Our Price Comparison Chart lists all funeral homes in Western Massachusetts. Every two years we gather General Price Lists (GPLs) from as many of these businesses as possible. For our chart we selected six price categories, starting with two lower-cost and simpler package options: Immediate Burial and Direct Cremation. See Definitions for descriptions of the price categories displayed in the chart. For pricing of additional options, consult the GPLs, which typically show prices for sixteen categories of services and goods. You can find links to the GPLs in the “Get GPL” column.
SORTING: The chart is in a sortable table. You may SORT the table by clicking any column heading. Clicking once sorts the table from A to Z or from low to high, based on the content of that column. Clicking twice on the column heading sorts the table from Z to A or from high to low.
The NOTES column contains codes for various explanatory NOTES, as follows:
- GPL is available online at this funeral home’s website, and is up to date. (We applaud this!)
- Description of services differs from definitions used by FCAWM (and FTC). Be sure to read their General Price List (GPL) carefully; the discrepancies could be to your advantage, or not.
- Ownership is non-local. (Some funeral homes in our region are owned by corporations headquartered elsewhere – e.g., Carriage Services of Houston, TX; Foundation Partners Group, Orlando, FL; or Milestone Partners, Maine.)
- What was submitted is not a GPL; it might be a Statement of Goods; Services Selected and Payment Agreement, or a Schedule of Basic Standard Package Services. The funeral home would be in violation of federal rules if this were given to someone in place of an actual General Price List.
- Blank spaces indicate that the information was not provided in the GPL, or the funeral home did not send us a GPL.
For Cremation pricing, we have provided 3 columns of information, answering these questions:
- What Cremation price (for option including container) is quoted in the GPL?
- Is the cost of actual cremation (done by 3rd party) included in that quote?
- Is the Medical Examiner Office’s required fee ($200) included?
Massachusetts does not allow funeral homes to own or operate crematories. Crematories are separate non-profit organizations, which charge the funeral homes a fee for each cremation. The range of cremation fees is $200-600; a crematory fee of $350 is common in our region.
IMPORTANT: It is NOT possible to do an exact comparison of funeral home pricing. Funeral homes vary in the way they list prices and in the use of terms. GPLs typically state that prices are “subject to change without notice” and do not include the prices of all goods and services that may be arranged through the funeral home. Package prices for certain combinations of goods and services may offer lower prices in special circumstances.
Disclaimer: Our listing of service providers in no way represents an endorsement by the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts for any of the listed providers. The funeral homes are listed solely for the purpose of facilitating consumers’ exploration of options and comparison shopping. Prior to visiting any funeral home we strongly recommend reviewing basic points of the Funeral Rule here or visit the official Funeral Rule website (Federal Trade Commission) for more detailed information on your rights.