Tennessee Funeral Costs: Prices, Laws and Help Paying

Tennessee does not publish an official average funeral price, and every funeral home sets its own. The best benchmark we could verify is national: the NFDA's 2023 study found a median of $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 for one with viewing and cremation, before cemetery costs. A direct cremation or immediate burial costs less because it has no viewing or service, and you can compare exact prices in writing before you commit.

How much does a funeral cost in Tennessee?

The NFDA burial median covers the basic services fee, transfer of the body, embalming and preparation, a metal casket, viewing and ceremony, and a hearse. It leaves out the cemetery plot, opening and closing the grave, and a marker. The cremation median adds the cremation fee, an alternative container and an urn. The study surveyed 809 NFDA member funeral homes across the country, so Tennessee homes may price above or below it.

We did not find a current, independent price survey for Tennessee. The Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Mid-South in Memphis publishes surveys, but the Tennessee data on its site is from 2018, which is too old to rely on. Ask any local funeral home for a General Price List with the date it took effect.

How do you compare Tennessee funeral homes?

The FTC Funeral Rule applies in every state. A funeral home must give you prices over the phone if you ask, give you an itemized General Price List to keep, and let you buy only the items you want. It cannot refuse a casket or urn bought elsewhere or charge a fee to handle it. See our guide to reading a General Price List.

1. Call at least three funeral homes, including one in a nearby town.
2. Ask each for the total for the exact service you want, and whether the crematory fee, container and refrigeration are included if you are choosing cremation.
3. Check each funeral home's licence with the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, which also takes complaints and checks that homes follow price list rules.

What does Tennessee law say?

• Embalming. A January 2026 National Home Funeral Alliance summary found no Tennessee statute or regulation requiring embalming or refrigeration, and the FTC says no state requires embalming for every death. A funeral home can still require it for a public viewing as its own policy. See embalming and the law.
• Death certificates. A death certificate must be filed within five days of death and before final disposition. The funeral director who takes custody, the medical examiner or the attending or pronouncing physician may sign and file it.
• Family-led funerals. Tennessee Code 62-5-102 says the funeral director chapter does not prevent families, friends or neighbors from preparing and burying their dead without charge, and the Funeral Consumers Alliance does not list Tennessee among the nine states that require hiring a funeral director. See our home funeral laws by state guide before you plan this.
• Disposition methods. Tennessee law mentions burial, cremation, entombment, alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation), donation to science and removal from the state. It does not list natural organic reduction (human composting) in the 2026 summary. Ask funeral homes whether they offer water cremation and for a written price.
• Prepaid contracts. The Board oversees the Tennessee Prepaid Funeral Benefits Act, which regulates sellers of preneed contracts. Ask how the money is held and keep a copy of the contract. Our prepaid funeral plan comparison lists questions to ask.

Who has the right to decide?

If the person left no written directions or preneed contract, Tennessee Code 62-5-703 gives the right in roughly this order (check the statute for the full list and the time limits for acting): an agent named in a durable health care power of attorney, the surviving spouse, the majority of adult children, a surviving parent, the majority of siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, a guardian, the personal representative, other relatives in line to inherit, a public official when the state is responsible, and finally anyone willing to take responsibility. Under the same law, paying for the funeral does not give someone a greater right, and being the personal representative does not either. Naming someone in writing ahead of time avoids disputes.

What costs extra?

The funeral home's price usually leaves out the cemetery plot, opening and closing the grave, any vault or liner the cemetery requires, and the marker. Cash advance items such as obituary notices, flowers, clergy payments and death certificates are also separate. See cemetery plot costs for what cemeteries commonly charge for.

Natural burial in Tennessee

Larkspur Conservation, a nonprofit in the Nashville area with a preserve in Westmoreland, offers natural burial with no embalming, vaults or concrete. It publishes its pricing on its website, so ask for a written price. For other options, the Green Burial Council's cemetery provider map lets you search for certified cemeteries and funeral homes.

Help paying for a funeral in Tennessee

• Veterans. A Tennessee state veterans cemetery burial is at no cost if eligibility requirements are met, with no fee for a veteran's spouse or eligible dependent children, and a headstone is included. State cemeteries are in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Parkers Crossroads. Knoxville has two, and the Lyons View Pike one is at capacity, so ask which can take a new burial. VA national cemeteries in Chattanooga and Mountain Home are open to new burials, while Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis have space for cremated remains and limited space for caskets in a family member's existing gravesite. Applications need discharge papers such as a DD-214.
• VA burial allowance. The VA does not pay funeral home charges at the cemetery, but an allowance may reimburse some costs: $1,002 for a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2025, rising to $1,032 for deaths on or after October 1, 2026, with the same amount for a plot. For a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, it is up to $2,000. See the VA burial allowance guide.
• Social Security. A one-time $255 lump-sum death payment may go to a surviving spouse who was living with the person, or to an eligible child. See the Social Security death benefit guide.
• Other help. The Funeral Consumers Alliance suggests contacting your local department of social services, charities and faith communities. Programs vary, so confirm details before relying on them. See our guide on what to do if you cannot afford a funeral.

What to do next

1. Ask whether the person left a will, a signed funeral directive, a health care power of attorney or a preneed contract, and who has the right to decide.
2. Get General Price Lists from at least three funeral homes and note the effective date on each.
3. If the person was a veteran, find their discharge papers and call the cemetery before you finalize anything.
4. Keep a running total with the funeral budget builder.