Answers to common questions about who we are, what the standard is, and how the profession benefits from a shared professional framework.
ABOFE (American Board of Funeral Escorting) is an initiative focused on strengthening the funeral escort profession through the development of shared professional principles and operational standards.
The goal is to help define the professional foundations that support safe, consistent, and respected escort operations across different companies and regions.
ABOFE is currently in its founding stage. Experienced funeral escort professionals are being invited to participate in discussion and peer review of the proposed standards framework. This process helps ensure that the ideas being developed reflect real-world escort operations across different environments and companies.
No.
ABOFE does not regulate funeral escort companies and does not have enforcement authority. The purpose of ABOFE is to provide a professional framework that may help strengthen consistency, professionalism, and safety within the industry.
No.
ABOFE is not intended to dictate choreography, route methods, or company-specific procedures. Escort operations vary based on geography, traffic conditions, company structure, and local practice. Those differences are expected.
The focus of ABOFE is identifying the professional principles that should exist underneath those different methods — not forcing companies into identical operational models.
Funeral escorting operates in public roadways, interacts directly with civilian traffic, and carries a responsibility to both public safety and grieving families.
Despite the importance of this work, the profession has historically developed through local practices and individual company methods rather than shared professional standards. ABOFE was created to begin the conversation around defining the underlying principles that support safe and professional escort operations.
Professional standards define the outcomes and principles that should guide an operation — not the exact steps used to achieve them.
For example, many escort companies secure an intersection before bringing a funeral procession through it. Different companies may accomplish that using different choreography or terminology, but the underlying professional principle remains the same. ABOFE focuses on those kinds of foundational principles.
No.
Escort companies will always operate differently depending on their environment and organizational structure. The goal of ABOFE is not to create identical methods, but to identify the shared professional foundations that support safe and professional escort operations.
Different teams may have different playbooks, but the profession can still operate from the same rulebook.
ABOFE is currently in its founding stage, and experienced funeral escort professionals are invited to take part in early discussion and peer review of the proposed standards framework.
You can participate by:
Joining the discussion group
Request access to the private ABOFE professional discussion group for structured conversation and peer review.
info@abofe.org.
Reviewing the standards framework
Read the current framework independently.
The Standard
Providing feedback
Share observations, suggestions, or questions based on your professional experience.
info@abofe.org
If you’re interested in contributing to the conversation, reach out by email to request access or provide feedback.
Reach out directly or read the Funeral Escort Operations Standard to see the framework in full.