What does a funeral director do?

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed annually, or sooner if the rules it describes change.

Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.

A funeral director in New Zealand looks after the person who has died and takes on the practical and legal tasks around a funeral. That covers transferring the person into care, liaising with the doctor or coroner, registering the death, preparing the person, arranging the service and organising burial or cremation with the council. Families can choose which of the optional services to use, and some arrange a funeral without a director.

The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) says funeral directors are "available on call whenever a death occurs" and that a funeral will typically need 16 to 20 hours of a funeral director's time. In return, a firm charges a professional services fee and passes on the outside costs it pays, such as council fees (FDANZ: What to do when someone dies). FDANZ's indicative range for that fee is $3,000 to $6,500 as at July 2025 (FDANZ: Funeral costs). This page describes the role and does not name or rank any firm. To compare firms, see how to choose a funeral director.

The work, in the order it happens

FDANZ lists the services a funeral director can provide. This table puts them in the order most families meet them.

Stage	What the director does
First call	Takes the name, contact details, address and who has authority to allow the transfer, and asks whether a doctor has been contacted
Transfer	Arranges to move the person from where they died into the firm's care, and a visit to a doctor to confirm the cause of death where needed
First meeting	Usually within 24 hours of first contact: who is the decision maker, burial or cremation, aftercare options, and the service
Paperwork	Liaises with the doctor, hospital and coroner as necessary, and registers the death
Care of the person	Preparing, embalming, dressing and casketing, if the family wants these
The service	Arranging and attending the service, the celebrant or minister, flowers, service sheets, catering, live-streaming and recordings, and making sure cultural or ethnic customs are observed
Disposal	Organising the burial or cremation with the council or crematorium
After	FDANZ says funeral directors "may have a free bereavement support service", so ask whether yours does (FDANZ: Grieving)

The steps the law requires, whoever does them

A funeral director is not required by law. What the law requires is that certain things happen, and a director usually does them on the family's behalf.

A cause of death must be established. No body may be buried or cremated without a cause-of-death certificate or a coroner's authorisation (Burial and Cremation Act 1964, section 46AA). For a death at home, Health NZ says to contact the healthcare provider so they can complete the death certificate; where the cause is unclear or the death is sudden, the Police act as the coroner's agent and FDANZ says the person should not be moved or disturbed without the coroner's permission.
The death must be registered. Registration is free. If a funeral director is used, they register the death with Births, Deaths and Marriages. If you are not using one, you must submit form BDM 28 yourself within 3 working days of the burial or cremation (govt.nz: Registering a death). A death certificate is a separate purchase, at $35 from the Government.
A cremation needs further paperwork. Health NZ lists the cause-of-death certificate or coroner's order, a Form A signed by the executor or a near relative, a Form B (or the new Form BA) from a doctor or nurse practitioner, and the medical referee's permission to cremate (Health NZ: Cremation).
Burial has a place rule. Burial is limited to cemeteries and certain other lawful places, with limited exceptions, so the director books a plot or interment with the council or cemetery.

What is optional

Optional here means that published price lists show it as a separate line you can accept or decline, and that no source we read says the law requires it. Our price table in funeral costs covers the dollar figures.

Embalming. Health NZ's advice for a death at home is to keep the room cool if you do not want embalming, which treats it as a choice. FDANZ's view is that a body must be embalmed for family and friends to have safe access to a viewing. See our embalming guide.
A viewing. 64 per cent of families in FDANZ's 2025 data chose one, which means about a third did not.
A chapel, a hearse, flowers, live-streaming, a slideshow, service sheets and catering. Each appears with its own range on FDANZ's list.
A celebrant or clergy. FDANZ says the person who leads a service can be "anybody"; see the celebrant guide.
A service at all. A cremation without a service is a recognised choice, covered under direct cremation. FDANZ cautions that people often regret having no funeral at all once the first shock of grief has gone, so think about whether a small gathering or memorial later would help.

How the bill is built

A director's invoice has two layers. The professional services fee covers the firm's work: FDANZ says it includes transferring the person, receiving instructions, making arrangements, preparing documents, registering the death, paying disbursements and a contribution to the funeral home's operating costs, and 24-hour access. The second layer is third-party costs, which FDANZ calls "external": council fees, the doctor's fee and medical referee for cremations, the celebrant, notices and flowers. The firm usually pays these first and passes them on, and may ask for a deposit to cover them. A "disbursement" is a cost the firm pays to someone else and passes on.

Who tells the director what to do

The director takes instructions from the person with authority. FDANZ says that is usually the executor if there is a will, and otherwise the next of kin, in an order running from a surviving partner to children, parents, siblings, grandparents and aunts and uncles. The Supreme Court has said the executor or closest relative decides, taking into account whānau views and cultural, religious and spiritual practices (Takamore v Clarke, summarised by Community Law). Disputes between family members are for a lawyer.

Can you manage without a funeral director?

Yes, in law, because the law requires the steps above to happen, not a director to do them. Govt.nz describes registering a death yourself if you are organising the funeral. FDANZ points out that there are legal obligations about registration of the death and hygiene, and says a funeral director can handle any part of the arrangements. Council burial or cremation charges apply whoever arranges the funeral. Our guide to a DIY funeral goes through it. Many families settle on something in between and ask a firm to handle only some tasks. If a death happens at home, our guide to what to do when someone dies at home covers the first hours.

If you have to pay for it

Work and Income's Funeral Grant, up to $2,697.43, and ACC's funeral grant for covered injuries are the main public sources, and neither covers a typical bill alone. See burial or cremation to weigh the two main routes, and the funeral insurance hub if you are planning ahead for your own costs.

If you are planning ahead for your own funeral costs

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Adviser's view

A funeral director takes on the practical and legal tasks that follow a death, so a family does not have to learn them in the first days. Very little of the work is required of a director by law; what the law requires is that certain steps are done, by someone. Registration and the cremation paperwork are the fixed steps. Most of the rest, from a viewing to a chapel, is a choice that appears as a separate line on the bill.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). What Does a Funeral Director Do in NZ?. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/when-someone-dies/what-does-a-funeral-director-do-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.