State Chapters
Updated Laws, Regulations, Services,
and Concerns for Each State
Final Rights summarizes the information you need to know in each state in order to care for your own dead or to protect your rights as a consumer in dealings with the funeral industry. Individual state chapters—including a free bonus chapter, “Necessary Information,”—are available for download now at the Funeral Consumers Alliance bookstore.
Requesting the information for Missouri. Thank you.
Would it be wise to set-up a pre-paid bank account for a funeral from my Aunt? I affraid of the possibility of the funeral home going out of business. Thanks
Hi Natalie,
I assume you mean just a deposit/savings account that can be used later for the funeral? If so, yes. We recommend against prepaying a funeral home unless you absolutely have to in order to qualify for Medicaid. Prepaid funerals can go very wrong.
Talk to your bank about setting up a Payable-on-Death account with someone named as the beneficiary. Once the death certificate is supplied the money’s immediately available. You can cash it out any time, too, since it’s an account in your name.