Can I Cancel a Prepaid Funeral Plan? What You Get Back

These plans are sold to "spare your family." If you're on your own, the questions change. Who can cancel it, who knows it exists, and what happens if you move or the funeral home closes?

How much you get back, by state

Each state sets its own refund rule, and the gap is wide. Here's what the law says about revocable plans (ones you're allowed to cancel) in the largest states we checked, plus Ontario.

State	Free window	Refund after the window	Refund due
California	No free window in the statute	Principal plus income, minus a fee taken from the income (capped at 10% of principal)	Not stated in the law
Texas	None found	Amount paid minus up to 10% of the total contract price, plus half the earnings on contracts sold after Sept 1, 2001 and held over a year	30 days after completed forms
Florida	30 days, full refund except items already used	Full price of services, facilities and cash advance items (costs the funeral home pays others for you). Provider keeps the earnings	30 days after written notice
New York	Any time	All money paid plus interest, no fee of any kind	On demand
Pennsylvania	No rule	No cancellation or refund rule in the statute or regulations	No rule
Illinois	None found	Paid in full: 95% (85% for burial containers) plus net earnings	Not confirmed for trust plans
Ohio	7 days	All trust assets, minus a fee of up to 10% on guaranteed-price contracts	Not confirmed
Georgia	None found	Trust funds minus taxes and a 3% charge, if you ask before death	Three business days (state FAQ)
North Carolina	None found	Everything the bank holds, but not the up-to-10% the seller kept	30 days
Michigan	None found. Give 30 days' written notice	90% to 100% of the escrow balance, depending on the seller's commission	Not confirmed
Ontario	30 days, full refund plus income	Money paid plus income, minus the lesser of 10% and C$350	30 days after notice

Insurance-funded plans pay the cash surrender value (what the policy is worth if you end it early). The Texas Department of Banking says that's most often less than your total payments.

Irrevocable plans pay nothing back in New York, Florida or California. In Florida, money left over after the funeral goes to the state's Medical Care Trust Fund. Read prepaid plans and Medicaid before you sign one.

New York's General Business Law section 453 bans any cancellation fee on a revocable plan. If a New York seller quotes one, show them the law.

Pennsylvania is the outlier. I think a state with no refund rule is unfair to anyone buying without someone to argue for them. In Pennsylvania, I wouldn't sign until the refund terms are written into the contract itself.

Find out whether your plan is trust or insurance

Your contract should say. If it doesn't, ask the seller and get the answer in writing. Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina, among others, let sellers fund plans with life insurance or an annuity instead of a trust.

If I were choosing, I'd want a revocable, trust-funded plan. The refund rules are written into state law, and insurance often pays back less than you put in. That changes if you're planning around Medicaid, so an elder law attorney is the person to confirm it for your case.

The deadlines that cost people money

• Florida, day 31. After 30 days, money for the casket, vault or urn comes back only if the funeral home can't or doesn't deliver the item. Decide inside the window. The Florida preneed refund statute has the full rule.
• Texas installment plans. "90% back" holds only for a paid-up contract. On a payment plan, the seller may keep half of each early payment until it has 10% of the full price. Cancel early, and you can get back far less than 90% of what you paid.
• Texas, all at once. You can't cancel part of a contract. It's all or nothing.
• Ohio, seven days. You get an initial seven days to cancel. After that, a fee of up to 10% can apply on guaranteed-price contracts.
• Illinois, not paid in full. The seller may keep 25% of your payments or $300, whichever is less.
• North Carolina, the 10%. The seller can keep up to 10% outside the trust if it tells you in writing. That part doesn't come back. Look for the disclosure in your contract.
• Michigan, the commission. Your refund depends on the commission the seller took. Ask what it was.

How to cancel: the steps

1. Ask three questions and get the answers in writing. "Is this plan funded by a trust or by insurance?" "Is it revocable?" "If I move, will you send the money to a new funeral home, and will that home honor this price?"
2. If you're switching providers, get the new quote first. Have it in writing before you send anything.
3. Send written notice. Keep a copy and note the date you sent it. In Texas, cancellation runs through the state's forms; the Texas Department of Banking's prepaid funeral FAQ covers canceling.
4. Watch the clock. Florida owes your refund within 30 days of written notice. Texas and North Carolina, within 30 days. New York, on demand. Georgia's state FAQ says three business days.
5. If the seller stalls, complain to the regulator. That's the Texas Department of Banking in Texas. Elsewhere: Pennsylvania's State Board of Funeral Directors, the Illinois Comptroller's PLACE Division, Ohio's Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, Georgia's Secretary of State Cemeteries Division, North Carolina's Board of Funeral Service, and Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).

Who can cancel for you if you can't

The laws we read let someone with legal authority over your money step in. Usually that's an agent under a durable power of attorney (the person you name to handle your money if you can't). It can also be a guardian (a person a court appoints to manage your affairs).

California's law names your "legally appointed representative." New York's says "his or her representative." Guardianship is the slow fallback when nobody has authority, so it's the one to avoid.

Florida and Texas laws name only the purchaser. We couldn't confirm in a primary source how far an agent's power to cancel reaches there. An elder law or estate lawyer in your state can check that your power of attorney covers contracts and refunds. Then give your agent a copy of the contract.

Your power of attorney covers you while you're alive. After you die, the plan is in other hands (see the last section below).

If you move

Moving the money isn't the same as moving the funeral. A new provider sets its own prices.

• New York: an irrevocable plan can move to another funeral firm, within 10 business days of your request.
• Texas: a trust contract can't be transferred. You can assign its cancellation value to a new provider, which doesn't have to honor the old prices.
• North Carolina: you can "direct the substitution of a different funeral establishment." Since a 2025 change, the bank pays the new funeral home directly.
• Michigan: the seller "shall assign" an irrevocable plan to another provider when you ask in writing.
• Ohio: transfer is allowed, with a fee of up to 10% on guaranteed-price contracts.
• Illinois: reassignment is confirmed only for insurance-funded irrevocable plans.
• Pennsylvania and Georgia: we found no rule letting you move a plan yourself.

If the funeral home closes or is sold

In California, the funeral home must give you 60 days' notice before it transfers contracts to a new owner. You, or your representative, can cancel up to 60 days after getting that notice.

In New York, if the firm closes, your money comes back with interest, or moves to another firm when you approve it in writing. In Michigan, if the business is sold, you can cancel and get back everything left plus the commission.

Texas can arrange another provider to perform a defaulted contract at no extra cost, depending on the contract type. Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina have recovery funds for buyers who lose money. Illinois pays "as a matter of grace and not of right," which is a polite way of saying no promises. We found no recovery fund in Pennsylvania, Georgia or Michigan.

Keep your contract and every receipt. A claim needs proof of what you paid.

What happens to the plan after you die

In Texas, the person with the right of disposition (the legal right to decide what happens to your body) can make changes worth up to 10% of the price. They can't change the type you chose, burial or cremation.

California requires the funeral home to show the contract to whoever is handling your funeral. So name that person, and tell them the plan exists. Prepaid funeral plans covers who tells the funeral home you died, and the funeral planning checklist covers the rest of the paperwork.

In Canada

In Ontario, the 30-day full-refund window starts when the contract becomes enforceable (for example, when you receive your copy), not the day you sign. After that, you get the money paid plus income, minus the lesser of 10% and C$350. Any amount the seller already kept outside the trust reduces that fee.

Ontario is the only place we checked that lets you name, in the contract itself, the person who can cancel and collect the refund. Without kids or a spouse, I'd use it, and an Ontario estate lawyer can confirm the wording for your case. Our text of the regulation comes from a 2020 consolidation, so check the current version on Ontario's e-Laws site.

Quebec and British Columbia work differently. An estate lawyer, or a notary in Quebec, can tell you what applies. More on provincial rules is on our Canada page.

What to set up next

• Prepaid funeral plans: who tells the funeral home you died, so the plan gets used.
• Prepaid plans and Medicaid: read this before you sign an irrevocable plan.
• Preplanning: how to plan your funeral without paying ahead.
• Funeral planning guides: every guide in this section.