Affordable Cremation Costs in Los Angeles, California $1,045

Since 2012, DFS Memorials has helped families find affordable, dignified cremation through an established network of independent funeral homes and cremation providers in 42 states. Every partner is licensed, local to the community it serves, and committed to a clear price set before you commit.

In Los Angeles, our local partner provides a direct cremation for $1,045. A direct cremation has no viewing or ceremony beforehand, which leaves your family free to plan a memorial later, at your own pace.

What the $1,045 covers

• Collection of your loved one from the place of death, including hospitals, nursing homes, hospice and home
• Care and sheltering until the paperwork is complete
• Filing the death certificate and obtaining the disposition permit
• A simple cremation container
• The cremation itself
• Return of the cremated remains to the family

What may cost extra

• Certified copies of the death certificate
• Collection from outside the provider’s service area
• An urn, if you want something other than the standard container for the ashes

Ask for the General Price List before you agree to anything. Under the FTC Funeral Rule, every funeral home must give you one, and the price you are quoted should match it.

How $1,045 compares in Los Angeles

The typical local charge for a direct cremation in Los Angeles is about $1,655, and some long-established funeral homes charge several times that for the same service. Many of them now belong to national corporations while keeping their original names, so it is worth asking who owns a funeral home before you compare.

Our Los Angeles partner is Cedar Hill Mortuary, which also serves Long Beach and the surrounding area at the same price.

The price applies across the city of Los Angeles, including Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Koreatown, Boyle Heights, South LA, Leimert Park, Venice and Mar Vista, and San Fernando Valley neighborhoods such as Encino and Sherman Oaks.

If a death occurs in a Los Angeles hospital

Hospital staff will ask which funeral home to call. Give them the name of your provider, and the release is arranged directly between the hospital and the provider. You do not need to collect anything yourself. Major hospitals in the city include:

• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
• Keck Hospital of USC
• Los Angeles General Medical Center
• Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center

If a death occurs at home

If your loved one was under hospice care and the death was expected, call the hospice nurse first. The nurse confirms the death and then contacts the provider you have chosen. If the death at home was unexpected, call 911.

If your loved one is with the medical examiner

Sudden, unexplained or accidental deaths in Los Angeles County are referred to the Department of Medical Examiner. You can still choose your provider at any time, and the provider arranges the release directly once the medical examiner has finished.

• Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner: (323) 343-0512

Families spread across the country

Many Angelenos have family in other states or abroad. After a direct cremation, the ashes can be shipped or carried home, and the memorial held wherever the family gathers.

What California law requires

• A disposition permit: A cremation cannot take place until the death certificate has been filed and a permit for disposition issued by the local registrar. Your provider handles both. California sets no fixed statewide minimum waiting period, so the paperwork sets the pace, usually a few days.
• Who signs the authorization: California law (Health and Safety Code § 7100) sets the order. Written instructions left by the person who died, or their health care agent, come first, then a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, a majority of the adult children, the parents and a majority of the adult siblings.
• No embalming or casket needed: A direct cremation uses refrigeration and a simple rigid container.
• Pacemakers: Pacemakers and similar devices are removed before cremation for safety. Your provider handles this.

Veterans: Riverside National Cemetery

Eligible veterans can be buried at Riverside National Cemetery, the main national cemetery serving the Los Angeles area. The VA provides the burial space, the opening and closing, and a government headstone or marker at no cost, and cremated remains are accepted. A spouse or dependent may also qualify. Your provider can help you request the burial.

Holding a memorial after the cremation

Many Los Angeles families choose cremation first and a memorial later. A sunset gathering on the beach at Santa Monica or Malibu, a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains, a church or a family home can all make a fitting setting. Charter boats from Marina del Rey, San Pedro and Long Beach can arrange a scattering at sea and handle the required notice. On private land you need the owner’s permission, and in a national forest or park, check with the ranger district or park office first. See our guide to planning a memorial after cremation.

Compare nearby areas: Long Beach | Los Angeles County | California

To arrange a direct cremation in Los Angeles, or to plan ahead, call (323) 285-4711.