Final Committal Texas problems With Pre-Paid Funeral Services and other tales of mishandled, misrepresented, or overpriced funeral and burial services A report prepared by Consumers Union SWRO October 2000 available in pdf format

About Executive Summary Recommendations Report Lawaway with Interest Sidebar Whole Life Sidebar Funeral Price Table (pdf) Press Release

SWRO Director Reggie James Project Director Rob Schneider Series Editor, Design, Photos Kathy Mitchell By Michelle Patterson This report was produced by Consumers Union Southwest Regional Office. The authors also thank AARP for substantial research assistance, and the Memorial Society of Texas and Public Citizen for their participation. Each year the Southwest Regional Office of Consumers Union issues reports on consumer issues of particular concern in Texas and the Southwest United States. Topics include financial services, health, utilities, and the environment. You may order copies of reports by calling the Southwest Regional Office at (512) 477-4431 or writing us at 1300 Guadalupe, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78701. Reports are also posted on our web site at www.consumersunion.org in both HTML and PDF formats. The following reports were released in 1999 and 2000: Animal Factories: Pullution and Health Threats to Rural Texans (May 2000) Access to the Dream: 2000 Minority borrowers in Texas denied standard home loans at higher rates and take a disproportionate number of subprime loans (April 2000) Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: Payday Loans Disguise Illegal Lending (Feb 1999) Texas Digital Divide: Telephone Competition Promise Falls Short (Feb 1999) Payphones: San Antonio Survey (Feb 1999) Looking Back at the Promises of Medicaid Managed Care (April 1999) A User’s Guide to the Public Information Act (June 1999) Consumers Union also participates in the Texas Pesticide Information Network, and produces reports and educational materials for the general public on pesticide use. For more information about reports related to pesticide use in Texas, please visit our web site. Consumers Union is a nonprofit membership organization chartered in 1936 under the laws of the state of New York to provide consumers with information, education, and counsel about goods, services, health, and personal finance; and to initiate and cooperate with individual and group efforts to maintain and enhance the quality of life for consumers. Consumers Union’s income is solely derived from the sale of Consumer Reports, its other publications and from noncommercial contributions, grants and fees. In addition to reports on Consumers Union’s own product testing, Consumer Reports, with approximately 4.6 million paid circulation, regularly carries articles on health, product safety, marketplace economics and legislative, judicial, and regulatory actions which affect consumer welfare. Consumers Union’s publications carry no advertising and receive no commercial support. Consumers Union’s Southwest Regional Office is dedicated to advocating the consumer interest, particularly of low-income consumers, and to promoting the growth of the public interest movement in the Southwest.