2012 FCAEM Annual Gathering Speaker Series
Saturday, March 17, 2-4pm
Story Chapel, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA

Protecting Our Final Rights and Energizing the Funeral Consumers Alliance
Featuring:

Josh Slocum, Executive Director, Funeral Consumer Alliance and co-author of Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death. Our mission is to educate the public about their rights and options when arranging funerals, burials, cremation, and other aspects of after-death care. The best way to fulfill this goal is to raise public awareness of our organization at the local level. Josh is familiar with ideas and suggestions from affiliates across the nation, which we can use to invigorate our group. Josh has a wonderful witty way of presenting the material and news of concern to all of us.

Ruth Faas, Owner, Mourning Dove Studio, 485 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, MA. Ruth will also be joining us and bringing a wicker and other alternative and eco-friendly caskets and urns. If you have only seen “traditional” funeral containers, this will be a great educational opportunity.  Ruth will be available to answer questions on natural burial.

All are welcome. Refreshments too!

Mount Auburn Cemetery is accessible by car or public transportation.
Location: 580 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 547-7105 Directions: http://www.mountauburn.org/visit/getting-here/
Please make every effort to come and help increase attendance by spreading the word.

Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death is officially released! The only book of its kind, Final Rights is a must-read for consumers and policy makers. Library Journal gave it a great review, calling it an "essential purchase" and highlighting the books features: "They look at the components of burying the dead, including choosing caskets and markers, dealing with cemeteries and funeral homes, understanding pre-need funeral purchases, and new and revived trends such as home funerals and green funerals. They offer numerous real-life examples of manipulation and questionable practices and provide tips for consumers to help avoid rip-offs, such as misleading perpetual-care arrangements and exorbitant embalming costs. There is practical advice on filing a complaint when wronged by the industry and a cautionary chapter on the Federal Trade Commission and what the authors see as its failure to enforce its own consumer protection rules."  Order the book here and more than half the cover price goes directly to the national FCA to support their work.

The FCAEM 2012 newsletter is available.
Click here to read it.

What Does the Funeral Consumers Alliance Do?

1. Provides members with information about laws, practices and forms pertaining to death, burial, cremation, anatomical gifts and related subjects.
2. Helps you plan for your funeral while you are healthy and able to make decisions that are right for you and your family.
3. Provides information for those who might wish to care for their own dead.
4. Gives you forms on which to record the kind of arrangements you prefer. Do you want family and friends to make charitable gifts in your memory to your favorite charitable organization rather than send flowers?
5. Provides reciprocity with other affiliates around the U.S. if you move or die while traveling.
6. Maintains information on funeral directors who are willing to cooperate with your choices.
7. Monitors legislation pertaining to funeral practices to insure that freedom of choice in arrangements is preserved.
8. Provides speakers on request to various civic or religious groups.

Plan Ahead

Death is something no one wants to think about. But, when a death does occur, there are many important decisions to be made. These are decisions which should not have to be made at such a difficult and painful time. To ease the burden on your family and friends, there are things that you can do now and plans that you can make today. Check out our benefits of membership.

For a helpful article on Planning a Funeral from Boston Consumers' Checkbook click here.

Do It Yourself

It is perfectly legal in Massachusetts, as in most other states, to care for your own dead without using a funeral home at all. Or, if you wish, you might want to use only limited services, for example, help with transportation, or the necessary paper work. Whether planning for yourself, or someone close to you, see our advice on doing it yourself.

FCAEM helped revive this time honored tradition in the 1990s by clarifying the law with the state after the funeral Board of Registration had led many to believe that the practice was illegal. Click here for details of that history.

2011 Funeral Service Survey Results

The FCAEM Board conducted a new funeral home survey in January 2011.  Massachusetts Funeral homes were asked to answer a survey and send us their General Price List. 

You can view the responses to the 2011 and earlier surveys and the General Price Lists of those who responded by clicking here.

[last updated 2012-01-03]