HomeGlossary
Funeral and burial insurance glossary
Two industries, two vocabularies, and a family gets both in the same week. Here are 126 terms from the funeral home, the cemetery and the insurance company, written so anyone can follow them.
Almost every expensive mistake in this subject starts with a word nobody explained. A family agrees to an outer burial container without knowing it is optional in law, or buys a guaranteed issue policy without realising what the waiting period does. Everything below is defined the way it would be explained on the phone, not the way it appears in a contract.
If you want the numbers rather than the vocabulary, the funeral cost calculator prices a burial or cremation for your state, and the FAQ hub answers the questions people ask most.
A
- Accelerated death benefit
- A rider that lets you draw part of your own death benefit while you are still alive, normally after a diagnosis of terminal illness. Whatever you take is subtracted from what your beneficiary receives later. It is included at no extra cost on many final expense policies, so ask rather than assume.See also RiderDeath benefit
- Accidental death benefit
- A rider, or a built in feature of a guaranteed issue policy, that pays an additional amount if death is caused by an accident. On a guaranteed issue policy accidental death is normally covered in full from the first day, while natural death is not covered until the waiting period ends.See also Guaranteed issueWaiting period
- Alkaline hydrolysis
- A water based alternative to flame cremation, sometimes sold as aquamation or water cremation. It uses heated alkaline solution to reduce the body, and the family receives remains much as they would after a cremation. It is legal in some states and not others, so confirm availability locally.See also Cremation authorisationCremains
- Alternative container
- A plain unfinished box, usually cardboard or pressed wood, used to hold the body during cremation. Under the Funeral Rule a crematory cannot require you to buy a casket, and it must make an alternative container available.See also Funeral RuleDirect cremationCasket
- AM Best rating
- An independent grade for an insurance company financial strength, running from A++ at the top down through the B and C ranges. It measures the ability to pay claims for decades, not customer service. For a policy meant to pay out in twenty or thirty years it is worth checking.See also NAIC complaint index
- Appointment
- The contract that authorises a licensed agent to sell a specific insurance company products. An agent can hold a state licence and still not be appointed with a given carrier, which is why nobody can quote every company in the market.See also ProducerNational producer number
- Assignment
- A written instruction directing part or all of a death benefit to somebody other than the named beneficiary. In final expense the usual use is sending money straight to the funeral home so the family never has to front the bill.See also Funeral home assignmentBeneficiary
- Attending physician statement
- A records request the insurance company sends to your doctor when it wants more detail than the application gave it. It is standard on fully underwritten policies and unusual on simplified issue burial insurance, where the health questions and database checks normally settle the decision.See also UnderwritingSimplified issueFully underwritten
B
- Bank draft
- The automatic monthly withdrawal that pays a burial insurance premium. You choose the draft date, and picking a day just after your income arrives is the simplest way to avoid an accidental lapse.See also PremiumLapseModal premium
- Basic services fee
- The one charge on a funeral home price list you cannot decline. It covers the funeral director time, staff, planning, permits, sheltering the remains and overheads, and it is added to every arrangement including a direct cremation. The published national median for this single line is close to 2,500 dollars.See also General price listFuneral Rule
- Beneficiary
- The person or entity that receives the death benefit. Naming one keeps the money out of probate and gets it paid in weeks rather than months, so never leave the field blank or write in the estate by default.See also Contingent beneficiaryIrrevocable beneficiaryDeath benefit
- Body donation
- Giving the body to a medical school or an accredited donation programme, which usually covers transport and later cremation at no charge to the family. Acceptance is never guaranteed, since programmes decline for reasons ranging from body weight to infectious disease, so families are told to keep a paid alternative in reserve.See also Direct cremation
- Burial insurance
- A small whole life policy, commonly 5,000 to 25,000 dollars, bought to pay for a funeral. The premium is fixed for life, the coverage does not expire while you pay it, and there is normally no medical exam, only health questions.See also Final expense insuranceWhole life insuranceSimplified issue
- Burial vault
- A sealed reinforced container that the casket is placed inside, designed to keep the grave from settling under mowing equipment. Cemeteries commonly require a vault or a grave liner as a matter of their own policy rather than state law, and no vault preserves a body indefinitely whatever a sales brochure implies.See also Grave linerOuter burial containerFuneral Rule
C
- Cash advance items
- Third party costs the funeral home pays on your behalf and then bills back, such as clergy honoraria, obituary notices, flowers, musicians and certified death certificate copies. The Funeral Rule requires the home to tell you when it charges you more than it paid for them.See also Funeral RuleObituaryDeath certificate
- Cash value
- The savings component that builds slowly inside a whole life policy. It grows on a guaranteed schedule, you can borrow against it, and it is one reason a whole life premium costs more than a term premium at the same age.See also Whole life insurancePolicy loanSurrender value
- Casket
- The container the body is buried or cremated in. It is the largest single item a family can decline or replace on most funeral bills, and the national median funeral figure of 8,300 dollars already carries a metal casket inside it at roughly 2,500 dollars.See also Sealer casketRental casketCasket handling fee
- Casket handling fee
- A charge some funeral homes once added for accepting a casket bought elsewhere. The Funeral Rule prohibits it outright, so a home must take delivery of an outside casket without penalty and cannot require you to be there when it arrives.See also Funeral RuleCasket
- Celebrant
- A trained non clergy officiant who plans and leads a funeral or memorial service. Families use one when they want a personal service without a religious framework, and the honorarium is usually a few hundred dollars.See also Memorial serviceCash advance items
- Cemetery deed
- The document proving you hold the right to be buried in a particular grave space. It is a right of use rather than ownership of the land itself, which is why resale rules are set by the cemetery.See also Interment rightsPlot
- Claim
- The request to the insurance company to pay the death benefit, made by the beneficiary with a certified death certificate and a short form. Small final expense claims outside the contestability period are frequently paid within a few days of the paperwork arriving, though two to eight weeks is the safer expectation.See also Death certificateBeneficiaryContestability period
- Columbarium
- A structure built to hold urns, either freestanding in a cemetery or inside a church or mausoleum. Individual compartments are called niches and are bought much like a grave space.See also NicheInurnmentUrn
- Committal service
- The short final service held at the graveside or at the columbarium as the body or the urn is placed. It often follows a longer service elsewhere and adds staff and vehicle charges to the bill.See also Graveside serviceInterment
- Conservation burial
- A green burial on protected land, where the burial fee helps fund permanent conservation of the site. Graves carry no vault and usually no upright stone, and the ground is managed as habitat rather than as lawn.See also Green burialShroud
- Contestability period
- The window, normally the first two years of a policy, during which the insurer can investigate a claim and rescind coverage if the application contained a material misstatement. It applies to every life policy including a level benefit one, which is why answering the health questions honestly matters more than getting approved.See also Suicide clauseUnderwritingWaiting period
- Contingent beneficiary
- The backup who receives the death benefit if the primary beneficiary has already died. Naming one costs nothing and prevents the money falling into the estate and slowing to a crawl.See also Beneficiary
- Cremains
- The remains returned after cremation, more properly called cremated remains. They are bone fragments processed to a coarse grain, typically weighing four to six pounds for an adult, and are returned in a temporary container unless you buy an urn.See also UrnScatteringInurnment
- The signed form the crematory must hold before it can proceed, giving permission and confirming who has the legal right to decide. State law sets an order of priority for who can sign, and a disagreement inside that group stops the process cold.See also Next of kinDisposition permit
D
- Death benefit
- The amount the insurance company pays when the insured dies. For a beneficiary who is a person it is normally received free of federal income tax, though it still counts toward the size of an estate.See also Face amountBeneficiary
- Death certificate
- The official record of the death, issued by the state or county vital records office and usually filed by the funeral director. Certified copies commonly cost 10 to 30 dollars each, and every bank, insurer and title office wants its own, so order eight to twelve at the start.See also Cash advance itemsClaim
- Direct cremation
- Cremation with no viewing and no ceremony beforehand, using a simple container. The published national median is 2,202 dollars, and families frequently hold a memorial later at no funeral home cost at all.See also Alternative containerMemorial serviceImmediate burial
- Disinterment
- Removing remains from a grave after burial, whether to relocate them or by court order. It requires a permit, the consent of the cemetery and usually of the next of kin, and it costs considerably more than the original interment.See also IntermentNext of kin
- Disposition permit
- The government permit authorising burial, cremation or transport of the body. The funeral director normally obtains it, and nothing can lawfully happen to the body until it is issued.See also Death certificateCremation authorisation
- Double depth grave
- A single grave space prepared to hold two burials stacked vertically, most often a married couple. It costs less than two side by side spaces, though the second interment fee is charged when the time comes.See also PlotOpening and closing
E
- Embalming
- Chemically treating the body to delay decomposition and make it presentable for a public viewing. No state requires it as a matter of routine, it cannot be charged for without permission, and refrigeration is the cheaper substitute when there is no open casket viewing.See also RefrigerationViewingFuneral Rule
- Endowment care
- A portion of the plot price paid into a permanent fund whose income maintains the cemetery grounds. It is charged once at purchase and is the same idea as perpetual care, with the name varying by state.See also Perpetual carePlot
F
- Face amount
- The coverage amount written on the front of the policy, for example 10,000 dollars. On a level benefit policy the face amount and the death benefit are the same from day one, while a graded or guaranteed issue policy pays less than the face amount during its waiting period.See also Death benefitLevel benefitGraded benefit
- Field underwriting
- The part of the process where the agent asks the health questions, checks the carrier build chart and knockout list, and decides which company you should be applying to. Done properly it is why one applicant gets approved at the best rate and an identical applicant gets declined.See also Knockout questionUnderwritingRate class
- Final expense insurance
- The industry name for small whole life coverage sold to pay funeral and end of life costs. Burial insurance and funeral insurance describe the same product, and the wording tends to shift depending on who is advertising.See also Burial insuranceWhole life insurance
- Free look period
- A window after delivery, set by state law and commonly 10 to 30 days, during which you can cancel the policy and get every dollar of premium back. It exists so nobody is locked into a decision made at the kitchen table, and it is worth using to reread the contract carefully.See also PremiumReplacement
- Fully underwritten
- The traditional application path with a paramedical exam, blood and urine samples and full records review. It produces the lowest price per dollar of coverage for a healthy applicant, and it is rarely used for small burial policies because the cost of the exam outweighs the saving.See also Simplified issueAttending physician statement
- Funeral director
- The licensed professional who handles the body, files the permits and coordinates the service. A good one will hand you the price list without being pushed and will tell you which items you can decline.See also General price listFuneral Rule
- Funeral home assignment
- Signing part of a death benefit directly over to the funeral home so it is paid from the policy rather than by the family. Most homes accept assignments from burial insurance carriers, which removes the problem of a bill due weeks before a claim settles.See also AssignmentClaim
- Funeral Rule
- The federal consumer protection rule at 16 CFR Part 453, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. It gives you the right to an itemised printed price list, to prices over the phone, to buy only what you want, and to supply your own casket or urn without a handling fee.See also General price listCasket handling feeBasic services fee
- Funeral trust
- An account holding money set aside for a funeral, usually created alongside a preneed contract. An irrevocable funeral trust is excluded from countable assets for Medicaid purposes, which is the main reason families use one.See also Preneed contract
G
- General price list
- The itemised price list every funeral home must give you in printed form to keep, before it shows you any caskets. Compare the same three or four lines across three homes in your area, because identical services routinely differ by thousands of dollars inside one city.See also Funeral RuleBasic services feeCash advance items
- Grace period
- The time after a missed premium, normally 31 days, during which the policy stays in force. If the insured dies inside the grace period the claim is still paid, with the unpaid premium deducted.See also LapseReinstatementPremium
- Graded benefit
- A policy that pays only part of the face amount if death from natural causes happens in the first two years, with the percentage set by the carrier and rising over that period. It is offered to applicants whose health rules out a level benefit policy but who still answer some questions well enough to avoid guaranteed issue.See also Level benefitModified benefitGuaranteed issue
- Grave liner
- A basic concrete box placed around the casket to stop the ground collapsing. It does the structural job of a burial vault at a lower price and without the sealing claims, and it satisfies most cemetery requirements.See also Burial vaultOuter burial container
- Graveside service
- A service held entirely at the grave rather than in a chapel or church. It avoids the facility and staff charges for a ceremony at the funeral home, which is a genuine saving on the bill.See also Committal serviceMemorial service
- Green burial
- Burial with no embalming, no vault and a biodegradable casket or shroud, so the body returns to the soil naturally. Not every cemetery permits it, and where it is available it usually costs less than a conventional burial because the vault and the casket are the expensive parts.See also Conservation burialShroudBurial vault
- Guaranteed issue
- A policy issued with no health questions at all, so nobody can be declined. The trade is a waiting period of normally two years, during which a natural death returns the premiums paid plus interest rather than the face amount, while accidental death is covered from the first day. It is the right answer when health rules everything else out and the wrong answer when it does not.See also Waiting periodAccidental death benefitSimplified issue
H
- Headstone
- The upright stone marking a grave, cut from granite or marble and set on a base. Cemeteries impose rules on size, material and whether upright stones are permitted at all, so check before you buy one.See also MarkerMonumentLedger
- Height and weight chart
- The build table each carrier uses to decide whether an applicant qualifies, and at what rate. The limits differ noticeably between companies, so a build that is declined at one insurer can be a standard approval at another.See also Field underwritingRate classTable rating
- Home funeral
- Caring for the body at home before burial or cremation, with the family handling washing, dressing and the vigil. It is lawful in most states, though a handful require a licensed funeral director to file the paperwork or transport the body.See also WakeRefrigeration
I
- Immediate burial
- Burial shortly after death with no embalming, no viewing and no ceremony at the funeral home. The published national median is 5,138 dollars for the funeral home portion, and the cemetery still bills separately on top of that.See also Direct cremationOpening and closingPlot
- Insurable interest
- The requirement that the person buying a policy would genuinely suffer a loss if the insured died. A spouse, an adult child or a business partner qualifies, and the insured must consent to the policy being written.See also OwnerBeneficiary
- Interment
- Interment means placing the body in its final resting place, whether that is a grave in the ground, a crypt in a mausoleum or a niche for ashes. The word covers the act itself rather than the ceremony around it. The cemetery bills it separately from the plot, usually as opening and closing, and weekend or holiday interments almost always carry a surcharge.See also Opening and closingInurnmentDisintermentInterment rights
- Interment rights
- What you actually buy when you buy a grave, namely the right to be buried in that space rather than title to the land. The cemetery retains the land and sets the rules on markers, resale and transfer.See also Cemetery deedPlot
- Inurnment
- Placing cremated remains into their final resting place, such as a niche in a columbarium or an urn grave. Cemeteries charge an inurnment fee much as they charge for opening and closing a grave.See also NicheColumbariumUrn
- Irrevocable beneficiary
- A beneficiary who cannot be changed or removed without their own written consent. It shows up in divorce settlements and in some funeral arrangements, and it removes flexibility permanently, so it should be chosen deliberately.See also BeneficiaryAssignment
- Issue age
- The age used to set your premium, which is normally your age at the policy date and sometimes your age at the nearest birthday. Because the rate is locked at issue age, buying a year earlier permanently costs less every month for the life of the policy.See also PremiumRate class
K
- Knockout question
- A health question whose yes answer disqualifies you outright from that policy, no matter how good the rest of the application looks. Each carrier writes its own list, so a knockout at one company is often only a rate adjustment at another.See also Field underwritingLook back periodSimplified issue
L
- Lapse
- What happens when a premium goes unpaid past the grace period and the coverage ends. It is the most common way people lose burial insurance, which is why buying a premium you can sustain beats buying the largest policy you can just about afford.See also Grace periodReinstatementNon forfeiture options
- Ledger
- A flat memorial stone that covers the full length of a grave. It costs more than a flush marker and is permitted only in cemeteries whose rules allow it.See also MarkerHeadstoneMonument
- Level benefit
- The best form of burial insurance, paying the full face amount from the first day for any cause of death apart from suicide inside the first two years. It requires answering health questions well enough to qualify, and it costs less per dollar of coverage than graded or guaranteed issue.See also Graded benefitGuaranteed issueSuicide clause
- Look back period
- The number of years a health question reaches into the past, for example treatment within the last two years or the last five. Two carriers can ask about the same condition with different look back windows, which is often the entire difference between an approval and a decline.See also Knockout questionField underwriting
M
- Marker
- A flat memorial stone or bronze plate set level with the ground. Most modern lawn cemeteries permit markers only, because they can be mowed over, and a bronze marker normally carries a separate charge for the granite base.See also HeadstoneLedgerMonument
- Mausoleum
- A building holding caskets in crypts above ground. Community mausoleums sell individual crypts, and a private family mausoleum is one of the most expensive options in any cemetery.See also CryptColumbarium
- Medical examiner
- The physician who investigates deaths that are sudden, violent or unattended and signs the cause of death. In counties without one the same job is done by an elected coroner. A case under investigation delays the death certificate and therefore the insurance claim.See also Death certificateClaim
- Memorial service
- A service held without the body present, often days or weeks after a direct cremation or immediate burial. Holding one at a church, a hall or a home avoids the funeral home facility fee entirely, which is where much of the saving in a direct cremation comes from.See also Direct cremationCelebrantGraveside service
- MIB
- An information exchange run by member insurance companies that records coded findings from previous life and health applications. Carriers check it during underwriting, so a condition disclosed to one insurer years ago can surface on a new application even if you have forgotten it.See also UnderwritingPrescription checkMotor vehicle record
- The premium for the payment frequency you choose, known as the mode. Monthly is the usual mode for burial insurance, and paying annually normally costs slightly less over a year because the carrier applies a smaller modal factor.See also PremiumBank draft
- Modified benefit
- A middle tier between graded and guaranteed issue, where a natural death in the first two years returns the premiums paid plus interest rather than a percentage of the face amount. The names vary by carrier, so read what the first two years actually pay rather than trusting the label.See also Graded benefitGuaranteed issueWaiting period
- Monument
- Any substantial upright memorial, including family monuments serving several graves. Cemeteries restrict height, footprint and material, and installation is charged on top of the stone itself.See also HeadstoneMarkerLedger
- Motor vehicle record
- Your state driving record, checked by some carriers during underwriting. A recent conviction for driving under the influence or a badly suspended licence can change a rate class or trigger a decline.See also UnderwritingMIBRate class
N
- NAIC complaint index
- A published score comparing how many complaints a carrier receives against its market share. The national median is 1.00, so a company sitting well above that number is generating more complaints than its size predicts.See also AM Best rating
- National producer number
- The unique identifier assigned to a licensed insurance producer, usually written as the NPN. It is public, and you can look up any agent on the national registry to confirm what they hold before you sign anything.See also ProducerAppointment
- Natural organic reduction
- Also called human composting, a process that converts the body into soil over several weeks in a controlled vessel. It is authorised in a growing number of states and unavailable in most, so check state law before planning on it.See also Green burialAlkaline hydrolysis
- Next of kin
- The person with the legal right to make decisions about the body, following an order of priority set by state law that normally runs spouse, then adult children, then parents, then siblings. Naming an agent for disposition in writing overrides that order in many states and prevents a family standoff.See also Cremation authorisationDisinterment
- Niche
- A compartment in a columbarium sized to hold one or more urns. Fronts are glass, granite or bronze, and the engraving is normally charged separately.See also ColumbariumInurnmentUrn
- Non forfeiture options
- What you can take from a whole life policy instead of simply losing it if you stop paying. The usual choices are cash surrender, a smaller paid up policy, or extended term coverage, and they only exist once enough cash value has built.See also Cash valuePaid upSurrender value
O
- Obituary
- The published death notice, which in a paid newspaper is often priced by the line and commonly runs 200 to 600 dollars. The funeral home usually places it and bills it back as a cash advance item, and posting it online instead costs little or nothing.See also Cash advance items
- Opening and closing
- The cemetery charge for excavating the grave, setting the equipment and filling it again after the service. It is billed by the cemetery rather than the funeral home, it typically runs from about 1,000 dollars into the low thousands, and weekend services cost more.See also IntermentPlotDouble depth grave
- Ossuary
- A communal vault or receptacle where cremated remains are placed together rather than in an individual niche. It is the least expensive option many cemeteries offer, and the placement cannot be reversed.See also InurnmentScattering
- Outer burial container
- The umbrella term covering both burial vaults and grave liners, which is the wording the Funeral Rule uses. A funeral home must show you a price list for them, and it must tell you in writing that no state law requires one.See also Burial vaultGrave linerFuneral Rule
- Owner
- The person who controls the policy, pays the premium and can change the beneficiary. The owner is usually the insured but does not have to be, and an adult child frequently owns and pays for a policy on a parent.See also Insurable interestBeneficiary
P
- Paid up
- A policy that requires no further premium and stays in force for life. Some whole life plans are designed to be paid up at a set age, and a lapsing policy can sometimes be converted to a smaller paid up amount instead of being lost.See also Non forfeiture optionsWhole life insurance
- Pallbearer
- One of the people who carry the casket. Families normally supply their own, and funeral homes charge for staff pallbearers when there are not enough, so it is worth asking whether that line is on your bill.See also General price list
- Perpetual care
- The cemetery obligation to maintain the grounds indefinitely, funded from a portion of every plot sale held in a permanent fund. It covers mowing and general upkeep of the grounds, not the cleaning or repair of your individual stone.See also Endowment carePlot
- Plot
- A single grave space in a cemetery, commonly 1,000 to 4,000 dollars depending on the cemetery and the location within it. What you buy is the right of interment rather than the land, and the opening and closing fee is charged separately at the time of burial.See also Interment rightsOpening and closingCemetery deed
- Policy loan
- Borrowing against the cash value of a whole life policy. Interest accrues, and any unpaid balance is deducted from the death benefit, so a loan taken and forgotten quietly shrinks what the funeral has to work with.See also Cash valueDeath benefit
- What you pay to keep the policy in force. On whole life it is fixed for life and never rises with age or health, which is the central difference between it and a policy that reprices as you get older.See also Modal premiumWhole life insuranceBank draft
- Preneed contract
- An agreement with a specific funeral home, paid in advance, for goods and services at that home. Ask whether the price is guaranteed, what happens if you move or the home changes hands, and whether the contract is revocable, because the answers vary a great deal.See also Funeral trustBurial insurance
- Prescription check
- An automated search of pharmacy dispensing databases that shows the carrier what you have been prescribed and for how long. It is instant, it is why many burial policies are approved on the phone in minutes, and it is why a forgotten medication should still be disclosed.See also UnderwritingMIBSimplified issue
- Producer
- The legal term for a licensed insurance agent. A producer must hold a life licence in the state where the applicant lives and must be appointed with the carrier being sold.See also AppointmentNational producer number
R
- Rate class
- The pricing band the carrier puts you in after underwriting, such as preferred, standard or a graded tier. Two carriers can place identical health histories in different bands, which is the entire reason to compare rather than take the first offer.See also Table ratingTobacco rateUnderwriting
- Refrigeration
- Holding the body in cold storage rather than embalming it. Almost every funeral home offers it, it costs less than embalming, and it is entirely sufficient when there is no open casket public viewing.See also EmbalmingViewing
- Reinstatement
- Restoring a lapsed policy, usually within a set number of years, by paying the missed premiums and answering health questions again. A new contestability period often starts from the reinstatement date, so letting a policy lapse can cost more than money.See also LapseGrace periodContestability period
- Rental casket
- A finished outer casket used for a viewing, holding a simple inner container that is removed afterwards for cremation or burial. It gives a family a traditional viewing without buying a casket outright, and the fee is a fraction of a purchase.See also CasketViewingAlternative container
- Repast
- The gathering with food after the service, sometimes called a reception or a mercy meal. It is not on the funeral home price list unless the home caters it, and it commonly runs a few hundred to well over a thousand dollars.See also Cash advance itemsWake
- Replacement
- Cancelling or reducing an existing life policy in order to buy a new one. It triggers extra disclosure forms in every state, and it deserves scepticism, because a policy that has already served its contestability period has value that a brand new one does not.See also Contestability periodFree look period
- Retort
- The cremation chamber itself. One body is cremated at a time, and the process typically takes two to three hours followed by processing of the remains.See also CremainsDirect cremation
- The refund of everything paid in, often with interest added, when a death happens during the waiting period of a guaranteed issue or modified policy. It is not a payout of the face amount, and confusing the two is the single most common misunderstanding in this market.See also Waiting periodGuaranteed issueModified benefit
- Rider
- An optional addition to a policy, such as an accidental death benefit, a child rider or a waiver of premium. Some are free, some carry a charge, and a rider you do not need is simply a higher premium.See also Accidental death benefitWaiver of premiumAccelerated death benefit
S
- Scattering
- Releasing cremated remains rather than burying or entombing them. Rules differ by place, private land needs the owner permission, and federal rules require scattering at sea to happen at least three nautical miles from shore with a report filed afterwards.See also CremainsOssuary
- Sealer casket
- A casket fitted with a rubber gasket, marketed as protective or sealed. It costs more than the same casket without one, and the Funeral Rule prohibits any claim that it preserves the body indefinitely, because nothing does.See also CasketFuneral Rule
- Shroud
- A simple cloth wrapping used instead of a casket, most often in green and religious burials. Where the cemetery allows it, it removes the largest declinable item from the bill completely.See also Green burialConservation burialCasket
- Simplified issue
- An application with health questions and database checks but no medical exam, which is how nearly all burial insurance is written. Decisions often come back the same day, and honest answers matter because the carrier verifies them against prescription and application records.See also Prescription checkMIBFully underwritten
- A one time payment of 255 dollars to a surviving spouse who was living with the worker, or to a child eligible on the record. The amount has been fixed at 255 dollars since 1954, it must be claimed within two years, and it should be treated as a formality rather than as funeral funding.See also Veterans burial allowance
- Suicide clause
- A provision, normally running two years from the policy date, under which death by suicide returns the premiums paid rather than the death benefit. It sits alongside the contestability period and applies even to a level benefit policy.See also Contestability periodLevel benefit
- Surrender value
- The cash you receive if you cancel a whole life policy, which is the accumulated cash value less any loans or surrender charges. In the early years of a small burial policy it is minimal, so surrendering one is rarely a good trade.See also Cash valueNon forfeiture options
T
- Table rating
- A health based increase applied in steps above a standard rate, used mainly on larger fully underwritten policies. Burial insurance normally handles the same risk with a graded or guaranteed issue product instead of a table.See also Rate classGraded benefitFully underwritten
- Term life insurance
- Coverage that lasts a set number of years and then ends, with no cash value. It is the cheapest way to insure a mortgage or an income, and it is a poor fit for funeral costs because it commonly expires or reprices sharply at exactly the age the funeral is likely to happen.See also Whole life insuranceBurial insurance
- Tobacco rate
- The higher premium charged to applicants who use tobacco or nicotine. Definitions differ between carriers, with some pricing occasional cigars at non tobacco rates and some treating vaping or chewing tobacco differently, so it is worth asking each company how it counts.See also Rate classPremium
- Transfer of remains
- Collecting the body from the place of death and bringing it to the funeral home, listed on the price list as removal or transfer. A separate and much larger charge applies to shipping remains between states, commonly running into the thousands once airline handling and a receiving funeral home are counted.See also General price listBasic services fee
U
- Underwriting
- How the insurance company decides whether to insure you and at what price. For burial insurance it means health questions plus automated checks of prescription history and application databases, usually finished in minutes rather than weeks.See also Simplified issuePrescription checkRate class
- Urn
- The container holding cremated remains. Funeral homes sell them from under 100 dollars to well over 1,000, they must accept one you bought elsewhere, and a temporary container is provided at no charge if you want to buy nothing.See also CremainsInurnmentFuneral Rule
V
- Veterans burial allowance
- Benefits paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs toward the burial of an eligible veteran. Burial in a national cemetery is provided at no cost including the grave, opening and closing, a liner and perpetual care, while burial in a private cemetery draws a smaller cash allowance instead. A headstone or marker and a burial flag are provided either way.See also Social Security lump sum death paymentPlot
- Viewing
- Time set aside for people to see the body before the funeral, which is what usually triggers the embalming charge and the facility and staff fee. Skipping it removes several lines from the bill at once.See also VisitationEmbalmingRental casket
W
- Waiting period
- The opening stretch of a graded, modified or guaranteed issue policy during which a death from natural causes does not pay the full face amount. On guaranteed issue it is normally two years, the premiums are returned with interest instead, and accidental death is covered from the first day. A level benefit policy has no waiting period at all.See also Guaranteed issueLevel benefitReturn of premium
- A rider that keeps the policy in force without payment if you become totally disabled. It is more common on larger policies than on small burial plans, and where it is offered it carries a cost.See also RiderPremium
- Wake
- The traditional gathering to sit with the body or with the family before the funeral, held at home or at the funeral home. Held at home it costs nothing, and held at the funeral home it is billed as use of facilities and staff.See also VisitationHome funeralRepast
- Whole life insurance
- Permanent coverage with a premium fixed for life, a death benefit that does not shrink and a small cash value that builds over time. Burial insurance is whole life sold in small face amounts, which is why the premium at 62 is still the same premium at 88.See also Term life insuranceCash valueBurial insurance
Two terms worth knowing before you sign anything
Level benefit means the full amount is payable from the first day. Guaranteed issue means no health questions and, normally, a two year waiting period during which a natural death returns your premiums with interest instead of the face amount. Both are sold as burial insurance and they are not the same product. How to tell which one you are being offered.
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