What If You Can't Afford a Funeral? Options and Next Steps

If you can't afford a funeral, don't sign a funeral home contract yet. In the US, a funeral bill is generally paid from the person's estate, and family members usually don't have to pay it from their own money unless they sign for it. State rules differ, so check with legal aid if you are unsure. The lowest-cost routes are direct cremation, whole-body donation, a home funeral, and a VA national cemetery for eligible veterans. Small amounts of help come from the county, the VA, charities and crowdfunding.

Do you have to pay for a relative's funeral?

Usually not from your own money, but the answer depends on what you sign. The FTC explains that a person's debts are owed by and paid from their estate, and that family members usually don't have to pay a deceased relative's debts personally. If there isn't enough money in the estate, the debt usually goes unpaid. The exceptions include debts you cosigned, being a spouse in a community property state, and being the spouse in a state that requires you to pay certain kinds of debt. The executor or personal representative settles the estate's debts.

A funeral contract is different. Whoever signs it agrees to pay it. The FTC's page on debts after a death doesn't address funeral bills specifically, and state rules vary, so a legal aid office can tell you whether anything else could make you responsible. The FCA also warns that no charity will bail you out if you go into debt for a funeral. For a closer look at who pays, see our guide on who pays for a funeral.

What should you do first?

1. Hold off on signing. You can ask questions and get prices without committing. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home must give you prices by phone, without asking for your name first, and a written General Price List when you visit.
2. Set a budget before you call. The FCA advises deciding what you can comfortably afford without sacrificing money you need for daily living, and not disclosing your budget to the funeral director.
3. Look for money that may already exist. Check for a bank account, life insurance, an employer or union benefit, or a burial policy. The FCA lists employers and unions as possible sources of survivor benefits. Our guides on using life insurance for a funeral and accessing a deceased person's bank account explain how.
4. Call your county's social services office. Ask whether state or local burial assistance exists and what approval it needs before the funeral.
5. Ask the funeral home about local help. The FCA says funeral homes have this information, and that the funeral home may be the one required to petition the state for assistance.

What are the lowest-cost options?

You can hold a memorial service later, at home, at a place of worship or in a park, once the immediate costs are handled. Our guides to low-cost funeral options, direct cremation costs and body donation programs go into each.

Where can money come from?

Most help is small, so expect to combine several sources.

• Social Security. The lump-sum death payment is $255, and federal regulations say it may be paid to a widow or widower who was living in the same household as the person who died. See the Social Security death benefit.
• The VA. If the veteran qualifies (for example, the death was service-connected, the veteran was receiving VA pension or compensation, or died in VA care), the VA pays a burial allowance. For a death that was not service-connected, it is $1,032 for deaths on or after October 1, 2026 and $1,002 for deaths on or after October 1, 2025. For a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, the maximum is $2,000. For a non-service-connected death, you generally must claim within 2 years of the burial. Read our guide to the VA burial allowance.
• State and county programs. The FCA says many states offer burial assistance for people who were receiving Medicaid, SSI or SSD at the time of death. It says the amount is usually minimal, barely covering a cremation or direct burial. See Medicaid funeral assistance.
• Charities and faith communities. The FCA says Catholic Charities may have an indigent burial program, and your own or the deceased's faith community may offer help.
• Victim compensation. Some states help families of accident or homicide victims with funeral expenses through their Victim Compensation Program.
• Fundraising. Friends, local businesses, clubs and crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe may help. See our crowdfunding funeral tips.
• Payment plans. Most funeral homes expect payment in full up front, but the FCA says you can sometimes pay part through an installment plan negotiated with the funeral home.

The FCA says borrowing money for a funeral should be a last resort, after every other avenue is exhausted, and warns that special funeral lenders typically charge high interest. For a wider view of what exists, read our guide to government help with funeral costs.

What happens if there is no money and no one to pay?

Counties and states generally have some arrangement for people whose families can't pay. The FCA says some states or county social services departments may help with the funeral costs of an indigent person. These arrangements are basic, and rules differ by place: the cost covered, how fast it happens, whether you can hold a service, and whether ashes are returned to the family.

If you are in this position, contact your county's social services office or the medical examiner as early as you can, and ask these questions before anything is arranged:

• What will the county cover, and will it be a burial or a cremation?
• Can the family choose the funeral home, or be present?
• Will the ashes be released to the family, and is there a fee?

Don't assume the family loses all say. Ask. Our guide to paying for a grave you can't afford and what to do about a funeral home that won't release a body cover related situations.

What if the person who died was a baby or child?

There are charities set up for this. The TEARS Foundation offers financial help toward funeral and memorial costs for a baby's or child's death when funds are available, through an online application. Its financial programs differ by state and by the child's age, so check its application page. Kaden's Cause helps low-wealth families with the funeral, cremation, cemetery and monument costs of children age 5 and younger, in all 50 states. Some cemeteries and funeral homes may reduce fees for children, so ask. See our children's funeral costs guide.

What to do next

1. Phone two or three funeral homes and ask for the direct cremation price and what's included.
2. Call your county social services office and ask about burial assistance before you sign.
3. Check whether the person, a spouse or a parent served in the military, as a VA burial may be free.
4. If you're unsure whether you'd be personally liable, a local legal aid organization or a probate attorney can explain the rules in your state, often at no cost if you qualify.