Caring for a Deceased Loved One in Texas

Texas law allows a family to handle every part of disposition — from death through burial — without a funeral director. These documents explain how that works in practice: taking custody, the paperwork and its deadlines, holding the body lawfully, and how to use a funeral home for only part of the work without being billed for a full-service funeral.

Download

• The First Hours — Quick Reference Card PDF · 1 page What to do and what to say when someone dies at home, on a single page. Includes the deadlines at a glance and a fill-in contact sheet. Print it and keep it where you would actually find it.
• Caring for Deceased Loved Ones in Texas — Full Guide PDF · 5 pages The complete reference, with statutory citations: licensing, who has the right to decide, custody and the report of death, the death certificate, preservation, burial and caskets, the FTC Funeral Rule, and notes for parish burial ministries.

Texas authorities

• Facts About Funerals — Texas Funeral Service Commission PDF The state regulator's own consumer brochure, stating plainly that a family may handle disposition without a funeral director. The single most useful document to have on your phone. Also published in Spanish.
• Texas Funeral Service Commission — Consumer Information Verify a funeral home's license, file a complaint, and read the state's guidance on family cemeteries and green burial.
• Local Vital Records Offices — Texas DSHS Directory of every local registrar in Texas. A family filing a death certificate without a funeral home begins here — call before you need them.
• Death Registration Handbook — Texas DSHS PDF The operational manual for registering a death in Texas, revised January 2026. Technical, and definitive on the paperwork.

Consumer advocates

• Funeral Consumers Alliance of North Texas All-volunteer nonprofit advocates. They train home funeral guides and will speak with families directly.
• Funeral Consumers Alliance (national) Price surveys, consumer rights under the FTC Funeral Rule, and help escalating a billing dispute.
• Home Funeral Alliance — State Laws Education nonprofit with practical guidance on body care and cooling technique, plus a directory of guides by region.
• The FTC Funeral Rule — your rights The federal rule governing funeral home pricing: the general price list, itemization, and the single non-declinable fee. Useful when a bill looks wrong. The FTC also publishes the compliance guide funeral homes must follow, which is the more forceful document to cite in a dispute.