Every year, the Federal Trade Commission conducts an undercover investigation to make sure funeral homes are following the FTC’s funeral rule to give customers a price list immediately and to not sell unnecessary, unwanted services.

The idea is for consumers “to be able to take a deep breath and look at a document that says, ‘This is what I’m going to pay,’ ” says Lois Greisman, who heads the FTC’s funeral enforcement. ” ‘Can I really afford this?’ ”

Greisman says in 2014, about a quarter of the funeral homes the FTC investigated broke the rule. 

“It’s certainly higher than we would like to see it,” says T. Scott Gilligan, general counsel for the National Funeral Directors Association. “It’s a complicated rule. It’s very easy to slip up. And the problem is, you’re only as good as your worst staff member.”

Funeral homes face fines of up to $16,000 per rule violation, but they can avoid fines by enrolling in a training program run by the funeral directors association.