Best Funeral Directors on the North Shore
We assessed 6 funeral directors on the North Shore and ranked the top 5 on public rating quality, review volume and how recent the reviews are. The businesses listed below hold 229 Google reviews between them. No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Last updated 7 November 2026. How we rank
Top 5 Funeral Directors on the North Shore
The top 5 funeral directors on the North Shore are #1 Windsor Funerals, #2 H Morris, #3 Dil's, #4 Manning Funeral Cottage, and #5 Forrest Funeral Services, ranked by Top5 Score.
How far is each one from you?
Straight-line distance, shown on each card.
Distances from ·
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1
Windsor Funerals
★ 5.0 107 reviews Top5 Score 161Highest5★ 107Windsor Funerals guides families through burial and cremation services, chapel ceremonies, and graveside committal with named staff like Hazel, Lynn, and Rod taking each family from first contact to the final service.
422 Glenfield Road, Glenfield, Auckland
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2
H Morris Funeral Services
★ 4.9 55 reviews Top5 Score 15010.9 behind5★ 53 3★ 1 1★ 1H Morris coordinates burial, cremation, tangi support, international repatriation, and urn sourcing, with named staff like Gareth, Dean, Abigail, and Debborah taking families through each step personally.
31 Ocean View Road, Northcote, Auckland
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3
Dil's Funeral Services - Funeral Service Auckland
★ 4.6 24 reviews Top5 Score 13327.4 behind5★ 19 4★ 2 3★ 2 1★ 1Dil's assigns a named funeral director, such as Cecelia, Greg, Stacey, or Louis, who stays with a family from first contact through to the collection of ashes, handling arrangements, officiant guidance, and personal touches like a handkerchief placed in the coffin.
185 Schnapper Rock Road, Albany, Auckland
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4
Manning Funeral Cottage Auckland
★ 4.8 16 reviews Top5 Score 12931.9 behind5★ 15 1★ 1Manning Funeral Cottage centres entirely on Martha-Louise, who personally guides families through cremation, burial, and ceremony arrangements from first contact through to weeks of post-service follow-up.
60b Target Road, Totara Vale, Auckland
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5
Forrest Funeral Services East Coast Bays
★ 4.7 11 reviews Top5 Score 12733.6 behind5★ 9 4★ 1 3★ 1Forrest Funeral Services has built a track record of repeat use across multiple bereavements, with named directors including Samuel, Craig, Gaurav, Bob, and Matt each taking families through arrangements, ceremony coordination, and service day logistics.
8 Glen Road, Browns Bay, Auckland
More rankings
Funeral Directors elsewhere in Auckland 2 links South Auckland, West Auckland
More services on the North Shore 1 links Law Firms
Funeral Directors elsewhere in New Zealand 3 links Hamilton, Tauranga, Whangārei
Also recommended funeral director on the North Shore
Ranked 6 on the same public review record.
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6
Nelson & Susan Elliott Funeral Services
★ 4.6 16 reviews Top5 Score 12634.3 behind5★ 14 2★ 1 1★ 1Elliott Funeral Services is run by Nelson and Sue, who take families through the full arrangement and service personally, coordinating church clergy, catering, and ceremony details like music selection.
157 Shakespeare Road, Milford, Auckland
Before you choose a funeral director on the North Shore
No licence or register covers funeral directors in New Zealand. Membership of the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand is voluntary, and its members must give a signed, itemised written estimate before the funeral, so ask for one whoever you choose and check what it includes. A Funeral Grant from Work and Income can help with costs if you meet its income test, and you do not have to use a funeral director at all.
The questions below are drawn from 97 customer reviews collected for this page.
What does a funeral cost in NZ?
Cost turns mostly on whether you choose burial or cremation and what the family adds on top. Direct cremation with no service starts from around $1,945 in Auckland at direct-cremation providers, rising to about $3,000 in some regions.
The Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand publishes indicative ranges: the funeral director's professional fee from $3,000 to $6,500, a casket from $1,200 to $5,000, cremation from $600 to $1,100, and a burial plot from $1,000 to $8,000. These are individual published prices and the association's own indicative figures, not a market survey.
Do funeral directors need a licence in NZ?
No licence or statutory register covers funeral directors in New Zealand; the Law Commission describes the current system as self-regulation under the Burial and Cremation Act 1964. Membership of the Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand (FDANZ) is voluntary, but members must provide a signed, itemised written estimate when instructions are taken and maintain a complaints process, with complaints going to the firm first and then to FDANZ within 90 days of the funeral.
If costs are disputed, the Disputes Tribunal is the avenue to use. Financial help is available through Work and Income's income-tested Funeral Grant, which pays up to $2,697.43 toward costs, and ACC can contribute where a death resulted from an injury ACC covers; a family can also make its own arrangements without a funeral director, provided legal requirements such as registering the death are met.
How do I choose a funeral director who suits our family?
Look for a director who explains every option clearly, without steering you toward more expensive choices, and who provides a written itemised quote before you commit to anything. Cultural and religious fit matters: reviews show families valuing directors who understood tikanga Maori, Korean, Samoan and other cultural practices without needing to be taught from scratch. Practical facilities count too, so ask whether the chapel, viewing room and any livestreaming or 24-hour access arrangements will suit your situation and your wider whanau.
What are the warning signs of a funeral director you shouldn't use?
- –No written, itemised quote provided before you agree to proceed, leaving you to discover the full cost only when the invoice arrives.
- –Charges that appear after the funeral for items you were not told about upfront.
- –Errors with basic details such as the deceased's name, the service time, or livestream arrangements, especially when those errors are not caught before the day.
- –Staff who seem rushed during your meetings or who do not give you space to ask questions and make decisions at your own pace.
- –Poor preparation of the deceased for viewing, which can cause lasting distress to the family.
- –Slow or inconsistent communication between the initial meeting and the day of the service, leaving the family uncertain about what is happening.
What should you ask a funeral director before you go ahead?
- –Can you give me a full itemised written quote now, showing what is included and what will cost extra if we want it?
- –When is payment due, and is a deposit required before the service takes place?
- –Who is responsible for registering the death, and how long will that take?
- –Can the service be held somewhere other than your chapel, for example at a family home, church or outdoor location?
- –If a funeral was prepaid, where is that money held and how is it protected if the business changes hands?
- –Do you have experience with our cultural or religious requirements, and can you accommodate things like a tangihanga, specific karakia, or rituals from our tradition?
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About this ranking
What the 6 funeral directors listed above hold, at the 7 November 2026 check.
How are the top funeral directors on the North Shore chosen?
We build this page from Google Maps results for funeral directors on the North Shore. Each one is scored on its public rating and review record, using the same published method on every page. Businesses outside the area, or whose reviews describe a different line of work, are left out. Every category and city is rechecked on a rolling cycle, about every two to three months. See how we rank for how rankings are made and who is left out. On specialist pages like this one, a business's reviews count in proportion to how many of them are about funeral directors, so a business mostly reviewed for other work cannot win on review volume alone. See the words we look for.
Are you a funeral director on the North Shore?
No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Claiming and verifying your listing is free: it adds a small trust bonus (+3 points) to your score, for confirming a real operator stands behind the listing, and gives you a dashboard showing how your score is made up. A paid subscription adds a website link, a profile page and your ranking history. Claim your listing or see what a subscription includes.
Not listed? The usual reasons are a Google Business category that does not match, too few reviews to score near the top, or an address outside the area we cover. Check where you rank first, and if you think we missed you, get in touch.