News & Events

South Burlington, VT—The nation’s consumer watchdog protecting grieving families has asked the Federal Trade Commission to beef up protections for those arranging funerals. Funeral Consumers Alliance has responded to the FTC’s request for comments on the “Funeral Rule” to request…

The FTC has opened an online portal where you can view the 40 questions they’re asking about revision of the Funeral Rule, and also upload your own comments to the public record: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/11/02/2022-23832/funeral-industry-practices-rule We have 60 days to respond. Thus,…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on October 20, 2022, that it will be proposing changes to the consumer protection regulations known as the Funeral Rule. The most important of these potential changes is likely to be a new mandate…

Join us on Sunday, October 16, 2022, 2-4 pm, for a program titled “Death Care with Love, Vision, and Surprises.”  Open to all. Free! Come in person (masks optional):  The Meadows Lodge, 43 Chestnut Street, East Longmeadow, MA.  Refreshments! Or…

Our Fall newsletter is ready! You can read it here on this website. Print copies are being sent via bulk mail to our members who are print subscribers, and to organizations on our “courtesy” list. Email notices via Mailchimp have…

We offer speakers for groups and are pleased to share information with community members. Upcoming talks include Sept. 21 at the South Hadley Public Library (see below), Sept. 29 at the Longmeadow Library, and October 18 with the Chester Council…

We are pleased to announce results of our 2022 project to collect and compare prices for funeral home services in Western Massachusetts. We obtained prices from 81% of the funeral home locations, a high response rate. Results are published today…

We are pleased to announce an improved and updated directory of funeral home locations in Western Massachusetts. The directory is now in a sortable table, making it easy to sort the list by County, or Town, or Funeral Home Name….

The Wall Street Journal has published an informative article about building your own coffin. It is on the front page of the July 19, 2022 print issue. Here is the link to the digital version posted 7/18/22, with audio. One…

A revised Consumer Fact Sheet for Funeral Planning is now posted on Mass.gov, linked from this page. This 6-page document from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing (“EM Board”) can be viewed directly at https://www.mass.gov/doc/em-board-consumer-fact-sheet/download Our organization…