How to Fill Out and Submit the Funeral Home Assignment Form

A funeral home assignment form tells a life insurance company to pay part of the death benefit straight to the funeral home, so the family doesn’t have to front thousands of dollars before the claim settles. The beneficiary signs it, the funeral home countersigns, and the package goes to the insurer with a certified death certificate and the itemized funeral bill. Most funeral homes keep blank forms on hand, though some carriers require their own version. Because insurers generally take 14 to 60 days to pay a death benefit after receiving a complete claim, the assignment turns the funeral home into a creditor willing to wait rather than billing you the day of the service.1Aflac. How Long Does Life Insurance Take to Pay Out?

What to Gather Before You Sit Down With the Funeral Director

The form is short, but it will not clear the insurer’s intake without a specific set of facts and documents. Pull these together first:

  • The life insurance policy number, found on the declarations page or on any annual statement from the carrier.
  • The insured’s full legal name, exactly as written on the policy, including middle name or suffix.
  • The insurance company’s full legal name and claims address. The claims department’s mailing address or fax may differ from what’s on the policy cover; call the number on the policy to confirm.
  • Your beneficiary information: full legal name, Social Security number, date of birth, current address, phone number, and relationship to the deceased. The insurer uses your SSN to verify identity and to issue tax documents if interest accrues on the benefit.
  • At least one certified copy of the death certificate. Order several from the vital records office in the state where the death occurred; bank accounts, Social Security, and other matters will each want one.2USAGov. How to Get a Certified Copy of a Death Certificate
  • The itemized statement of funeral goods and services. The funeral home is required to give you one, and carriers such as New York Life specifically require “a copy of the assignment and itemized statement” before routing funds to a funeral provider.3New York Life Annuities. Beneficiary Death Claim Kit

Can’t find the policy number? Call the insurance company with the insured’s full name, date of birth, and Social Security number. Most carriers can look up the policy from that. Some states also offer a life insurance policy locator service through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

How to Fill In Each Section

Forms vary by funeral home and carrier, but a typical “Assignment of Proceeds of Insurance” has the same handful of fields:4BuyUs Funeral Home. Assignment of Proceeds of Insurance

  • Insurance company name. Near the top, usually after “TO.” Write the carrier’s full legal name (for example, “Metropolitan Life Insurance Company,” not “MetLife”).
  • Policy number and insured’s name. These identify the specific contract. Double-check both against the policy paperwork. A transposed digit bounces the whole package back.
  • Funeral home name and address. The provider fills this in. It tells the insurer where to send the check.
  • Amount assigned. Two dollar fields usually appear: one for the total you owe the funeral home, one for the amount you’re assigning from the policy. They can be the same figure. If the bill isn’t final, some forms allow a “total cost of services” designation that adjusts to the final invoice.
  • Beneficiary signature block. Your signature, printed name, date, relationship to the deceased, Social Security number, date of birth, and contact information.

For scale, the national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial was $8,300 in 2023, and a funeral with cremation ran about $6,280.5National Funeral Director’s Association. NFDA Media Center Assign what the services actually cost, not a round guess. If the final bill comes in lower than the assigned amount, the funeral home is only entitled to what it charged; the difference comes back to you through the insurer.

Signatures and Notarization

Both you and a funeral home representative must sign. Your signature authorizes the transfer; the funeral home’s signature acknowledges the arrangement and the amount owed. Some carriers add a step: Colonial Penn, for example, requires the beneficiary’s signature to be witnessed by a notary public before it will honor the assignment.6Colonial Penn. Can the Proceeds Be Paid Directly to Another Party? Many standard assignment forms include a notary block at the bottom for that reason.

Even when the carrier doesn’t explicitly require it, getting the form notarized is cheap insurance. Notary fees for a single signature typically run $2 to $25 depending on the state, and many funeral homes have a notary on staff or can bring one in on short notice. A rejection on an un-notarized form costs days while the funeral home waits to be paid.

Submitting the Package to the Insurer

Once the form is signed and notarized, the funeral home usually handles submission. The complete package to the carrier’s claims department includes:

  • The signed (and, where required, notarized) assignment form
  • A certified copy of the death certificate
  • The insurer’s own claim form, completed by the beneficiary
  • The itemized statement of funeral goods and services

Common submission channels are the carrier’s secure digital portal, a high-resolution fax, or certified mail with return receipt. Digital submissions tend to move fastest; some carriers begin verification within 24 to 48 hours of receiving a complete electronic package. If you mail it, use certified mail so you have proof of delivery.

The funeral home often gets a confirmation letter or a verbal verification code from the insurer once the assignment clears initial review. That confirmation lets the home proceed with arrangements without asking you for upfront payment.

What Can Delay or Block the Assignment

Not every policy assigns cleanly. Watch for these:

  • Policy loans or liens. If the insured borrowed against the cash value, the carrier deducts that balance plus accrued interest before paying anyone. A $50,000 policy with a $20,000 outstanding loan only has $30,000 available. If the funeral bill is higher than what’s left, the assignment won’t cover it.
  • Deaths inside the contestability period. During the first two years after a policy takes effect, the insurer can investigate the original application for misrepresentations about health, smoking, occupation, or other risk factors. A material misrepresentation can cause the benefit to be denied, reduced, or delayed, which effectively voids the assignment and leaves the family responsible for the bill.7AARP Life Insurance from NYL. Understanding the Two-Year Contestability Period for Life Insurance
  • Lapsed or terminated policies. If premiums went unpaid past the grace period, the policy may no longer be in force and the carrier will reject the assignment outright.
  • Missing or incorrect information. A wrong policy number, a name that doesn’t match the carrier’s records, or a missing notary seal where one is required will send the package back for correction.
  • Carrier-specific forms. Some insurers won’t accept a generic funeral home assignment form. When the carrier insists on its own version, the funeral director usually knows and has the right form on file.

Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance works differently. The Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance can pay FEGLI benefits straight to a funeral home, but only at the direction of the person entitled to the benefit, and the funeral home should have the specific form FEGLI requires.8U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Can the Office of Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (OFEGLI) Pay the Funeral Home From the FEGLI Benefits?

What Happens to Money Above the Funeral Bill

When the death benefit is larger than the funeral bill, the insurer pays the funeral home only the assigned amount. Nothing more. The rest goes to the named beneficiary as a standard death benefit payment, usually by check or direct deposit. A $50,000 policy with a $15,000 funeral assignment leaves $35,000 for the beneficiary after the funeral home is paid.

The death benefit itself is generally not taxable income. The IRS does not require a beneficiary to include life insurance proceeds in gross income.9Internal Revenue Service. Life Insurance and Disability Insurance Proceeds Any interest that accrues between the date of death and the day the insurer actually pays is taxable, though, and if payout takes several months you can expect a Form 1099-INT from the carrier for that interest.10Internal Revenue Service. Interest Income The assignment doesn’t change any of this; the portion paid to the funeral home simply reduces what the beneficiary receives.

Protecting Yourself Before You Sign

Signing an assignment while grieving can feel like one more page in a stack. A few habits keep you from giving away more than you should:

  • Ask for the itemized price list first. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, the funeral home must hand you a written general price list before you discuss arrangements. Read it before signing anything. The Funeral Rule also bars the provider from conditioning services on purchasing extras you didn’t ask for.11eCFR. 16 CFR 453.4 – Required Purchase of Funeral Goods or Funeral Services12Federal Trade Commission. Funeral Industry Practices Rule
  • Assign only what you owe. You don’t have to assign the entire policy. If the funeral costs $9,000 and the policy is worth $75,000, assign $9,000, or a modest cushion above that if a few costs are still being finalized.
  • Read the form before signing. Confirm the dollar amount, check that the form says “revocable” if you want the option to cancel, and make sure no language grants the funeral home a claim to the full policy.
  • Keep copies of everything. Photocopy or photograph the signed assignment, the itemized bill, and any correspondence with the insurer. Those records are your proof if a dispute arises.
  • Call the insurance company yourself. Don’t rely only on the funeral home’s verbal assurance that the policy will cover the cost. A quick call to the carrier’s claims line confirms the policy is active, the benefit amount, and whether any loans are outstanding.

Fill the form out carefully, assign only what the funeral actually costs, and give the insurer every document it needs on the first submission. That’s the fastest path to getting the funeral home paid and the rest of the benefit into your hands.