A funeral's total cost is made up of three parts: the funeral home's basic services and staff fee, the specific goods and services a family selects, such as a casket, cremation, or memorial service, and third-party cash advance items like death certificates or clergy honoraria. Federal law requires every funeral home to give an itemized price list before any goods are chosen.
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Thinking about the cost of a funeral while you're grieving, or trying to plan ahead for your own, is a strange kind of hard. You want clear answers, not a sales pitch.
This guide walks through what actually makes up that cost, piece by piece, so you know what questions to ask when you're ready. No dollar figures here, just the structure behind the bill.
Oliver H. Bair & Monaghan Funeral Home has been part of Philadelphia-area families' lives since 1878, and families across Upper Darby and Delaware County have given us a perfect five-star rating for the way we walk them through moments like this one.
What Actually Makes Up a Funeral's Cost
Every funeral bill breaks into the same three pieces, no matter which funeral home a family chooses. The first is the funeral home's basic services fee, which applies no matter what else a family chooses.
The second piece is the goods and services a family actually selects: a casket or urn, a viewing, use of a chapel, transportation, or personalized touches. The third piece covers cash advance items, costs the funeral home pays on a family's behalf and passes through, like a death certificate fee or an honorarium for clergy.
Our funeral services
page lists the categories families usually choose from, and our full range of services
page shows everything available under one roof, including arrangements with our affiliated cemetery and monument partners for families who need that, too.
The Basic Services Fee: What It Covers
This fee is the one part of the bill that does not change based on burial or cremation. It covers the funeral director's time, staff, facility overhead, permits, and the paperwork involved in coordinating arrangements.
Under the FTC's Funeral Rule, this fee has to be disclosed clearly and separately, and it is the only truly non-declinable charge a funeral home can require. Everything after it is a choice.
Choices That Shape the Final Plan
From here, almost everything is optional, and that is good news. A family decides whether there is a viewing, whether the service happens in our chapel or elsewhere, whether a casket or an urn fits the plan, and whether personal touches, like a tribute video or a livestream for family who cannot travel, matter to them.
Some families choose direct cremation, a simpler path with fewer of these choices involved. Others want a full traditional service with every detail considered. Veterans and their families often add military honors. None of these choices is right or wrong. They are just different.
Cremation and Burial: Different Cost Paths
Cremation and burial pull different combinations of goods and services into the bill, since each involves a different set of choices and components. Direct cremation uses the fewest components: a basic services fee, cremation itself, and minimal cash advance items.
Cremation with a viewing or memorial service adds pieces back in, like a visitation and clergy honoraria. Traditional burial typically adds a casket, an outer burial container if the cemetery requires one, and cemetery costs that sit outside the funeral home entirely. Our cremation or burial guide walks through how families weigh the two.
How Pre-Planning Helps Your Family
Pre-planning does not lock anything in. What it does is let you make these decisions calmly, ahead of time, instead of all at once during grief. You document what you want, and your family is spared from guessing.
In our experience, families who pre-plan arrive at the arrangement conference already knowing most of what they want, which makes a hard day shorter. Because our owner, Bridget Monaghan Wible, is both a licensed funeral director and an estate-planning attorney, we can also connect a funeral plan to the bigger picture of a family's wishes. Start with our pre-planning checklist
whenever you're ready.
Frequently Asked Questions About Funeral Costs in Pennsylvania
How much does a funeral cost in Pennsylvania?
It depends entirely on the choices a family makes, which is why no honest funeral home can post one number online. Costs come from a basic services fee every family pays, plus whatever goods, services, and cash advance items a specific family selects. Call us and we will walk through your options and give you a written, itemized list.
What is a basic services fee, and why do I have to pay it?
It is the one charge the FTC Funeral Rule allows a funeral home to make non-declinable, covering the funeral director's time, staff, and overhead involved in coordinating arrangements. It applies whether a family chooses cremation or burial. Every other line on the bill is a choice you control.
Can I choose only the funeral services I want?
Yes. Federal law gives families the right to select goods and services individually rather than being required to buy a package. You are never required to purchase anything you have not specifically asked for.
Is direct cremation different from a traditional funeral in terms of cost?
Direct cremation generally involves fewer components, since it skips a viewing, embalming, and a casket purchase in most cases. A traditional burial adds those pieces, along with cemetery costs. Which path fits your family depends on your wishes and the specifics of your plan.
How does pre-planning help my family later?
Pre-planning lets you make decisions in advance, calmly, instead of leaving your family to guess during grief. It does not require paying anything upfront. It simply documents your wishes so the people you love have clear answers when the time comes.
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Whenever you're ready to talk through any of this, we're here. There's no pressure and no obligation, just people who know how to help. Call Oliver H. Bair & Monaghan Funeral Home at (610) 449-8585, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or contact us
whenever it's convenient for you.
