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Burial or cremation: how do Texas families decide?
By Mickie Byrd, licensed Texas life insurance agent (NPN 22277248) · last reviewed 2026-07-13
Texas families face this choice every day, and there is no wrong answer. Burial and cremation are both dignified, and a family can gather and say goodbye with either. What differs is the resting place, the cost, and what feels right to the person and to the people who love them.
The person's own wishes come first. Sometimes the choice was written down, or said plainly at the kitchen table, and the family simply honors it. When nothing was said, the family decides together. A choice made with care, by the people who knew the person, honors them too.
Faith often carries the answer. Some traditions call for burial; others accept cremation or leave the choice to the family. A pastor, priest, or other faith leader can say plainly what a tradition teaches, and asking is a common, welcome question. No family has to work that part out alone.
Family ground matters too. A plot where parents and grandparents already rest can make burial feel like coming home. For some families, that plot settles the question all by itself.
Cremation leaves its own doors open. Many cemeteries allow ashes to rest in a family plot. Ashes can also stay close by the family, or be laid to rest later, when everyone can gather. For a family spread across the country, being able to pick a day when everyone can come is often what matters most.
Cost is part of the choice, and the published numbers are plain. The National Funeral Directors Association's most recent report puts a funeral with viewing and burial at about $8,300, and a funeral with cremation at about $6,300. A vault, a plot, a marker, and flowers are usually extra.
Nobody has to guess at prices, either. Every funeral home must give you a written price list when you ask. That is a federal rule called the Funeral Rule, and it applies to burial and cremation alike.
For a veteran, the choice can look different. Burial in a VA national cemetery costs the family nothing, and Texas has four state veterans cemeteries that offer similar honors. A cemetery office can check what a veteran qualifies for; the paper that does most of that work is the DD-214, the discharge record.
Whichever way a family leans, the choice weighs less when it is made early, by the person it is about. A wish written down, and shared with one trusted person, answers the hardest question before anyone has to ask it. That page costs nothing to write.
Common questions
- How different are the costs?
- The National Funeral Directors Association's published medians put a funeral with viewing and burial at about $8,300, and a funeral with cremation at about $6,300. A vault, a plot, a marker, and flowers are usually extra.
- Can we still have a service with cremation?
- Yes. Families gather and say goodbye with either choice. The NFDA's published cremation median is the cost of a funeral with cremation, not a cremation by itself.
- What if the person never told us what they wanted?
- Then the family decides together, with faith, family ground, and cost in view. A choice made with care, by the people who knew the person, honors them. There is no wrong answer here.
- Does the VA help a veteran's family with this choice?
- Burial in a VA national cemetery costs the family nothing, and Texas also has four state veterans cemeteries. A cemetery office can tell a family what a veteran qualifies for; having the DD-214 discharge record on hand makes that check easier.
Getting your own affairs in order is free at The Legacy Kit™. A licensed person answers at 844-BYRD-FIN, and no one calls unless you ask.