Families landing on your website at 11pm, reading your prices, and then calling a competitor the next morning because you have no way for them to start an arrangement online?
Staff spending 45 minutes on each first-call intake collecting information that could have been gathered through a guided online form before the family ever picked up the phone?
Online Funeral Arrangement Platform Development
Custom online arrangement platforms for direct cremation operators, funeral homes adding a digital channel, and funeral startups building death care services for families who want to arrange without a phone call.
Direct cremation is the fastest-growing segment of the US funeral market. Families researching arrangements at midnight cannot call a funeral home. Operators without an online arrangement channel lose this demand to competitors who have one.
FTC-compliant package selection with clear itemised pricing displayed online
Digital cremation authorisation and next-of-kin verification with legally valid signatures
Structured death information collection for death certificate filing
Online payment with deposit collection, balance due on completion, and instalment options
An online funeral arrangement platform lets families select a cremation or burial package, complete legal authorisation forms with a digital signature, submit decedent information for death certificate filing, and pay -- all without a phone call. RaftLabs builds custom online arrangement platforms for direct cremation operators, funeral homes adding an online channel, and digital-first funeral startups. Fixed cost, 10-14 week delivery.
100+Products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·10-14Week delivery cycles
Built for families who want to arrange without a phone call
Direct cremation has grown from a niche service to the most common disposition type in several US states. The families choosing it are often researching late at night, have already decided they want a simple, dignified cremation without an elaborate service, and are comparing prices across multiple operators from a single browser session. They do not want to call during business hours. They want to see the price, understand what is included, and complete the arrangement online the same way they book any other service.
Operators who offer this -- a clear online arrangement flow from package selection through to payment confirmation -- capture these families. Operators who don't lose them to the competitor whose website has a "Start Arrangement" button.
The same logic applies to funeral homes adding an online channel alongside traditional in-person services. Families arranging a full traditional funeral still want to be able to start the process digitally, review pricing before the arrangement conference, and complete paperwork without coming in twice.
What we build
Service package selection
Online catalogue of cremation and burial packages with clear, itemised pricing -- compliant with the FTC Funeral Rule's requirement that prices be available to anyone who asks, including online. Each package lists what is included and what it costs, with optional add-ons (death certificates, obituary submission, urn upgrades, memorial items) presented as line items the family can add or decline. The family selects the package that fits their needs and budget without a sales conversation. Package descriptions written in plain language -- what happens to their loved one's remains, what the family receives, and what steps happen next. The selection is saved and becomes the basis for the arrangement record in the back-office system.
Digital authorisation and legal forms
Online completion of cremation authorisation, disposition instruction forms, and any additional legal documents required by the state where the death occurred. Guided form with clear explanations of what each section means and why it is required -- important for families completing this under emotional stress without a funeral director in the room to answer questions. Next-of-kin identity verification at the level required by state law, with ID document upload where required. Legally valid digital signature collected through a compliant e-signature flow. Completed authorisation documents stored against the case record, with a copy sent to the family by email. Document version is tracked so the funeral home always knows which form version was signed and when.
Death information collection
Structured intake form collecting the decedent information needed for death certificate filing -- full legal name, date and place of birth, Social Security number, occupation, education, and veteran status, along with the specific data requirements of the relevant state registrar. Form presented as a guided step-by-step flow with field-level explanations so families know what is being asked and why, rather than confronting a blank form. Validation built in so incomplete records are flagged before submission -- the funeral home doesn't receive a partial record that needs a follow-up call to complete. Information submitted through the form flows directly into the case record in the funeral home management system, ready for the death registration workflow without re-entry.
Payment processing and instalment plans
Online card payment and ACH direct debit with deposit collection at the time of arrangement and the balance due at a configurable point in the process -- typically before or at the time of cremation. Instalment plan options for families who need to spread the cost, with automatic payment scheduling and a clear statement of what is owed and when. Receipts sent automatically by email. Failed payment handling with automated retry and family notification. Payment status visible in the case management back office so staff can see which cases have a balance outstanding without calling the family. All payment processing handled through a PCI-compliant payment gateway -- no card data stored in the application.
Case handoff to funeral home management
When the family completes the online arrangement -- package selected, authorisation signed, death information submitted, payment collected -- a case record is created automatically in the back-office funeral home management system. Staff are notified. The arrangement details, signed documents, and payment record all attach to the case. No manual re-entry of information the family already provided. If the arrangement is partially completed and the family does not finish, a draft case is created and a follow-up workflow is triggered. The handoff is the point at which the online arrangement becomes a funeral home case, with the full operational workflow -- removal, preparation, permit filing, and disposition -- managed from that point in the management system.
Status communication and family updates
Automated confirmation email sent to the family when the arrangement is completed, covering what they selected, what happens next, and who their contact at the funeral home is. Proactive status updates at each stage of the case -- body received and in care, cremation scheduled with date, cremation completed, remains ready for collection or delivery. Updates sent by email or SMS based on family preference, reducing inbound calls to staff asking for a status they could receive automatically. Families can also check case status through a secure online portal without calling. All communications stored against the case record so staff can see what the family has been told and when, avoiding repeated or contradictory messages.
Frequently asked questions
Digital cremation authorisation is legally permitted in most US states, but the specific requirements vary. Some states require a wet-ink signature on the cremation authorisation and do not accept a digital signature for this document, while others accept electronic signatures that meet the state's definition of a valid signature under their applicable law. A handful of states have specific requirements around how next-of-kin priority is established and documented before authorisation can be accepted. Before building an online arrangement platform, we review the legal requirements for the states where you operate and design the authorisation flow to meet those requirements -- which may mean offering online arrangement for everything except the cremation authorisation in states where a digital signature is not accepted for that specific document, with a wet-ink signature collected separately.
Cremation is irreversible, so the legal requirement to verify that the person authorising the cremation has the legal right to do so is taken seriously by funeral regulators. At minimum, the online arrangement flow collects the next-of-kin's full name, relationship to the deceased, contact details, and a representation that they are the highest-priority next-of-kin under the applicable state law. Where state law or the funeral home's own risk policy requires stronger verification, the platform can include ID document upload with the arrangement form. Liveness checks and formal identity verification services (such as ID.me or Persona) can be integrated where the operator requires a higher verification standard. The appropriate verification level depends on the states you operate in and your own comfort with the risk of an unauthorised authorisation -- we'll walk through the options during scoping.
Integration with an existing funeral home management system is possible where that system provides an API. The online arrangement platform sends the completed arrangement data -- package selection, signed documents, death information, and payment record -- to the management system via the API, creating the case automatically without staff re-entry. Where the existing system does not provide an API, the options are a flat-file export that staff import manually, a webhook that sends arrangement data to a shared inbox in a structured format, or building the online arrangement platform as the front end of a new management system rather than integrating with the old one. If you are already considering replacing your management system alongside adding an online arrangement channel, building both together from the start produces a cleaner result than integrating two separately built tools.
Platforms like Parting Pro offer an online arrangement product you can configure and deploy without custom development. They make sense for funeral homes that fit within the platform's configuration options and don't need a specific integration, branded experience, or data model that differs from what the platform supports. Custom development makes sense in four situations: you are building a direct cremation brand and the online experience is a core part of your differentiation from competitors; your state's legal requirements create a workflow that off-the-shelf platforms don't handle correctly; you need a specific integration with a back-office system or a payment provider the platform doesn't support; or you intend to own and control the technology rather than pay a per-case fee indefinitely. Custom build has a higher upfront cost and a fixed timeline of 10 to 14 weeks. The right answer depends on your volume, your margin, and how central the digital experience is to your business model.
Tell us the states you operate in, your current arrangement volume, and where families drop off without completing -- we'll scope an arrangement platform built for your workflow.
