Funeral Fraud

Tracy E. Smith (J.D., University of Kansas School of Law) has recently published her article entitled Scamming the Elderly: A Look into Funeral Fraud, Prob. & Prop., March/April 2007, at 60.

Among other things, the author discusses three common funeral scams:

• The Sealed Casket Scam -- False claims that a sealed casket protects the body better than a standard casket.
• The Mandatory Embalming Scam -- Embalming is not necessary in many situations but funeral homes often do not reveal this fact.
• The Pay-in-Advance Scam -- A wide variety of things may go wrong if a person prepays for a funeral because of weak oversight and regulations.