Legacy Cremation Services Violating Federal Court Order

Consumers seeking end-of-life services for a loved one often face a series of time-sensitive decisions concerning care they typically know little about. As a result, many consumers choose to hire a local cremation or funeral provider with established roots in the community.

For years, Legacy Cremation Services has exploited this consumer trust in local businesses offering end-of-life services, marketing itself as a local cremation and funeral provider despite the fact that it does not own or operate any crematories or funeral homes.

In 2022, the federal government sued Legacy alleging the company misrepresents itself as a “local funeral home[] providing low cost cremation services.” According to the lawsuit, filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC, the company merely acts as a middleman, funneling consumers to third-party funeral homes and cremation providers – many of which aren’t local. As the complaint alleged:

In numerous instances, the services Defendants arrange are not located close to bereaved consumers as advertised, and thus Defendants force those consumers to travel long distances for viewings and to obtain the remains of loved ones.

The lawsuit resulted in a 2023 court order that not only prohibits Legacy from misrepresenting that it directly provides funeral or cremation services but also requires that the company clearly disclose that it only arranges for such services.

However, after receiving a tip from a consumer, a TINA.org investigation found that Legacy continues to deceive consumers into thinking that it is a local cremation and funeral provider through a sprawling network of webpages that also make misleading pricing claims in violation of the order.

On Monday, TINA.org, together with the Consumer Federation of America and the Funeral Consumers Alliance, filed a complaint with the DOJ and FTC urging the federal agencies to reopen its investigation into Legacy’s brazen and widespread deceptive marketing practices.

Since 2001, more than a dozen states have also targeted Legacy for holding itself out to be a local cremation and funeral provider when it does not have a license to operate in the state, obtaining cease-and-desist orders, fines and license revocations. Those states also received a copy of the complaint.

Not local

One of the ways Legacy lures consumers to its vast network of city- and state-specific webpages offering cremation or funeral services is through search engine results. For example, when consumers search online for cremation services in their area, Legacy is listed (a marketing tactic that the feds cited in their 2022 complaint):

Then, when consumers click on Legacy’s search result, they are taken to a page where the company claims to offer the “most trusted cremation services” in the area.

But in reality, Legacy has no operations in Hull, Massachusetts, or any of the other tens of thousands of locations across the country where it claims to operate, through more than 60,000 webpages that are almost identical except for the name of the location.

Consumers who go straight to Legacy’s homepage encounter similar misrepresentations regarding the nature of the company’s services. There, Legacy presents itself as a “family-owned and operated cremation service,” frequently selected by families looking for “local” cremation services.

Meanwhile, nowhere on Legacy’s sprawling website does the company adequately disclose that it is not a local funeral or cremation provider and does not itself perform cremations or funerals, as is required by the order.

Not low cost

Funeral expenses can often exceed $10,000, while a “reasonable price” for direct cremation (where the body is cremated shortly after death, without embalming, viewing or visitation) ranges from $700 to $1,400.

As shown above, Legacy advertises funeral and cremation services starting between $995 and $1,395. However, no one in the country pays that advertised price range.

That’s mainly because it omits Legacy’s mandatory $1,895 fee for “Basic Professional Services of Funeral Director and Staff,” which the company describes as “a basic charge to each family we serve for our professional expertise in assisting them.” This “basic” fee alone exceeds the entire advertised price range.

This fee is only disclosed within Legacy’s General Price List, accessible only by clicking a small link buried at the bottom of its website. (Its inconspicuous placement constitutes yet another violation of the order.)

Consumer complaints

Since the entry of the 2023 order, numerous consumers have complained that they were misled into believing that Legacy was a local operation and about discovering the true costs of the company’s services only after Legacy became in possession of the body, among other things. Below is a sampling of consumer complaints.

Legacy did not respond to a request for comment. However, a day after TINA.org filed its complaint with the DOJ and FTC, copying Legacy, the entire Legacy website is down.

The bottom line

Legacy recently announced plans to expand to more “local communities.” But as it currently stands, the company does not itself operate in any local communities. And by continuing to masquerade as a local provider while advertising prices that bereaved consumers will never actually pay, Legacy is in violation of the law and the order.

TINA.org and its partners are asking the FTC and DOJ to ensure that consumers facing one of life’s most difficult moments aren’t also handed a bill they never agreed to pay for services that are different than what they bargained for.

Find more of our coverage on funerals.