Maryland Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors: Licensing, Complaints, and Your Rights

You trusted a funeral home with the care of someone you loved — and something went wrong. Maybe the remains were mishandled. Maybe the funeral director behaved unprofessionally. Maybe you suspect a sanitation or licensing problem. Knowing where to take that complaint, and what it will actually accomplish, matters more than most people realize.

Maryland has a dedicated state licensing board for the funeral industry, and it has real enforcement authority. Understanding how the Maryland Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors works will help you decide whether a complaint is the right path — or whether your issue belongs with a different agency entirely.

What the Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors Does

The Maryland Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors is a regulatory body within the Department of Health. It licenses and disciplines funeral directors, morticians, and funeral establishment operators throughout the state. The Board exists to protect consumers from unsafe or unethical practice in the care of human remains — not to mediate billing disputes or contractual disagreements.

The Board's jurisdiction covers:

• Licensing of individual morticians, funeral directors, and embalmers
• Inspection of funeral establishments for sanitary conditions and recordkeeping
• Disciplinary action including fines, license suspension, and license revocation
• Oversight of pre-need contract compliance (funeral homes must file preneed contract documentation and escrow verification with the Board)
• Refrigeration compliance — Maryland law requires that if a funeral facility cannot refrigerate unembalmed remains within 48 hours of receipt, it must notify the Board within 24 hours

What the Board does not handle: financial disputes over funeral bills, deceptive advertising or price misrepresentation, and contractual failures. Those complaints belong to the Office of Consumer Protection (see below).

How to File a Funeral Home Complaint in Maryland

The Board accepts complaints from anyone — family members, competing licensees, or members of the public. You do not need a lawyer to file, and there is no filing fee.

Step 1: Use the official complaint form

The Board's complaint form is available at health.maryland.gov/bom/pdf/complaint.pdf. You can also request a paper copy by calling the Board's office. The form asks for:

• Your contact information and your relationship to the deceased
• The name and address of the funeral home or individual you are complaining about
• A factual narrative of what occurred, in chronological order
• Supporting documentation (contracts, itemized price lists, correspondence, photos)

Step 2: Describe the conduct clearly

The Board investigates complaints that fall within its authority: improper handling of remains, unsanitary conditions, failure to maintain refrigeration standards, professional misconduct by a licensed mortician, practice without a valid license, or recordkeeping violations. Complaints outside this scope — price disputes, failure to honor a prepaid contract's financial terms — will be forwarded to a more appropriate agency or closed.

Step 3: Allow time for investigation

The Board's investigations are not fast. Expect a written acknowledgment within a few weeks. Complex investigations may take months. The Board will contact you if it needs additional information, and it will notify you of the outcome when the case is closed.

Step 4: Understand the possible outcomes

If the Board finds a violation, it can:

• Issue a letter of reprimand
• Impose a civil monetary fine
• Place a licensee on probation
• Suspend a license (temporarily)
• Revoke a license permanently

A finding in your favor does not automatically entitle you to a financial remedy. The Board is a licensing authority, not a civil court. If you also want compensation, you may need to pursue a separate civil claim.

When to Contact the Office of Consumer Protection Instead

The Maryland Office of Consumer Protection handles complaints involving deceptive trade practices and financial disputes. If a funeral home:

• Charged for services that were not authorized or not performed
• Misrepresented prices (for example, quoted one price and billed another)
• Refused to honor a prepaid funeral contract's refund or transfer terms
• Used misleading marketing or high-pressure sales tactics

...then the Office of Consumer Protection is the better first call. You can reach them through the Maryland Attorney General's office at oag.state.md.us.

The FTC Funeral Rule also gives you federal recourse for price list violations (see our post on Maryland funeral consumer rights for details on the Rule's specific requirements).

Which Agency Handles Cemetery Complaints?

The Maryland Office of Cemetery Oversight handles complaints about cemeteries — not the Board of Morticians. If your issue involves a burial ground (disputed burial rights, improper grave marking, failure to maintain grounds, unauthorized disinterment), that complaint belongs with the Office of Cemetery Oversight. See our post on the Maryland Office of Cemetery Oversight for how that process works.

Refrigeration and the Board's 24-Hour Notification Rule

One of the Board's more specific rules concerns refrigeration. If a funeral establishment cannot maintain unembalmed remains at 40°F or below, and the body has been in the facility for more than 48 hours, the facility is required to notify the Board within 24 hours. This is a public health protection, not just a bureaucratic formality.

Families dealing with circumstances where remains have been held longer than expected — due to pending medical examiner authorization, delayed cremation, or logistical complications — should be aware of this rule. A funeral home that fails to notify the Board when required may be in violation of licensing standards.

Protecting Yourself Before a Problem Arises

The most effective consumer protection is knowing your rights before you engage a funeral home. Under federal and Maryland law, every funeral home must provide an itemized General Price List on request — in person or over the phone — so you can compare actual costs before committing to anything. For a complete checklist of Maryland's funeral laws and consumer rights, see the Maryland Funeral Laws & Consumer Rights Guide.

If you are pre-planning, ask for a copy of any prepaid contract and verify that it complies with Maryland's escrow requirements. The Board's oversight of pre-need contracts means that funeral homes must deposit 100% of professional service fees and 80% of merchandise fees into escrow within 10 days of receipt. The interest earned belongs to you, not the funeral home.

Understanding these rules in advance puts you in a far stronger position — both to avoid problems and to pursue them effectively when they arise.

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