Sources & Methodology

This page lists the sources behind the prices, laws and guidance on US Funerals Online, how often we check each one, and where we use it. It is the working companion to our Editorial Policy, which sets out our standards in full.

Last reviewed: October 16, 2026 · Reviewed by: Sara Marsden-Ille, Founder and Editor

On this page

• How our content is made
• Source standards
• How we handle prices and phone numbers
• Commercial relationships
• How often we check our sources
• Federal law and regulation
• State laws, regulators and vital records
• Industry research and price data
• Recent corrections
• Found an error?

How our content is made

US Funerals Online has been publishing since 2003. For most of that time our guides were researched and written by hand, state by state, in an era when far fewer laws, fee schedules and price records were published online and easy to check. Over two decades, some of that content has fallen behind changes in the law and in prices.

We are now working through our entire archive, page by page, re-checking every claim against current, verifiable sources. Better research tools and today’s open access to statutes, agency records and price data let us hold old and new content to the same standard. When we find an error, we fix it and record it (see Recent corrections). This is ongoing work, and this page shows where it stands.

• One accountable editor. Every cost figure, legal claim and recommendation is reviewed by our Editor-in-Chief, Sara Marsden-Ille, who has researched and written about the US funeral industry since 2008.
• Dated reviews. Our state pages carry a reviewer byline and a “Last reviewed” date. That date changes only when the facts on the page have been checked again, not when wording or layout changes.
• Linked evidence. We link to the official source (a statute, regulator or government office) wherever one is publicly available, so you can check a claim for yourself.
• A change record. We keep an internal revision log of every correction: what changed, on which page, the source behind it and the date.
• Not legal advice. Our guides explain the law in general terms. For a decision that depends on your circumstances, ask a funeral director, an attorney or the relevant state office.

Source standards

We use the strongest source available for each type of claim, in this order:

1. The law itself: current state statutes, administrative rules and federal regulations.
2. The office that applies it: state funeral boards, vital records offices, medical examiner offices and federal agencies such as the FTC, SSA and VA.
3. Named research: industry studies (NFDA, CANA) and price data, always with the source and year.
4. Secondary explainers: established legal publishers such as Nolo, used for context and never in place of the statute.

When two sources disagree, the law and the official agency win. When our own pages disagree with each other, we hold back the claim until it is checked against a primary source. One example: in October 2026 we found that many cremation guides on the web (including some of ours) stated a “mandatory 24-hour waiting period” that the state’s law does not actually contain. We now state a minimum waiting period only where we can cite the statute that sets it.

How we handle prices and phone numbers

• Average prices (for example, “a direct cremation in Kansas costs about $2,525 on average”) come from published price data. Our main source is Funeralocity’s 2026 state and city figures, complemented by regional price surveys from other funeral price aggregators, funeral homes’ own General Price Lists and industry association reports such as NFDA’s. We keep the results in one master table: Cremation Costs by State.
• “From” prices are the lowest current all-inclusive direct cremation price offered by a provider in the DFS Memorials network for that area. DFS Memorials shares ownership with US Funerals Online (see below), and its provider listings are our master record for these prices. When a DFS price changes, we update the master tables, the state guide and the state page together.
• Where there is no network provider we say so, and show average prices only.
• Phone numbers shown with a price connect to that provider through a tracked line. We check them against our active call-tracking records, and we remove numbers for providers that have left the network.
• Your total may differ. A quoted price can exclude death certificates, permits, a medical examiner’s fee or travel outside a service area. Always ask for the General Price List, which every funeral home must give you under the FTC Funeral Rule.

Commercial relationships

US Funerals Online and DFS Memorials (a network of independent direct cremation providers) have common ownership. The same team markets the Death Away From Home travel protection plan. We disclose both wherever they appear. No funeral home pays for coverage in our guides, cost tables or state pages. Full details are in our Editorial Policy.

How often we check our sources

Federal law and regulation

FTC Funeral Rule (16 CFR Part 453) — your right to itemized prices, to buy only what you want and to use a casket or urn bought elsewhere.
Checked: as amended · Used on: The FTC’s Funeral Rule, every state page and cremation guide

Social Security Administration: lump-sum death payment (20 CFR 404.390) and survivor benefits — the one-time $255 death payment and monthly survivor benefits.
Checked: annually · Used on: state funeral guides (financial help sections)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: burials and memorials — burial allowances, national cemeteries and headstones for eligible veterans.
Checked: annually · Used on: state funeral guides

EPA: burial at sea — the federal rules for scattering ashes at sea, and confirmation that inland lakes and rivers are governed by state law.
Checked: as amended · Used on: cremation guides (scattering sections)

State laws, regulators and vital records

These are the primary sources behind the legal facts on our state pages. We are working through every state. The cards below list each state we have re-verified against its statutes, with the date we last checked. States not yet listed are in review, and their pages will be updated as each one is checked.

Industry research and price data

National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) — national median funeral and cremation costs (General Price List study) and cremation-rate projections. We always state the edition year.
Checked: each new release · Used on: cost guides and state funeral guides

Cremation Association of North America (CANA) — cremation statistics, trends and practice. US Funerals Online is a CANA member; CANA does not review our content.
Checked: each new release · Used on: cremation guides

Funeralocity price data (2026) — our main source for state and city average prices for direct cremation, cremation with a memorial service and full-service funerals.
Checked: each time new data is published · Used on: Cremation Costs by State, Average Cost of a Cremation, all state cremation guides and state pages

DFS Memorials provider listings (network partner) — current all-inclusive direct cremation prices and service areas for network providers. This is our master record for “from” prices.
Checked: continuously · Used on: cremation cost tables, state cremation guides, state funeral guides and state pages

Regional price surveys and other funeral price aggregators — used alongside Funeralocity to check local averages and to fill gaps where a city or region is not covered.
Checked: each time new data is published · Used on: state cremation guides and city guides

Funeral home General Price Lists — individual providers’ published or quoted prices, used for local examples. We name the provider and the date where practical.
Checked: when the page is reviewed

Recent corrections

We publish a summary of significant corrections so readers can see what changed and why.

• October 2026, waiting periods: after re-checking state crematory laws and board rules, we removed “mandatory waiting period” claims for Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington, which have no minimum wait in law, and added the 24-hour wait that Alabama’s law does require. Each page now explains the real requirement, such as a medical examiner’s or coroner’s permit.
• October 2026, regulators: updated Arizona (funeral licensing moved to the Department of Health Services in 2023), Colorado (regulator renamed in 2024), Illinois (funeral directors are licensed by IDFPR, crematories by the Comptroller), Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
• October 2026, fees: corrected death certificate fees for Colorado (new 2026 fees), Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
• October 2026, scattering: corrected our Illinois guide, which said ashes may be scattered in Lake Michigan. Illinois law does not authorize this.
• October 2026, prices: brought every “from” price into line with current DFS network listings across our cost tables and state guides, and removed phone numbers for providers no longer in the network.

Found an error?

If you think something on US Funerals Online is wrong or out of date, please contact us and tell us the page and what you believe is incorrect. We aim to respond within five business days, and we note substantive corrections on the affected page. See our corrections policy.