The California Funeral and Cemetery Bureau just issued an alarming report. Their audit found that the California Master Trust - the largest "preneed" financial holding vehicle used by fully 1/3 of California funeral homes - misused $70 million in money prepaid by funeral consumers. All told, 27,000 California families may be affected by this scandal.

Click here for more information.

For a $25 donation, receive a BAFS t-shirt. The front has the phrase "Decay is OK!", and the back says "The Bay Area Funeral Society". With a BAFS t-shirt, you can look good while supporting the Bay Area's only funeral consumer advocacy group.

Click here to place your order.

We've just updated the Home Funerals page with detailed information about how to file a Certificate of Death and obtain a Permit for Disposition, two things that you'll need to do when caring for your own dead.

Also, Memory Gardens Cemetery in Livermore has been added to our 2010 Cemetery Survey.

We've recently added an "About Us" page which describes the services that we offer. In addition, we've added "Plan Ahead" and "Immediate Need" sections to the main menu. Under these headings you'll find information on financial resources, viewings and visitations, the dangers of prepaying, and many other useful topics. Please check them out and let us know what you think.

Interested in the growing Home Funeral Movement? Then come to the Bay Area Funeral Society's free screening of A Family Undertaking. This documentary explores the home funeral movement by following several families as they forego the services of the Funeral Industry and care for their loved ones at home. The movie will be followed by a 30min presentation on how to arrange a home funeral.

When: Saturday, June 12, from 2:30-4pm

Where: Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave (at Ashby), Berkeley, CA 94705

To view a flyer for this event, please click here.

Every year, numerous families contact BAFS seeking information about cemeteries and columbariums. Some are looking for affordable plots or niches, others are interested in green burial, and all of them would like to know more about the products and services that their local cemeteries provide. To address these questions, BAFS has conducted a study of cemeteries and columbariums in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties. This survey is very much a work in progress. We are still waiting for results from over 20 cemeteries, so please check back for updates. If you'd like to volunteer to help us finish the survey, please contact us.

To view our 2010 cemetery survey, please click here.

On Saturday, April 24th, the Bay Area Funeral Society will give a free presentation entitled "How to Arrange an Affordable Funeral" at the Berkeley Public Library (South Branch) on 1901 Russell Street in Berkeley. The event will be from 12:30 to 1:30.

See how you do on this short quiz:

• Embalming is always required by law - Yes/No
• A funeral home can charge you a "casket handling fee" if you purchase a casket from a low-cost wholesaler - Yes/No
• The law says you have to buy a vault to house the casket in the grave - Yes/No

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions (the answers are all no), you're not alone. About 2.5 million American die every year and they spend billions of dollars doing it. You can lower the high cost of dying, and this presentation can show you how.

If you're already a member of BAFS and would like to change your funeral provider, please download a copy of our Mortuary Selection Form. Send a completed copy of this form to your executor/survivors. Also keep a copy for your records and tell your family and friends where they can find it. Important: In order for the contracted price to be honored, your survivors must furnish your selected funeral home with this form at the time of need.

If you are affiliated with an organization or group that may be concerned about the high cost of dying or interested in "alternative" funeral practices (home funerals, green funerals), then consider scheduling a BAFS presentation. As part of our community outreach program, we conduct free information sessions and would welcome the opportunity to address your church, social club, senior center, etc.

In the interest of transparency, we've decided to post our agreements with all current funeral contractors. The contracts include the prices, inclusions, and exclusions specific to each mortuary. Signatures have been removed to protect privacy.

The Bay Area Funeral Society needs a membership secretary. It is a volunteer position, and we are looking for someone who can commit to at least 1 year. The duties are very light and include:

• Mail membership packets, thank you letters, and requested brochures.
• Add new members to the database, and update information as needed.
• Add to the database entities who should receive gratis mailings (hospices, nursing associations, AIDS groups, churches, retirement communities and nursing homes, hospital social service departments, AARP, media contacts, etc.)

Also, the board currently has two vacancies--one is a regular board position and the other is for vice president. If anyone is interested in either of these, let us know and we'll send you more information. Please note that you can be the membership secretary and serve on the board.

The New York Times has launched a new online section called Open Topics - a "micro-blog" on topics such as health, finances, cooking, and a lot more. Check out the Funeral Arrangements page. It's got a great overview article on funeral planning, and FCA's executive director Josh Slocum is posting funeral-related news stories and features from media around the country.

We've recently added information on affordable funeral packages, green burials, and home funerals. We've also updated the membership plans, so please take a look and let us know what you think!

The Bay Area Funeral Society is currently conducting a survey about end-of-life protocol in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco hospitals. The results will be posted here and used to produce a pamphlet called "When Death Occurs in a Hospital."

If you are a hospital administrator who would like to participate in the survey, or if you would just like to learn more about the kinds of questions that we're asking, please click here to download a PDF version of our document.

Our annual meeting will take place on Saturday, November 21st 2009 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd, Kensington, CA 94707. The meeting will be held between 1 and 3pm.

Featured speakers:

Karen Leonard, The Mitford Institute
From the Mitford Institute Web site: Karen Leonard has spent the last fifteen years as a death rites activist and lobbyist on behalf of California consumers. She was the researcher for the book, The American Way of Death Revisited and for the American Association of Retired Person (AARP). She developed both a funerary art gallery and a nonprofit organization and has appeared on television (60 Minutes and 20/20), radio shows and has been featured in newspaper and magazine articles. She is a founding member of The Mitford Institute and currently serves as the Project Director.

Jerrigrace Lyons, Founder of Final Passages
From the Final Passages Web site: Final Passages is a model project offering education for personal and legal rights concerning home or family-directed funerals and final disposition (burial and cremation). It is our intention to re-introduce the concept of funerals in the home as a part of family life and as a way to de-institutionalize death. We are dedicated to a dignified and compassionate alternative to current funeral practices. Final Passages' director has a long history in alternative health care. Jerrigrace Lyons, a Reiki Master, Certified Trager Practioner, and founder of the project, is a Minister who also directs Home Funeral Ministry. She has been interviewed and reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Mother Earth News, SF Magazine, KRON 4, CNN Headline News to name a few and now featured in a new PBS documentary "A family Undertaking" aired nationally in 2004.

Berkeley, CA. - Many Bay Area funeral homes are out of compliance with federal regulations, according to the results of the Bay Area Funeral Society's 2009 Price Survey.

BAFS volunteers collected and analyzed General Price Lists (GPLs) from 72 funeral homes and graded them for compliance with rules set down for funeral homes by the Federal Trade Commission. The "Funeral Rule," as it's been known since its inception in 1984, requires funeral homes to give consumers itemized price lists in a specific format. This format includes important disclosures to consumers concerning their rights to buy only the goods and services they want. The Funeral Rule also prohibits funeral homes from deceiving consumers about legal requirements, a tactic sometimes used to force customers to buy services and merchandise (such as embalming and vaults) that aren't required by law.

To view the press release for our 2009 funeral price survey, please click here.

To view our 2009 funeral price survey, please click here.