Tools

Final expense and funeral cost calculator

Totals funeral, cemetery, medical, debt and legal costs after a death, then subtracts money already set aside to show what is left to fund.

Runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent or stored by this site. Results are estimates for planning, not a quote or advice.

How to use it

  1. Choose a funeral type. Burial with viewing and cremation with viewing fill in a national median for the funeral home line; "Enter my own estimate" lets you type your own. Choosing burial or cremation replaces whatever is in that line, so pick the type first, then edit.
  2. Replace the funeral home line with a local price when you have a price list.
  3. Fill in the cemetery, vault or liner, marker, and extras such as flowers, an obituary, a reception or travel.
  4. Add final medical bills not covered by insurance, debts to settle and probate or legal costs.
  5. Enter money already set aside: savings, a preneed contract or existing life insurance.

Lines you leave blank count as zero. The chart compares the size of each line.

How the math works

The total is a sum: funeral home + cemetery + vault + marker + extras + medical bills + debts + legal and estate costs. The amount still to fund is the total minus money already set aside, never below zero.

Hypothetical example: burial with viewing at the $8,300 national median, plus $2,500 for a marker, $1,000 for flowers and an obituary, and $4,000 in unpaid medical bills. The total is $15,800. With $5,000 set aside, $10,800 is left to fund. The marker, flowers and medical amounts are invented for the example.

What it assumes

  • The funeral home defaults are medians from the National Funeral Directors Association 2023 General Price List Study: $8,300 for a funeral with viewing and burial and $6,280 for a funeral with viewing and cremation. The figures leave out cemetery costs, the vault, a monument and flowers, which is why those have their own lines (NFDA statistics).
  • Every other line starts empty. The tool supplies no default for cemetery, medical, debt or legal costs.
  • Costs are in today's prices. The tool does not project them forward.
  • Debts are counted as expenses to settle. The tool's help text says family members are generally not personally liable for them, while the estate is. See what happens to your debt when you die for the details.

Where it stops being right

  • Medians hide wide differences between regions and funeral homes. A written price list from the funeral home you would use beats any national figure.
  • The tool does not know about your state's rules, government or veterans benefits, or pre-paid arrangements you have already made.
  • The total is a cost estimate, not a policy size. The tool notes that final expense policies are usually small whole life policies, and it suggests checking for a graded benefit period in the first two years. Premiums per $1,000 of coverage are usually higher than for term insurance.
  • Counting existing life insurance as set aside assumes the money reaches your family in time to pay the bills.

The final expense insurance: what it covers and costs guide covers the policies, and what a funeral costs and how families pay for it covers what a funeral involves. If your goal is larger than funeral bills, use the How much life insurance do I need?.

Last reviewed October 4, 2026

Related guides

Final expense insurance: what it covers and costs Final expense insurance is a small whole life policy meant to pay funeral and end-of-life bills. How it works, what it costs per $1,000, and who should skip it. What a funeral costs and how families pay for it NFDA's 2023 medians put a funeral with burial at $8,300 and with cremation at $6,280, before cemetery costs. What drives the bill, your FTC rights, ways to pay. Burial insurance vs final expense vs preneed Burial and final expense insurance are the same small life policy; preneed is a prepaid funeral contract. How each works and what happens if plans change. Graded death benefits: why the first two years matter A graded death benefit pays only premiums plus interest for natural death in the first two or three years. How the schedule works, with a worked example. Preneed funeral insurance and funeral contracts How prepaid funeral contracts and preneed insurance work, what the FTC Funeral Rule does and does not cover, and the questions to ask before you sign. What happens to your debt when you die Debts are paid from the estate, not by family, unless someone co-signed, shares an account or is in a community property state. How each is handled.

Terms used here

Burial insurance A small whole life policy meant to cover funeral, burial and end-of-life bills, often sold to older adults with simplified or no underwriting. Graded benefit A death benefit limited during a policy's first two or three years, often to premiums paid plus interest, unless the death is accidental. Guaranteed issue Coverage an insurer must approve regardless of health, with no exam or health questions, usually for small amounts and with a waiting period. Face amount The dollar amount of coverage shown on a life insurance policy's specifications page, the base death benefit before loans, riders or dividends.

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