Minnesota's own price list rules
The federal Funeral Rule is not the only law about funeral prices here. Minnesota has its own statute, and in several places it goes further. One honest thing to say first: Minnesota law does not cap what a funeral home may charge. What it does is force prices into the open, in writing, before you commit, so you can compare and decline. These are the state rules.
Prices must be displayed on the goods themselves
Any funeral provider that sells funeral goods or burial site goods to the public must display the retail price on the goods themselves, in a conspicuous place, at all times. If you are standing in a casket showroom and cannot find a price on the casket, that is not how Minnesota law says it should work. You should be able to see the price and reasonably understand that it is the price of the item you are looking at.
Separate printed price lists, before you are shown anything
Minnesota requires separate printed price lists for each type of funeral goods or burial site goods a provider sells: caskets and outer burial containers among them. The lists must be printed or typewritten in a readable font, must identify the provider by name, address, and telephone number, and must include the retail prices of the specific goods that do not require special ordering.
The provider must offer the relevant list when discussion of those goods begins, and in any event before showing them to you. If you ask for a photocopy to take with you, they must provide one. A price list you may keep is what makes comparison between funeral homes possible.
The general price list, under state law too
The general price list, the master menu of everything the funeral home offers, is a federal requirement under the Funeral Rule, and Minnesota writes it into state law as well: anyone who inquires in person about funeral goods, funeral services, or their prices must be given a general price list to keep. The list must identify the provider and state the price of each individual good and service. Our page on your rights under the federal rule covers what the list must contain in more detail.
The signed, itemized statement before you pay
When arrangements are made, Minnesota requires an itemized written statement listing each good and service you selected, the price of each, and the total. You sign it, and the licensed funeral director or mortician who planned the arrangements signs it too. At the end of the arrangement conference you are entitled to a copy of the signed, itemized contract for your records.
A category worth knowing by name: cash advance items. These are things the funeral home pays for on your behalf and passes through to you, such as the obituary notice, flowers, officiant honoraria, or cemetery charges. The statement must itemize them specifically. If the exact cost is not yet known, the funeral home must give a good-faith estimate in writing and then a written statement of the actual charges before the final bill is paid. Cash advance items are a common place for a bill to grow quietly; the statute is built so you can watch each one.
What this means in practice
Prices in Minnesota funeral homes are set by the funeral homes, and they vary more than most people expect, sometimes by thousands of dollars for comparable goods and services between providers in the same county. The law's answer is paper: displayed prices, lists you may keep, and a signed itemized statement. Collect the paper, take it home, and compare before deciding. Nothing requires you to arrange a funeral in one sitting.
If the rules are not followed
The Minnesota Department of Health Mortuary Science Section, 651-201-4200, licenses and inspects funeral providers and takes complaints about these requirements. The Federal Trade Commission takes complaints under the federal rule at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Keep every price list and statement you were given; they are the record of what you were told.