Pre-plan a funeral in Nashville

Start planning online

Pre-planning and prepaying are two different things. Pre-planning means writing down what you want: burial or cremation, the kind of service, who should be called. It costs nothing and you can change it any time. Use the free online planning form and send it to the people you trust, or keep it in a free family space.

Compare before you pre-arrange

If you want to pre-arrange with a Nashville funeral home, compare first. Direct cremation in the Nashville area starts between $915 and $2,595 on the funeral homes’ own price lists, and immediate burial from $1,995 to $4,480. See the Nashville price comparison. Every funeral home must give you its General Price List when you ask.

Before you prepay in Tennessee

• Check the seller is licensed or registered, on verify.tn.gov.
• Ask how the money is held: in a trust or a life insurance policy. For a trust, the seller must deposit all of it within 15 days.
• Ask if prices are guaranteed. If not, ask who pays the difference later.
• Revocable or irrevocable? A revocable trust can be refunded on written request, plus interest, minus allowed fees. An irrevocable one can’t be refunded, but it can move to another licensed funeral home.

Sources: Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, TCA 62-5-406, 62-5-407. General information, not legal advice.

Veterans and burial places

Eligible veterans can pre-register for burial at the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery. Veteran burial in Nashville. If you want a particular cemetery, see which Nashville cemeteries still sell plots, or read about green burial near Nashville.

Plan it together, for free

A Hestia family space keeps the decisions, tasks, guests and costs in one private place, so nobody has to piece it together from texts and calls.