The short answer
If a loved one dies away from home, bringing them home can cost a family up to $11,000 within the United States — and more than $40,000 if the death happens in another country. Those figures come from Return Assured’s own published materials, and they cover preparing and transporting a person’s remains back to their home community.
There is no single price tag, because no two situations are alike — distance, place of death, and the coordination involved all shape the final bill. But one thing is consistent: without a plan made ahead of time, the cost lands on the family — out of pocket, on short notice, in the worst week of their lives. Who has to figure it out, and who has to pay, can both be decided now, while there’s no emergency.
What you’re actually paying for
The total isn’t one charge. It’s a stack of services that all have to happen, in the right order, before a loved one can travel home:
- A licensed funeral home at the place of death. Someone local has to take your loved one into their care, prepare the remains for burial or cremation, and handle the documentation required before transport can begin. Most families know no funeral home where the death occurred.
- Transportation home. Remains travel by airline cargo on flights, or by ground transport over shorter distances. The farther the journey, the more this part costs — and an international return adds layers a domestic one doesn’t.
- Death certificates and certified copies. The death has to be legally documented where it occurred, and families need certified copies for insurers, banks, and estates.
- For deaths outside the US: consular services and customs documentation. A death overseas involves authorities and paperwork in two countries, and both have to be satisfied before transport can move.
Each item has to be arranged and paid for separately when there’s no plan — and one missing document or signature can stall the whole process while your loved one waits.
Why the bill is only half the problem
Money is only part of what an unplanned death away from home asks of a family. The rest is coordination — and it arrives all at once. Someone in the family usually ends up dealing with four different parties, often by phone, often from a different time zone:
- The hospital or authorities where the death occurred
- A funeral home in a town they may not know, chosen under pressure
- An airline cargo desk or transport provider to arrange the journey
- The vital records office in a state — or country — they don’t live in
None of these calls happens just once. There are follow-ups, forms, signatures, and waiting — while funeral plans are being made back home at the same time. Snowbirds’ families know this well: a winter home in Florida can feel like a second home, but a death there is still handled a thousand miles from legal residence. (We walk through that situation in our guide: What happens when a snowbird dies in Florida?) The families who get through this best aren’t the ones with the biggest savings — they’re the ones who don’t have to improvise it.
Who pays if there’s no plan
Without a plan made in advance, the family or the estate pays — out of pocket, as the bills come due. A few assumptions are worth correcting:
- Medicare does not cover this. In general, Medicare does not pay to transport a person’s remains home.
- Travel insurance may not either. Policies vary widely. Many are built around medical care and evacuation for a living traveler, and return-of-remains coverage — where it exists — comes with its own terms and limits. Check any policy’s exact wording rather than assuming.
- There is no agency that steps in by default. Arranging and paying for the journey home is the family’s responsibility unless arrangements were made beforehand.
That is the gap a plan is meant to close — on the one specific day it matters.
The alternative: make the plan once
Return Assured℠ membership exists for exactly this situation. It is not insurance — it is a lifetime membership, one payment of $350, once, for life, with benefits provided through APASI, which has provided travel assurance since 1994.
If a member passes away more than 75 miles from their legal residence — the place they have lived for 180 or more days in the 12 months before death — one call to APASI at the time of death sets everything in motion: a licensed sending funeral home located, your loved one transported to it, the remains prepared, the transport home arranged, and the death certificates and — for deaths overseas — the consular services handled. The documentation is handled as part of the process. For covered repatriation, there are no caps on expense and no out-of-pocket costs for the family.
Two conditions matter, stated plainly: APASI must be contacted at the time of death, by the family or anyone acting on the member’s behalf, or benefits cannot be provided — and services a family arranges on its own cannot be reimbursed, because all services must be provided through APASI. Members receive a certificate and two wallet ID cards, and the membership can be cancelled within 30 days of signing for a full refund. Read more on our What is Return Assured? page and FAQ page.
Enrollment starts with the pre-enrollment form — no payment is accepted on this website. After you submit it, we will contact you to confirm your details, have the application signed, and collect the one-time $350 payment. Start on the pre-enrollment page.
Bringing a loved one home can cost $11,000 in this country and far more beyond it. The plan that covers it costs $350, once. Making it now means that on the hardest day, your family’s only job is to make one call and be family.
Travel for you. Plan for them.
Common questions
Does Medicare pay to bring a loved one’s remains home?
In general, no. Medicare does not pay for the transportation of remains after a death away from home. Without a plan made in advance, the cost of preparation and transport falls to the family or the estate.
Does travel insurance cover the return of remains?
It depends entirely on the policy. Many travel insurance policies focus on medical care and medical evacuation for a living traveler; some include a return-of-remains benefit with specific limits and conditions, and some do not include one at all. Check the policy’s exact wording rather than assuming — and note that a Return Assured membership is not insurance, but a lifetime plan arranged in advance for this specific situation.
What does the $350 Return Assured membership actually cover?
One $350 payment buys a lifetime membership. If a member dies more than 75 miles from their legal residence, a call to APASI at the time of death activates benefits that include locating a licensed sending funeral home, transporting the member to it, preparing the remains for burial or cremation, transporting them home, and procuring death certificates and — for overseas deaths — consular services. For covered repatriation there are no caps on expense and no out-of-pocket costs. Members receive a certificate and two wallet ID cards, and the membership is fully refundable if cancelled within 30 days of signing.
Can our family be reimbursed if we arrange the transport ourselves?
No. All services must be provided through APASI, and APASI must be contacted at the time of death — by the family or anyone acting on the member’s behalf — for benefits to be provided. Costs from arrangements a family makes independently cannot be reimbursed. That is why the wallet ID cards matter: whoever is with the member, or whoever gets the call, knows the one number to call first.