To get a funeral director license in California, you need to be at least 18, hold an associate degree or 60 semester units from an accredited institution, clear a fingerprint-based background check, and pass a written exam administered by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. The upfront cost is $570 in Bureau fees plus whatever your Live Scan vendor charges for fingerprinting. There is no apprenticeship requirement for the funeral director license on its own, which is what keeps the path shorter than most applicants expect.
Who Qualifies
Three threshold requirements decide whether you can even apply:1Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Information and Instructions for Funeral Director Licensure
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must hold an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree, or the equivalent of at least 60 semester units from an institution recognized by a nationally accredited body.
- You must not have committed acts or crimes that constitute grounds for denial under Section 480 of the Business and Professions Code.
A mortuary science degree is not required. Your 60 units can come from any accredited coursework. Classes in business administration, psychology, and basic legal compliance tend to help both on the exam and in day-to-day practice, and reading the FTC’s Funeral Rule before you test is worth the time since it governs how every funeral provider in the country handles pricing.2Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Funeral Rule
What You Submit, and What It Costs
You file an application with the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau and have your school send official transcripts directly to the Bureau’s Sacramento office in a sealed envelope. Transcripts you forward yourself don’t count.3Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Cemetery and Funeral Bureau – Licensing Applications
You also submit a completed Live Scan request form showing your fingerprints have been scanned and the applicable fees paid. The Bureau runs the prints through the California Department of Justice and the FBI. Prints you submitted to another agency for another purpose don’t satisfy this; you need a fresh scan specifically for the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. If you don’t obtain your license within twelve months of being fingerprinted, you’ll have to be fingerprinted again.3Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Cemetery and Funeral Bureau – Licensing Applications
The Bureau fees are:4Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Fee Schedules
- Application and examination fee: $190
- Licensing fee: $380, paid after you pass the exam
- Total upfront: $570, plus your Live Scan charges
Two timing rules catch people out. If you don’t take the exam within one year of being notified you’re eligible, the Bureau treats your application as abandoned and you start over with a new application and new fees. The same abandonment rule applies if you pass the exam but don’t apply for the actual license within twelve months.1Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Information and Instructions for Funeral Director Licensure
The Licensing Exam
The Bureau’s written exam is California-specific. It covers four areas: the signs of death and how death is determined, laws governing the preparation and disposal of human remains, rules for transporting the bodies of people who died from infectious diseases, and local health and sanitary regulations related to funeral directing.5Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Examination Handbooks
The Bureau publishes a Funeral Director Examination Handbook that outlines what to expect. If you fail, you have to wait at least 90 days before retaking the exam and submit a new application with the $190 fee each time.1Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. Information and Instructions for Funeral Director Licensure This is a separate test from the National Board Examination; California does not require the National Board for funeral director licensure, though many other states do, so sitting for it anyway can be worth considering if you may relocate.
Keeping the License Active
Your license expires every year on the last day of the month in which it was originally issued.6Justia. California Code 7725-7729 – Revenue The annual renewal fee is $380. Miss the deadline and the delinquent renewal fee jumps to $570, which is 150 percent of the timely fee.7California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 7729 – Revenue
Continuing education is also required. Every licensee must complete 14 hours of continuing education by December 31 of every even-numbered year as a condition of renewal.8California Code of Regulations. 16 CCR 1283 – Minimum Continuing Education Requirements
If you let your license lapse for more than five years, it cannot be renewed, restored, or reinstated. You would have to apply for a new license, pay the original fees, and meet current requirements. The Bureau may waive the examination if you can demonstrate you’re still qualified, but that is discretionary.6Justia. California Code 7725-7729 – Revenue
A Note on Embalming
The funeral director license covers arranging services, coordinating transportation of remains, handling legal paperwork like death certificates, and running the business side of funeral planning. It does not cover embalming. Embalming is a separate California license that requires completing a mortuary science program at an accredited school and serving a two-year apprenticeship under a licensed embalmer at a licensed funeral establishment.9California Legislative Information. California Code Business and Professions Code 7666 – Apprentices If you only want to direct services and never personally prepare remains, the funeral director path alone is enough. If you want to do both, you pursue each license separately, and the apprenticeship and mortuary science requirements apply to the embalmer side.
Moving a License In or Out of California
Every state has some mechanism for recognizing out-of-state funeral director licenses, but the terms vary. Roughly half of states require your original state’s licensing standards to be at least as stringent as theirs; the others offer various exemptions tied to how long you’ve been licensed. Some states grant broad reciprocity after a set number of years in practice, while others require you to pass a state-specific laws exam regardless of where else you hold a license.
California’s exam is built around California law, so a California license does not automatically exempt you from testing in another state. If you plan to move, contact the licensing board in the destination state early. The National Board Examination, optional here, is accepted by many other states and can make the transition easier.