The Cost of Death

By Rachel Markowitz

“I can’t afford to die.” 

This sounds ridiculous at first. After all, death is universally inevitable. However, between end of life care and funeral costs, death can be a huge expense that most people do not consider until they have to. How can someone navigate the financial aspect of death while processing the grief they are facing, especially if the death was too young or too soon? 

According to Forbes.com, the median cost of a funeral and burial in the United States is currently $7,848, and is steadily increasing. Everything from the casket to the funeral home fees to the hearse have costs that quickly add up. Along with extra medical expenses and travel for family members, these expenses can easily surpass $10,000. While calling funeral homes and comparing costs is recommended, price shopping is often the last thing on a person’s mind after someone they love has died. 

Crowdsourcing websites such as GoFundMe are popular options for individuals who lack the funds to provide a funeral for their loved ones. These types of campaigns are tricky as there are always fees that go back to the website for each donation, and strangers may be wary to donate to funds they have never heard of in fear of fraud and scams. Although these pages can be an effective option for one’s friends, family, and community to contribute and offset some of the costs, crowdsourcing is not reliable to fully fund a funeral on its own. 

This situation is complicated even further if a young person’s parents die. The death of a parent forces a grieving teen or child to start taking on more adult responsibilities. Planning parents’ funerals is an expensive and overwhelming first task in an already devastating time. And, in the opposite situation, after a young person dies unexpectedly, parents often do not have a fund waiting to pay for funeral expenses. There are many resources available to help individuals in these tragic situations:

Forbes recommends using websites such as funeralocity.com and funerals.org when planning a funeral. These websites help with comparing prices and protecting consumer rights so funerals can be planned within any individual's budget. 

Charities such as Children’s Burial Assistance and Final Farewell assist parents in paying for the funerals of their children.

Money is not something that anyone wants to think about while they are grieving a loved one, but being aware of the costs of a funeral can be helpful in preparing for the inevitable. By researching different local funeral homes, comparing options, and checking eligibility for assistance from different programs, funeral costs can be less of a burden to one’s family after death.