BMS Funeral Service Law and Ethics 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home must provide a casket price list to anyone who inquires in person about:
- Only pre-arranged funerals
- Casket selection, before showing the selection room (Correct answer)
- Caskets only after family has signed an arrangement contract
- Cremation services exclusively
Correct answer: Casket selection, before showing the selection room
The FTC Funeral Rule requires the Casket Price List be offered before showing the casket selection room or discussing individual casket prices.
Question 2: Which of the following is a legal right that a family member cannot typically override regarding the deceased's pre-need arrangements?
- Choice of cemetery
- The deceased's pre-signed anatomical gift authorization (Correct answer)
- Selection of pallbearers
- Choice of officiant
Correct answer: The deceased's pre-signed anatomical gift authorization
A valid anatomical gift made by the deceased (e.g., organ or body donation) generally takes legal precedence over family objections.
Question 3: What is the ethical duty of 'veracity' as it applies to funeral service?
- Maintaining confidentiality of family information
- Telling the truth in all communications with families and the public (Correct answer)
- Charging fair and competitive prices
- Respecting family autonomy in service selection
Correct answer: Telling the truth in all communications with families and the public
Veracity requires funeral professionals to be truthful and honest in all representations, including advertising, pricing, and service descriptions.
Question 4: A funeral home advertises 'free embalming' but builds the cost into other service fees. This violates the FTC Funeral Rule prohibition against:
- Comparative advertising
- Deceptive acts or practices and misrepresentation (Correct answer)
- Package pricing
- Upselling
Correct answer: Deceptive acts or practices and misrepresentation
Advertising services as free while hiding costs in other fees is deceptive misrepresentation prohibited by the FTC Funeral Rule.
Question 5: Which of the following situations would most likely require a medical examiner's authorization before disposition can proceed?
- Death of an 85-year-old with documented cancer
- Sudden unexpected death of a healthy 30-year-old with no known medical history (Correct answer)
- Death in a licensed nursing facility
- Death following a prolonged illness under hospice care
Correct answer: Sudden unexpected death of a healthy 30-year-old with no known medical history
Sudden, unexpected deaths in otherwise healthy individuals require medical examiner review to determine cause and manner of death.
Question 6: A funeral director learns that a competitor is making false claims about their pricing. The most ethical response is to:
- Retaliate with counter-advertising against the competitor
- Report the violation to the FTC and state licensing board (Correct answer)
- Ignore it as normal business competition
- Alert the local media
Correct answer: Report the violation to the FTC and state licensing board
Reporting deceptive trade practices to the FTC and state regulatory board is the proper professional and ethical response.
Question 7: The principle of 'fidelity' in funeral service ethics means the funeral director must:
- Charge competitive market prices
- Keep promises and fulfill commitments made to client families (Correct answer)
- Maintain accurate death records
- Disclose all pricing on the GPL
Correct answer: Keep promises and fulfill commitments made to client families
Fidelity requires funeral professionals to honor all commitments, agreements, and promises made to the families they serve.
BMS Funeral Service Law and Ethics 5
Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home must provide a casket price list to anyone who inquires in person about: