Funeral Without a Hearse: Options, Costs and Rules

Yes, you can hold a funeral without a hearse. Under the FTC Funeral Rule the hearse is an optional, separately priced item, and a funeral home cannot make you buy it unless a law requires it. In a 2025 survey of 16 funeral homes in the Charleston, South Carolina area, the hearse averaged $506. Families may also move a body in their own van or SUV in most states, but nine states require a funeral director, so check your state before you plan anything.

Is a hearse required for a funeral?

No federal rule requires one. The FTC Funeral Rule makes every funeral home list its prices on a General Price List, and the hearse appears there as its own line, along with the limousine, graveside service and other items. The Rule says you may choose only the items you want. If a law, cemetery or crematory requires you to use an item you did not ask for, the home has to explain the reason in writing. A home is also not allowed to claim that a law requires something when it does not.

There is one limit. The Rule does not make a funeral home provide something that would be impossible or impractical for it to provide. A home that does not want you driving the casket to the cemetery in your own vehicle might say no, and you can then choose another home. Our guide to the FTC Funeral Rule explains the rights that apply to every purchase.

How much does a hearse cost?

Hearse charges vary widely, and there is no national figure from an official source. The best recent local data comes from a 2025 survey of 16 funeral homes in the Charleston, South Carolina area by the Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) of South Carolina.

This is one metro area, not a national average, so your local prices will differ. The point is proportion. Dropping the hearse takes a few hundred dollars off the bill. The basic services fee is the largest single charge, and you still pay it when you use a funeral home for anything else. Our guide to funeral home fees walks through each line.

What are your options instead of a hearse?

• Use a funeral home but decline the hearse. Tell the home you do not want that line, and ask what vehicle it would use and whether any other charge applies. Removal from the place of death is priced separately, and you still pay the basic services fee.
• Choose direct cremation or immediate burial. Both skip the viewing, the ceremony and the procession. The home collects the body, handles the paperwork and either cremates or buries. You can hold a memorial later, when and where you like. See what direct cremation is and what direct burial is.
• Have family move the body. In most states this is legal. The FCA notes that renting a van can cost far less than airfare when a body has to travel a long way. The rest of this guide covers what that involves.
• Hold a memorial without the body. When there is no casket to move, there is nothing to transport. A memorial service can happen at a church, a park or a home.

Some families choose a vehicle that means something to the person, such as the family truck, instead of a traditional hearse. That is a personal decision, and it needs the same paperwork and a container that fits.

Can a family transport a body themselves?

In most states, yes. The FCA says that in the majority of states a family, community or religious group can handle a death without hiring a funeral director, including getting the paperwork, holding a vigil or service, and transporting the body to the burial site. A Utah affiliate says you need pallbearers, access to a van, truck or SUV, and the proper paperwork.

Nine states are the exception: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York. What each state requires differs. As the FCA describes them:

• Connecticut: a funeral director files the death certificate, transports the body and obtains the burial-transit permit.
• Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York: a funeral director is involved in filing the death certificate and transporting the body, and in most of these also supervises the burial, cremation or other final disposition. Some also route the permits through the funeral director.
• Indiana: a funeral director is required to remove and transport the body.
• Iowa: a funeral director is required to arrange a cremation.

Laws change, so confirm with your state's funeral board or vital records office before you rely on this list. The FCA will also answer questions at fca@funerals.org. Our guides on transporting a body yourself and home funeral laws by state go deeper.

What paperwork do you need?

The details depend on the state, but the pattern is usually the same:

1. A death certificate. The medical portion is usually completed by a doctor, medical examiner or coroner, and the certificate is filed with the state or local registrar.
2. A permit. It is called a burial-transit, removal or disposition permit depending on the state. In Florida, for example, the permit cannot be issued until a complete certificate of death is filed, and it must accompany the body if it leaves the state.
3. Acceptance by the cemetery or crematory. The FCA warns that some crematories only accept a body through a funeral home, so ask first. Most cemeteries require a casket or container for burial, although green burial sites often do not.

If the body must cross state lines, the rules of each state apply. Only Alabama, Arkansas and New Jersey require embalming for that, according to the FCA, and several others require it when public transport is used. See transporting a body across states.

How to prepare if you are moving the body yourself

Plan each step before the day. A dry run saves stress.

• The container. A cremation needs a rigid, combustible container, and an alternative container made of wood, fiberboard or cardboard costs far less than a casket. The FCA puts the typical casket at $2,000 to $5,000 and an alternative container at $50 to over $1,000. See cardboard caskets.
• The vehicle. One online casket retailer lists the most common size at about 81 inches long, 27½ to 30½ inches wide and 24 inches deep on the outside. Measure the cargo space with the seats folded, and check the doors and halls on your route. Our casket sizing guide has more.
• Helpers. An adult in a container is heavy. Line up enough people to lift it safely, and agree who does what.
• Keeping the body cool. If there is a delay, the body needs to stay cool. A Utah FCA affiliate suggests roughly 16 pounds of dry ice per day for an adult, handled with gloves in a ventilated space. Utah law also sets cooling deadlines, so ask your state's rules.
• Insurance. Ask your auto insurer whether it has any exclusions for a one-time, non-commercial transport. Laws and policies vary.
• The paperwork in the vehicle. Carry the death certificate and the permit, and the cemetery's or crematory's contact details.

Does skipping the hearse save money?

A little, but it is rarely where the big savings are. The larger numbers in the 2025 Charleston survey were the basic services fee (average $2,605), embalming (average $949) and the lowest-priced casket (average $1,702). What moves a bill most is which home you use and which services you choose:

• Compare the General Price Lists of at least two or three homes. The FTC says funeral homes must give prices by phone.
• Decline embalming if you are not holding a public viewing. No state law requires routine embalming, according to the FTC. See embalming costs and whether embalming is required by law.
• Choose a simple container or a casket from another seller. A funeral home cannot refuse a casket you bought elsewhere or charge a handling fee for it.
• Compare direct cremation and immediate burial if a viewing is not important to you.

If you do it yourself, count the real costs: certified death certificate copies, permit fees, cooling supplies and a rented van if you need one. Our low-cost funeral options guide compares the cheaper routes side by side.

What about outside the United States?

The rules above are for the US. In England and Wales, GOV.UK says you can arrange a funeral yourself and points you to your local council for burial plots, crematorium bookings and costs. Other countries have their own rules, so ask the local registrar or the crematorium before making any plans.

What to do next

1. Ask two or three funeral homes for their General Price Lists and look at the hearse, transfer and basic services lines.
2. Check your state's rules on family transport. If you live in one of the nine states above, plan on using a funeral director for at least part of it.
3. Call the cemetery or crematory and ask what container, paperwork and delivery it needs.
4. Write down the route, the helpers and the paperwork, then do a dry run.