse. See the Social Security death benefit guide.
• Local help. The FCA suggests asking your local social services office about state or local burial assistance, and checking with charities, faith communities, unions, employers and the funeral home itself. Arkansas's disposition statute also names a government representative responsible for remains in some cases, so contact the county before you sign a contract if no one can pay.
• Other sources. See who pays for a funeral.

What to do next

1. Look for a written declaration, then confirm who has the right of disposition under Code 20-17-102 and make sure you act within the two-day and five-day limits.
2. Ask three funeral homes for their General Price Lists and a written, itemized statement before you pay.
3. If you want to avoid embalming, ask about immediate burial or cremation within 48 hours, or refrigeration.
4. If the person was a veteran, ask the funeral home to help request a national or state cemetery burial and military honors.