What Is Direct Burial? Meaning, What's Included and Your Rights

Direct burial is a burial that happens soon after death, without embalming, a public viewing or a funeral service at the funeral home. The FTC's official term is "immediate burial," and its definition is burial "without formal viewing, visitation, or ceremony with the body present, except for a graveside service." That makes it one of the simplest and least costly ways to arrange a burial, though the cemetery's charges are separate from the funeral home's.

What does direct burial include?

A funeral home's direct burial price generally covers the basics of getting a person from the place of death to the grave:

• Arranging the burial and obtaining the needed permits (the FTC lists these under a funeral home's basic services fee)
• Transfer of the body from the place of death
• Care of the body until burial, which can be refrigeration instead of embalming
• A casket or container, unless you supply your own
• Transport to the cemetery

What varies is what the funeral home puts in its package, so read the General Price List (GPL) line by line. Under the Funeral Rule the GPL must show the price range for immediate burial, a separate price if you provide the casket, and separate prices for each immediate burial that includes a casket or alternative container.

How is it different from a traditional burial or direct cremation?

Direct burial and direct cremation are both "direct" because nothing happens between death and disposition. They are different choices, though, and some faiths and families have strong views on one or the other. Our cremation vs burial cost guide compares them.

What does direct burial cost?

There is no single national price, and most of the cost is outside the funeral home. The funeral home's direct burial price is on its GPL, and the FTC says it must give you prices by phone if you ask. The cemetery then charges for its own services, and these are the items that surprise families.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) published these ranges in a brochure revised in December 2020. Prices have generally risen since, so treat them as a rough guide and get current quotes:

For a fuller price breakdown, see our direct burial cost guide and opening and closing grave fees. The funeral cost calculator can add up your own quotes.

What are your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule?

The Funeral Rule applies to funeral homes and other funeral providers in the US. Among other things, it gives you the right to:

• Get prices by phone, without giving your name or contact details
• Receive a written GPL when you start talking about arrangements
• Choose only the goods and services you want, rather than a package
• Use a casket or urn you bought elsewhere. The funeral provider "cannot refuse to handle" it or charge a fee for doing so
• Be told that embalming is not required by law (with limited exceptions), and to be charged for it only with your approval
• Be told accurately about outer burial containers, since the Rule bars providers from claiming the law requires one when it does not

The one fee you cannot decline is the funeral home's basic services fee. Our guides to the FTC Funeral Rule and the General Price List go into more detail. If you are thinking of buying a casket elsewhere, see bringing your own casket and buying a casket online.

Are embalming, a casket or a vault required?

• Embalming. No state requires routine embalming for every death. The FCA says no state requires it when burial or cremation will take place within two days, and in most states refrigeration is an accepted alternative. Some states have rules when a body is held longer, so ask your funeral home which rule applies. See is embalming required by law.
• Casket or container. The FTC says no law requires a casket for cremation, and the FCA says most cemeteries, except green burial sites, require a casket or other container for burial. A plain wood or fiberboard container is usually much cheaper than a display casket.
• Vault or liner. The FTC says that in most areas state or local law does not require an outer burial container, and the FCA says no state or federal law requires a vault. But "many cemeteries require" one so the grave does not sink, so check the cemetery's rule. Some religious traditions require burial directly in the earth, and some cemeteries set aside areas for it. Our grave liner vs vault guide explains the difference.

Can you still have a service?

Yes. The FTC definition explicitly allows a graveside service. A graveside committal can be as short or as long as the family and cemetery agree, and you can hold a separate memorial or celebration of life later, at a home, church, park or community hall, without the time pressure of a funeral. Our guides to graveside services and memorials without a funeral home cover ideas.

Is direct burial cheaper for veterans?

Burial in a VA national cemetery is one of the biggest cost savers. The National Cemetery Administration provides the gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a government headstone or marker and a burial flag at no cost for eligible veterans. Spouses and some dependents can also be buried there. You still pay the funeral home for its services and transport. See veterans burial benefits and national cemetery eligibility.

How to arrange a direct burial

1. Check any wishes in writing. Look for a will, funeral wishes or a prepaid plan, and any religious requirements.
2. Call two or three funeral homes. Ask for the immediate burial price by phone, then compare the GPLs, including the casket or container price.
3. Contact the cemetery directly. Ask for its price list, its vault or liner rule, its marker rules and the earliest burial date.
4. Decide on the casket. Compare the funeral home's least-expensive option with an outside seller.
5. Confirm who does what. The funeral home usually files the paperwork and transports the body, and the cemetery prepares the grave. In a few states, the FCA lists nine (Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York), a funeral director must be involved. Laws change, so check your state.
6. Plan the gathering. Decide whether to hold a graveside service now, a memorial later, or both.

What to do next

1. Ask two or three funeral homes for their immediate burial price and GPL.
2. Ask the cemetery for its written price list and its vault or liner requirement.
3. Add up the total, including the cemetery's charges, before you sign anything.