Funerals Don't Need To Cost Over $10,000

Licensed morticians Caitlin Doughty and Amber Carvaly promote the concept of unveiling the shrouded and grave matters of death through their venture Undertaking L.A.

In part one of Benzinga's interview with Undertaking L.A., the industry broadly and Undertaking L.A. specifically were discussed.

Funerals Do Not Need To Cost Over $10,000

In a previous interview, Doughty pointed out, "Embalming is a process to preserve the body aesthetically for viewing. It's not to sanitize the body. It's not a public health thing that they're doing, it's a money thing. And the vaults that go in the ground are not a public health thing; it's a money thing for the cemetery.

"So, a lot of the things that are in place in the funeral industry are not for the public, they're for an industry to make money."

While Undertaking L.A. is not a typical funeral parlor, their publicized pricing lists can help shed light onto how expensive basic death care can be and what areas of death care can/should be contended if the family feels uncomfortable with what they are told regarding the legal side of death care and internment.

"At Undertaking L.A. we aim for transparency."

The Funeral Industry Is Still A Business

Carvaly spoke on the popular assumption that funeral employees encourage bereaving families to spend more money, saying, "More often than not, employees are simply told to upsell, simply because that is part of their job.

"For instance, I used to work in a restaurant where we had weekly ‘Shopper Reports.' This is where the company hires someone to randomly come in and evaluate us to ensure we are asking all the required questions when taking a guest's order so that we can sell them as much as possible, thereby making the company as much money as possible. When you sat at my table, I had to specifically ask you, ‘Would you like to start with a diet coke or a mojito.' And follow this by specifically asking, ‘Would you like to start off with some shredded onion rings or spinach and artichoke dip?'

"If I did not ask these questions and got caught, I would be punished by having a shift taken away. As a person that worked on tips, losing an entire shift could be detrimental to my survival. I believe that this is the same type of scenario in funeral homes; it is simply their job to ask you these questions, and I really whole-heartedly believe that they do not enjoy upselling you on items."

Carvaly reiterated, "I certainly loathed that this was part of my job, but, like the people within the funeral industry, I was pressured to upsell in order to keep my job that I lived paycheck to paycheck on."

She continued, "You can obviously read in my words that I have great empathy for my colleagues and it is important to me in any interview that it is clear I am not attacking the industry. I am explaining why it is the way it is."

Saving Money

Doughty and Carvaly both mention time and again how important it is to plan for end-of-life and death care.

"Going in and knowing what you want makes it easy to say no," Carvaly explained. "When my grandpa passed, we knew we wanted a simple pine box in accordance with Jewish tradition, so when our arranger tried to show us the other caskets, I was able to shut down that conversation the moment it started. Knowing what I wanted gave her zero options to add anything to our bill.

"So, to reiterate. How can you handle the temptation to upgrade? Plan ahead. Seriously, we all know we are going to die, and it is a discussion we can have at any time, even if the thought of death is years away."

Benzinga asked what areas within traditional death care a family can forego that might save some money. Carvaly responded, "This is an increasingly difficult question to answer because funeral homes are getting wise to the fact that people are trying to cut costs, so to compensate, they will make it so that no matter what you try to arrange, it will somehow all come out to a certain base price that the home needs to collect in order to be profitable."

"Obviously, they want you to pick embalming because it allows them to offer you other service opportunities, but at the end of the day, you will still be paying for the embalming whether you opt out or not."

However, Carvaly added, "you can choose a cheaper casket to save money, but cheap caskets in general, look ‘cheap.' I believe this is intentional, as it forces you to buy a nicer casket and thus spend more money."

Carvaly was quick to reassure, "There is no point to a leak-proof casket unless you plan on using it to sail down the Pacific in some sort of zany rendition of ‘It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.'

She continued, "If that is not your plan, then congratulations, you spent more money on nothing. It's simply there for the comfort of the living. Somewhere you will find a small note that reads, ‘CASKET DISCLAIMER: There is no scientific or other evidence that any casket with a sealing device will preserve human remains.' So yes, your assumptions are correct, it's just to make us feel better."

To Embalm Or Not To Embalm: When asked for a few examples, Carvaly discussed price checking in L.A., "In scouring other homes and prices, I saw that in many cases, ‘embalming' and ‘dressing and cosmetics with no embalming' were the same price. In this way, the home makes sure that no matter what you pick, they make what they need.
Caskets: "In almost every cemetery in America, it is impossible to be buried without a casket vault," Carvaly said. "Without this concrete encapsulation, the ground on top of the casket would sink in as it broke down from decomposition and the weight of the soil, thus causing large potholes throughout the cemetery grounds."
Sealed Caskets: When further asked about casket costs, Benzinga posed, "What is the benefit of having sealed caskets? Is this for the benefit of the living to feel that the remains are more…remaining? Other than slowing down the natural process of decomposition, what is the benefit of spending more on more airtight containers?"
Cremation: "Certainly, the cheapest thing traditional homes offer would be a direct cremation." Carvaly expounded, "Then, you could hold your own memorial service outside of a funeral home. Perhaps at a park, beach or even your own home."

Financing

Death care can become a steep expense, and without proper planning, the large bottom line can leave the family feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. Carvaly addressed this concern by mentioning that payment plans are pretty standard industry wide, and while they may seem harsh, they are in place to protect all parties.

"You can pay in full on the first day. You can pay in full on the second day. Or, you cannot have your funeral take place until payment is received in full. It is standard policy to not even place the decedent in their casket until payment has been received. Until that moment, your body will sit in a refrigerator – this could be for a week, a month or months – yes, I've seen months.

"I cannot say this is a terrible policy, as people are apt to forget to pay for anything after the body has been disposed of. And, this is an unfair thing to do to people who are just like you, humans just trying to pay the bills and get by. I cannot say it enough.

"Only those at the top are making larger amounts of money, and that is the case with any type of corporation. I am not defending all the practices of the current industry, but I also want people to understand why things work the way they do, so that their feelings [of] distrust are not placed on the wrong people."

Undertaking L.A.'s Business Savings

Carvaly wanted to take the time to explicitly share how Undertaking L.A. addresses money saving in their business, which in turn results in savings for the families.

"Undertaking LA offers green burials that require that we do not use embalming, that there is no casket vault used and that only a simple biodegradable casket or shroud is used. It is hard at times to show price comparisons because I have looked at other competitors who show these really great low prices; however, I am always really skeptical as to how an entire burial at a local place can go for ten grand, as I am sure there are hidden costs, one of which would be that the price doesn't include what the actual plot costs.

"At Joshua Tree Memorial Park, our estimate starts at around $6,000 for an entire burial, but it does not include the casket or shroud. Our caskets are modestly priced, but I don't really think that Caitlin or I have any burning desire to push them. Our goal really is to keep things as low as possible, and the only money we make is off of the hours that we provide."

She explained, "Meaning that we do not add onto our costs. For example, what we charge for the actual cremation process is what our crematory charges us; we add nothing to that other than our basic service fee, but that is an open and transparent charge. A cremation container costs us $15, and that's what we charge the family.

"We are huge on – not to be redundant – transparency. We hope that by doing so, it reestablishes a sense of trust with our business and our families."

Be Prepared

Benzinga asked Carvaly what piece of advice she would share with families regarding the industry. She replied, "I think my advice borders on more of an existential plane, and it is for those in the industry and those not."

She continued, "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid of your emotions. Do not be afraid that you are afraid. It's normal and healthy. We are all on some level, a little unnerved, and we find solace for this in many personal and often private ways.

"However, taking care of the dead needs to be a shared experience."

"We are all here to learn and grow and we can't do it alone. So, when someone dies, my advice is not to ‘just get it over with.' Because one day you are going to die, and how you treat this moment reflects in all aspects of how you are living your life.

"I have been working on a training manual to give families who wish to only hire Undertaking L.A. to come in and do a logistics run-down, and one of the pages inside describes how families can purchase their own flowers, vases and other effects for the funeral from Downtown L.A. small businesses. It is up to people as to whether they want to do everything themselves or not.

"I am obviously pro supporting the small business, so my aim is not to subvert them, but I think that in general, a family feels better giving their money to a business knowing that they had the option to keep it, but want to purchase their services, not because they feel strong-armed into it.

"So pause, breathe, learn and experience it fully. The good. The bad. All of this will be over so much sooner than any of us will ever expect. So stop running through and away from it."

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