Funeral director fees and professional service charges
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A funeral director's professional services fee in New Zealand is indicatively $3,000 to $6,500, according to the Funeral Directors Association of NZ (FDANZ), and can be lower for a cremation with no service (FDANZ: Funeral costs and financial support). That fee includes 24-hour access to the director. Everything else, from the casket and the hearse to the council's burial or cremation fee, is a separate line or is passed through from another provider.
A professional services fee is the director's charge for arranging and running the funeral. It is not a single national price. Two directors can quote very different headline figures for what looks like the same funeral, because they include different things. This page is about reading the quote. For the full cost of a funeral, see funeral cost in NZ.
What is in the fee, and what is not
FDANZ lists the professional services fee as one line among many. The others it publishes as indicative ranges (July 2025) sit alongside it, not inside it:
| Line | FDANZ indicative range |
|---|---|
| Professional services fee | $3,000 to $6,500 |
| Preparation (for example embalming) | $700 to $1,050 (sometimes inside the professional fee) |
| Casket | $1,200 to $5,000 |
| Chapel hire | $200 to $500 |
| Hearse | $200 to $450 |
| Celebrant or clergy | $300 to $900 |
| Doctor's fee and medical referee (cremations only) | $100 to $400 and $100 to $120 |
| Newspaper notices | $150 to $500 or more |
The words "sometimes inside" matter: what a fee includes varies by provider. The pattern in the table, though, is that the costs of other people, such as the celebrant, doctor, florist, newspaper and the council, are separate from the director's own fee. Council burial and cremation fees are published by each council and passed through. The burial cost guide and cremation cost guide cover those.
One published list, line by line
Dils (North Shore, Auckland) publishes a price list as at May 2026, GST inclusive, which it says may change without notice (Dils price list). It shows how many parts a bill can have:
| Item | Dils price |
|---|---|
| Professional fee, full service | $5,955 |
| Professional fee, direct cremation (no service or viewing) | $3,030 |
| Professional fee, simple cremation or memorial service | $3,470 |
| Professional fee, receive-in from another town | $3,610 |
| Professional fee, send-out to another town | $3,605 |
| Weekend or public-holiday funeral | $760 to $1,530 |
| Embalming | $440 |
| Mortuary care for final presentation | $705 to $1,975 |
| Transfer | $470 |
| Hearse | $492 |
| Chapel | $662 |
| Celebrant | $590 to $705 |
| Webcast | $350 |
The same list shows the cremation fee ($1,065 to $2,515 at Schnapper Rock), medical documentation ($80 to $450) and caskets ($1,705 to $14,800 across its ranges) as separate lines. We use it as an example of how a list is built. We do not rank it against any other director.
Why headline prices are not comparable
Simplicity Funerals in Christchurch advertises plans with "from" prices, GST inclusive: Dignified (direct cremation with no embalming, a basic casket and the death certificate) from $4,215, Personal (a one-hour viewing for 10) from $5,265, and others up to $10,000 (Simplicity Christchurch). Flowers, notices and catering are extra.
Set that beside Dils's $3,030 for a direct cremation and the Simplicity figure looks higher. It is not a like-for-like comparison. The Dils figure is the professional fee only, with the crematorium fee, documentation and casket extra. The Simplicity figure includes the cremation fee, casket and certificate. When you compare directors, add up what a complete funeral costs under each quote.
Questions to ask for an itemised quote
- What does the professional services fee include, and what does it not?
- Which items are your own charges, and which do you pass through from the council, crematorium, doctor, celebrant or newspaper? Ask for the third-party costs as separate lines.
- Is embalming or preparation inside the fee? Can I decline it? Health NZ says that if the person has died at home, you can keep the room cool if you do not want embalming (Health NZ: Dying at home).
- Are there extra charges for a weekend, a public holiday, after-hours or travel? See transport costs.
- Which of these services can I leave out, such as the chapel or a webcast? Dils's list shows both as separate lines, which suggests they can be chosen one by one, so ask.
- When is payment due, and is a deposit needed?
- Are you a member of FDANZ?
Who checks the fees
Only FDANZ members are obliged by its Standards and Code of Ethics to be open about costs, according to its 2026 report, and there is no central list or regulator of funeral homes. FDANZ hears complaints only about members, and the Commerce Commission can be approached about pricing (FDANZ 2026 Industry Trends Report). Joining FDANZ is not a legal requirement.
Paying the invoice
Ways families meet the invoice:
- The person's bank account. The bank can release money from the account to pay for the funeral without waiting for probate (Govt.nz: What to do when someone dies).
- Work and Income's Funeral Grant, up to $2,697.43 as at 1 April 2026, with income and asset tests (Work and Income), or an ACC grant of up to $8,236.40 where the death was caused by a covered injury. A prepaid funeral account counts as an asset for the grant. The grant may not cover the invoice in full: it equals 23% of FDANZ's $11,700 cremation average (our sum).
- A prepaid plan or insurance, if the person had one. Most did not: 74% of 2025 funerals had no pre-arrangement or pre-payment, per FDANZ.
More options are in who pays for a funeral.
Paying ahead with insurance
This section is for planning your own funeral, since funeral insurance cannot help with a death that has already happened. Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, for New Zealanders aged 40 to 75, pays a fixed benefit of $3,000 to $30,000 towards costs. Acceptance is guaranteed, with no health questions. In the first 24 months it pays only for accidental death within 90 days of the accident, and for any other death premiums are refunded. The total premiums you pay could exceed the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. Momentum Life Limited's A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), affirmed 11 February 2026 (Momentum: financial strength). See the funeral insurance hub and Momentum Life Funeral Cover. The buttons on this page lead to Momentum's online quote.
Adviser's view
The professional services fee is one of the larger lines in a quote, but it is not the whole bill, and two directors' headline prices are often not like for like. Ask for the quote itemised, in writing, with council and third-party costs shown separately, before you agree to anything.
Talk to a licensed adviser about funeral cover · free, no obligation.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Funeral Director Fees NZ: Service Charges Explained. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/when-someone-dies/funeral-director-fees-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.
References
- FDANZ: Funeral costs and financial support
- FDANZ: 2026 New Zealand Funeral Industry Trends Report (PDF)
- Dils: Standard price list as at May 2026 (PDF)
- Simplicity Funerals Christchurch: Funeral plans and pricing
- Health NZ: Dying at home
- Govt.nz: What to do when someone dies
- Work and Income: Funeral Grant
- ACC: Financial support after a death
- Momentum Life: Financial strength
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