Burial, cremation and other choices for the body
What burial, cremation, green burial, donation and the newer methods each involve, what they require you to buy, what your state and provider allow, and where the ashes can go.
- Start here: the essentials
- 1. Three common arrangements, and what each buys
- 2. Burial and the cemetery
- 3. Cremation, and where the ashes can go
- 4. Water cremation, composting, green burial and body donation
- 5. Faith requirements and written wishes
- 6. The state lists and the finer rules
- 7. See it
- 8. Practice
- 9. Your arrangements
- 10. Check your work
- 11. Knowledge check and scenario
Start here Essentials
At minimum, name the arrangement closest to what you want, check it against any wishes and faith requirement, and ask whoever will carry it out what they require. Everything marked Go deeper can wait.
- Say which of the three common arrangements is closest: a traditional funeral, direct burial or direct cremation (three common arrangements).
- Check any written wishes and any faith requirement against it (faith requirements and written wishes).
- Ask the provider, cemetery or donation program what it requires and allows (burial, cremation, other methods).
- Decide where the ashes will go, or write "later" (where the ashes can go).
- Record the choice and what is still open on the decisions sheet.
Minimum time: about 30 minutes, plus one call. Done when: the decisions sheet shows the disposition as decided or provisional, with each condition the provider, cemetery, program or faith set.
1. Three common arrangements, and what each buys Understand
Disposition is what happens to the body: burial, cremation, donation or another method. It is separate from the service. A family can hold a funeral with the body present and then cremate, or bury quickly and hold a memorial weeks later. The FTC describes three common arrangements, which set most of what has to be bought (FTC, Types of Funerals). Terms are collected in the glossary.
| Arrangement | What it is | What is bought | The FTC's cost note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional full-service funeral | Viewing or visitation, a formal service, a hearse, then burial, entombment or cremation | Basic services fee, embalming and preparation (if chosen), casket, facilities and staff, vehicles, and for burial the cemetery costs | "Generally the most expensive type" |
| Direct burial | Burial soon after death in a simple container, no viewing, so no embalming | Basic services fee, transportation and care, container or casket, plot or crypt; often an extra fee if family attends at the graveside | Usually costs less than a traditional funeral |
| Direct cremation | Cremation soon after death, no viewing, no embalming | Basic services fee, transportation and care, a crematory fee if the home does not own the crematory, an urn or container | Usually costs less than a traditional funeral |
"Usually" is the FTC's word. Prices differ by provider, and a home funeral or body donation can cost less than either direct option. Compare quotes for the arrangement you choose (Funeral homes and your rights). The options table lists every method in this chapter with what it requires and where it is allowed.
Four questions decide most choices, in this order:
- What did the person want? Written wishes, a prepaid plan, a donation registration (Who decides).
- Does a faith set a requirement? Ask the family's clergy or community.
- Is it legal and offered where you are? A state list says what is legal; only a call says what is offered.
- What will the cemetery, crematory or program require? Each sets its own conditions.
The person with the right to decide makes the choice (Who decides). This chapter gives that person what to check. Family's choice
2. Burial and the cemetery
What a grave purchase buys
Buying a grave buys the right of interment: the right to be buried there, not the land itself, as FCA's cemetery pamphlet explains (Funeral Consumers Alliance, Guide to Cemetery Purchases). The cemetery then charges for its own work and upkeep:
| Cost | What it is | Ask |
|---|---|---|
| Plot, crypt or niche | The right of interment in one space | Price, and whether one grave can take more than one burial or urn |
| Opening and closing | Digging and filling the grave, or opening and sealing a crypt or niche | Price, and whether it changes by day of the week, time or season (FCA says it can) |
| Endowment care (also called perpetual care) | A fee for upkeep of the grounds; FCA says it is often 5 to 15 percent of the plot price | Whether it is in the plot price or separate |
| Outer burial container | A vault (encloses the casket) or a grave liner (top and sides) | Whether the cemetery requires one, and whether a liner satisfies it |
| Marker or monument, and setting it | The stone or plaque and the fee to install it | The cemetery's rules on size, material and decorations |
The Funeral Rule's required disclosure says that in most areas state or local law does not require an outer burial container, but many cemeteries require one so the grave will not sink, and a grave liner or a vault satisfies that requirement (eCFR, 16 CFR Part 453). The rule forbids a provider to claim a container or casket delays decomposition for a long or indefinite time when it does not. Federal rule
Cemeteries and the Funeral Rule
The FTC's cemetery page says the Funeral Rule does not cover cemeteries and mausoleums unless they sell both funeral goods and funeral services (FTC, Buying a Cemetery Site). FCA's pamphlet adds that no federal rule requires a cemetery to give a printed price list, and only a few states require cemeteries to give their rules on markers and decorations before a sale. Ask the cemetery for its prices and its rules in writing before you buy a plot, a vault or a marker. Cemeteries may restrict vaults bought elsewhere, marker types and flowers, under the FTC's page. Ask the authority
National cemeteries for veterans
VA national cemeteries are open to veterans whose discharge was not dishonorable, service members who died on duty, a spouse or surviving spouse, and some dependent children, with exclusions that VA sets (VA, Eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery). For those eligible, VA lists at no cost to the family: a gravesite, opening and closing, a government burial liner, a government headstone or marker, and perpetual care (VA, What burial in a national cemetery includes). VA decides eligibility. Burial can be of a casket or of cremated remains: VA's scheduling page asks whether the burial is a casket or cremation and the container size (VA, Schedule a burial). The scheduling office is 800-535-1117. Benefits and allowances are in Paying and benefits. One program's rule
One VA rule catches families: choosing VA's commemorative urn or plaque for remains kept at home ends eligibility for burial in a national cemetery and for a government headstone, marker or medallion (VA, Urns and plaques). If national cemetery burial is a possibility, settle it before ordering either.
Burial on private land
FCA's cemetery pamphlet says most states allow full-body burial on private property outside city limits, subject to local zoning and permits. FCA's rights pamphlet says home burial is prohibited in California, Indiana and Washington. That is FCA's compiled description. Ask your county planning or zoning office and your state funeral board before planning on it. Varies by state
3. Cremation, and where the ashes can go
Authorization
A crematory requires a cremation authorization: a form signed by the next of kin, the person's named agent, or in some cases the person before death, as FCA's home funeral pamphlet describes. Who may sign is the same question as who has the right to decide (Who decides). Ask the provider whose signatures it needs, especially when several people share an equal right, such as adult children. Ask the authority
A container, not a casket
The Funeral Rule makes it unfair for a funeral provider or a crematory to require a casket for direct cremation, and a provider that arranges direct cremation has to offer an alternative container, such as unfinished wood, pressed wood or fiberboard. The FTC's consumer page says no state or local law requires a casket for cremation (FTC, The FTC Funeral Rule). FCA's cremation pamphlet adds that most crematories require a rigid, combustible container, and a crematory may set standards for what it accepts (Funeral Consumers Alliance, Cremation Explained). For a viewing before cremation, ask about renting a casket (Goods, prices and the statement). Federal rule
Waiting periods and medical examiner clearance
Some states set a minimum wait before cremation or require a medical examiner's clearance first. Two examples:
- Florida: its statute makes it unlawful to cremate a body until 48 hours after death (Florida Statutes 872.03).
- Virginia: a body of a person who died in Virginia may not be cremated or buried at sea until a medical examiner certifies no further inquiry is needed, and the applicant pays the examiner's fee (Code of Virginia 32.1-309.3).
These are two states' rules, given as examples. The provider knows the rule where the death occurred; ask it how long cremation will take from today, and whether the medical examiner or coroner has to sign off. If the medical examiner has the case, the timing is theirs (The first hours). Varies by state
Where the ashes can go
Cremated remains (ashes, cremains) are bone fragments reduced to a coarse powder. FCA's cremation pamphlet says their disposition is generally not regulated by law, but particular places have rules. The decision can wait: the ashes can be kept while the family decides, and "later" is an acceptable entry on the decisions sheet. Later
| Place | Who sets the rule | What the source says |
|---|---|---|
| Kept at home | The family | FTC and FCA both list keeping them |
| Buried in a cemetery, or placed in a columbarium niche | The cemetery | FCA says some cemeteries allow two or three urns in one grave; ask about an urn vault requirement |
| Buried or scattered on private land | The landowner, and local rules | FCA's cemetery pamphlet says this is legal with the landowner's permission |
| At sea | EPA, under federal law | At least 3 nautical miles from land, any depth; report to EPA within 30 days; no permit, fee or prior notice |
| A national park | The park | A permit; Yellowstone and Joshua Tree each require one at least 10 business days ahead, and Joshua Tree charges $120 |
| Lakes, rivers and other inland waters | The state | EPA says these are outside its rule and some states prohibit it; ask the state environmental or health agency |
| Public land, a beach, a park that is not federal | The city, county or land manager | No source we read sets a general rule; ask the land manager |
At sea. EPA's general permit allows cremated remains to be placed in ocean waters of any depth at least 3 nautical miles from land. Notify the EPA Region the boat left from within 30 days, using EPA's online reporting tool. Flowers and wreaths have to be readily decomposable; plastic or metal items are not allowed; a container that does not float and contains no plastic can go in with the remains. EPA says states may not relax the 3-mile requirement (EPA, Burial at Sea; 40 CFR 229.1). The Navy offers burial at sea for eligible veterans and spouses; the family does not attend, per FCA. Federal rule
National parks. Each park sets its own conditions. Yellowstone's permit requires the ashes to be fully processed and completely scattered in undeveloped areas away from roads, buildings and thermal features, with nothing left behind (NPS, Yellowstone scattering permit). Joshua Tree charges a $120 fee and assigns a place and a two-hour window (NPS, Joshua Tree scattering ashes). These are two parks' rules; ask the park you have in mind. One park's rule
4. Water cremation, composting, green burial and body donation
Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation)
Alkaline hydrolysis, also called water cremation, flameless cremation or aquamation, uses water, alkaline chemicals and heat to reduce the body to bone fragments, which are returned like cremated remains. The Cremation Association of North America, a trade association, says it takes 3 to 16 hours and leaves about a third more volume than flame cremation, so a larger urn may be needed (CANA, Alkaline Hydrolysis). CANA's list counts 26 states where it is legal as of March 2026. Varies by state
Natural organic reduction (human composting)
Natural organic reduction, or human composting, is the contained, accelerated conversion of a body to soil. The National Funeral Directors Association, a trade association, describes a vessel with wood chips, straw and alfalfa and a process of about four to six weeks (NFDA, Natural Organic Reduction). NFDA's list counts 13 states as of May 30, 2025, with Washington the first, in 2020. California's Cemetery and Funeral Bureau says California's law takes effect January 1, 2027, and that reduction will be available to California residents from that date (California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, reduction facilities rulemaking, January 2026); the Bureau's September 2026 consumer guide already lists the method. Confirm with the Bureau before planning on it in California. Varies by state
Legal is not the same as available. Both state counts above are compiled by trade associations and dated (CANA, March 2026; NFDA, May 2025); neither is an official list, and a state can change its law after the list date. CANA notes that some states where alkaline hydrolysis is legal have no operating provider, and that families sometimes use a provider in a neighboring state through a local funeral home. Whether a method is legal where you are is for your state funeral board to confirm; whether it is offered, and at what price, is for the providers near you. This manual names no provider.
Green or natural burial
Green burial, or natural burial, means burial without embalming, without a vault or liner, in a biodegradable container or shroud, or none. The Green Burial Council, a nonprofit that certifies cemeteries, names three kinds of green cemetery (Green Burial Council, Green Burial Defined):
| Category | The Council's description |
|---|---|
| Hybrid cemetery | A conventional cemetery that offers natural burial throughout or in a section; certified hybrids do not require vaults and allow any eco-friendly biodegradable container |
| Natural cemetery | Does not allow toxic chemicals, any part of a vault, non-native stone markers, or containers not made of natural or plant-derived materials |
| Conservation cemetery | A natural cemetery set up with a conservation organization, with a management plan and perpetual protection of the land by easement or deed restriction |
The Council's site lists certified cemeteries, funeral homes that will do a funeral without embalming, and product makers. FCA's green burial pamphlet notes that some green cemeteries exclude cremated remains, and that most limit plantings and decorations (Funeral Consumers Alliance, Green Burial). A conventional burial can be made greener by skipping embalming, using a shroud or plain wood casket, and leaving out the vault if the cemetery allows. Ask the cemetery what it requires. One cemetery's rule
Whole-body donation
Whole-body donation gives the body to a medical school or other program for teaching or research. It is separate from organ donation: Donate Life Texas notes that a state organ registry does not include body donation (Donate Life Texas, Whole Body Donation). What the sources agree on:
- Register directly with a program, usually one near home, before death if possible. Some programs let the next of kin arrange donation after death without registration (UT Southwestern's does) (UT Southwestern, Willed Body Program).
- Programs vary in what they pay for (transport, cremation, return of the ashes), whom they accept, and how far away they take bodies from.
- A body can be declined at death, for reasons such as recent surgery, autopsy, infectious disease, the body's condition, organ removal, or distance. Keep a backup plan with a funeral provider (Funeral Consumers Alliance, Body, Organ and Brain Donation).
- Call at once. The University of Kansas's program says the time from death to delivery should not exceed 24 hours, and the body should not be embalmed first (University of Kansas Medical Center, Willed Body Program FAQ).
A memorial service can be held without the body. Ask the program whether and when the ashes come back. One program's rule
5. Faith requirements and written wishes
If the person kept a faith, call the faith leader before the disposition is fixed (Who decides). A tradition may set the method, the timing, the container or what happens before burial. This manual does not decide religious questions. Below are two traditions as their own bodies describe them; other bodies within each tradition may differ.
| Tradition and source | What the source says bears on disposition |
|---|---|
| Conservative Judaism: the Rabbinical Assembly's Guide to Jewish Funeral Practice (Rabbinical Assembly) | Burial as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours, with delays allowed for legal reasons, transport, relatives traveling far, or to avoid Shabbat or a holy day. Cremation is against tradition. No embalming or cosmetics unless civil law requires. Plain white shrouds and an all-wood casket. No viewing. Consult the rabbi first. |
| Catholic: the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' overview of Catholic funeral rites | Three parts: a vigil, the funeral liturgy (the Church encourages a funeral Mass), and the Rite of Committal, normally at the grave or place of interment. Ask the parish about cremation and the committal. |
These are one body's description in each case, labelled as such. Convention The family's own clergy or community answers for the family.
Written wishes
Check the choice against anything the person wrote: a note, a prepaid contract, a designated agent form, a donation registration (Who decides, Information and papers). Whether a document binds the family depends on the state and the document, and this manual does not decide it. Washington's statute, for example, says a written document signed before a witness is enough for a person to direct their own disposition (RCW 68.50.160). Where a wish turns out not to be possible (a method not legal in the state, a cemetery that is full, a program that declines the body), write that on the decisions sheet with who said so. Varies by state
The finer state lists and comparisons follow under Go deeper. The limits above apply to them too: every list is compiled and dated; confirm with your state funeral board.
6. The state lists and the finer rules Go deeper
Alkaline hydrolysis: CANA's list, March 2026
CANA lists alkaline hydrolysis as legal in 26 states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. States that approve it use the legal terms alkaline hydrolysis, cremation, chemical disposition or dissolution. Older counts elsewhere ranged from 15 to 28; use the dated list and confirm.
Natural organic reduction: NFDA's list, May 2025
| State | Year | State | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 2020 | Delaware | 2024 |
| Colorado | 2021 | Maine | 2024 |
| Oregon | 2022 | Maryland | 2024 |
| California | Approved 2022; effective 2027 | Nevada | 2024 |
| Vermont | 2023 | New York | 2024 |
| Arizona | 2024 | Georgia | 2025 |
| Minnesota | 2025 |
The list is 16 months old as of October 2026, and no official national list exists. California's effective date is confirmed by the Bureau's own January 2026 rulemaking document: January 1, 2027.
The Green Burial Council's certification standards
The Council's cemetery standards, adopted in 2019, include accepting only unembalmed bodies or those embalmed with approved nontoxic chemicals, prohibiting any vault, slab or partitioned liner, natural and biodegradable containers and shrouds, letting families take part in burial within state law, an endowment fund, and limits on markers (Green Burial Council, Cemetery Certification Standards). The standards document assigns standards to categories in a matrix; read it there rather than from a summary.
Inland waters
EPA's rule covers the ocean only. For lakes, rivers and other inland waters, EPA says states may regulate scattering and some prohibit it, and directs families to the state environmental agency, health agency or mortuary board.
When ashes come back from body donation
The sources give different times because the programs differ. FCA says most schools cremate within two years. UT Southwestern returns remains only if asked in advance, usually 18 to 24 months after studies end, and sometimes partial or no remains are available. The University of Kansas says studies take one to two years and buries unreturned remains together at a cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas. Donate Life Texas says accredited non-transplant programs usually return remains in less than eight weeks, while university programs may take two to five years, and forensic programs return nothing. Ask the program you are considering.
FCA's faith list, against each faith's own source
FCA's cremation pamphlet says Catholic canon law permits cremation but the remains are to be buried or entombed, not scattered or kept, and that Muslim, Greek Orthodox and Orthodox Jewish faiths forbid cremation. The Rabbinical Assembly's guide agrees for Conservative Judaism. The USCCB overview we read does not address cremation; a separate USCCB page on cremation was seen only in a search result, so we do not cite it. For Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox practice, ask the parish, the imam or the priest.
7. See it See it
Imani Brooks plans ahead. Imani Brooks, 57, a physical therapist in Tacoma, Washington, is writing her own wishes after a friend's funeral: no embalming, natural organic reduction or a green burial, a celebration of life at her community garden, and her sister Denise, 54, in Olympia, to decide.
She checks the two methods against the lists. NFDA's May 2025 list gives Washington as the first state to allow natural organic reduction, in 2020. For green burial, she reads the Green Burial Council's three categories and decides a hybrid or natural cemetery would suit her; a conservation cemetery would too. Both methods fit "no embalming." She writes both in her wishes, in order of preference, with the second as the fallback if the first is not available or Denise cannot arrange it.
Known: natural organic reduction is on NFDA's dated list for Washington; the Green Burial Council's categories describe what a green cemetery allows; neither method uses embalming; Imani has decided she wants one of them.
Assumed: Imani assumes a provider of natural organic reduction operates near Tacoma. That is her assumption; legal is not the same as available.
Open: which providers near Tacoma offer natural organic reduction, and at what price, settled by calling providers (Funeral homes and your rights; this manual names none). Whether a Green Burial Council certified cemetery is within reach, settled by the Council's directory and a visit. Whether Denise agrees to act, settled by asking her (Your arrangements file). Whether to prepay is Imani's decision (Your arrangements file).
The Marsh family: burial or cremation. Teodoro "Teo" Marsh, 66, an Army veteran who served 1978 to 1982 with an honorable discharge, lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and died suddenly while visiting his brother in Phoenix, Arizona. The county medical examiner took the case and released the body two days later. Teo left no written wishes. His wife June is 64; Lena, 38, wants burial at Santa Fe National Cemetery; Carlos, 35, wants cremation.
June writes down what each choice involves. Burial means a Phoenix funeral home forwards the body and an Albuquerque home receives it (two GPL lines, Funeral homes and your rights), then a casket burial at the national cemetery. Cremation could happen in Phoenix. Then she reads VA's scheduling page: a national cemetery burial can be of cremated remains. Cremation in Phoenix, followed by burial of the urn at Santa Fe National Cemetery, is a possible middle path that gives Carlos the cremation and Lena the national cemetery. Lena also learns not to order VA's commemorative urn, which would end national cemetery eligibility.
Known: Teo's service dates and honorable discharge (the DD214 is in a file box in the garage); the body has been released; VA's scheduling office handles casket and cremated remains.
Assumed: the family assumes Teo is eligible for the national cemetery. VA decides eligibility when the burial is scheduled.
Open: who holds the right to decide, and which state's law applies, settled by the funeral director or an attorney (Who decides). Whether the family agrees on the middle path is the family's decision. Whether a VA burial allowance applies is VA's to settle (Paying and benefits).
Free sources that show the choices:
- FTC, Types of Funerals: the three common arrangements and what each costs in line items.
- Funeral Consumers Alliance, Cremation Explained: the process, containers and options for ashes, from a nonprofit consumer group (2020 figures).
- EPA, Burial at Sea: the federal ocean rule and the reporting tool.
- Green Burial Council, Green Burial Defined: the three cemetery categories and the directory.
8. Practice Practice
Minimum: the disposition on the decisions sheet as decided or provisional, with the provider's conditions written beside it, and the ashes as "later" if cremated. Time: about 30 minutes, plus one call to the provider, cemetery or program. Materials: any written wishes or prepaid contract, the options table, a phone, and the decisions sheet.
- Name the arrangement. Write traditional funeral, direct burial or direct cremation, or another method from the options table.
- Check the wishes. Read anything the person wrote. Note where the arrangement matches and where it differs.
- Check the faith. If a tradition applies, ask the faith leader what it requires for method, timing and container. Write the answer and who gave it.
- Check the state. For any method beyond burial and flame cremation, find your state on the dated lists and write "per CANA, March 2026" or "per NFDA, May 2025". Then ask the state funeral board or a provider whether it is offered.
- Call the one who carries it out. Ask the provider, cemetery or program what it requires (container, authorization signatures, vault or liner, waiting time) and what it allows. Write each condition.
- Write where the ashes will go, or "later," and who will decide.
- Set the status. "Decided" if the person with the right to decide has chosen and nothing blocks it; "provisional" if a condition is still open; "open" if no choice is made. Name who settles each open item.
If the family is choosing between two methods, write both on the decisions sheet with their conditions side by side and price both in Funeral homes and your rights. If a scattering place is in mind, write the landowner or agency to ask and the rule they gave.
9. Your arrangements Your arrangements
The box below reads your setup: the disposition you chose, your state against the dated lists, faith, veteran status and any registered donation.
10. Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Is the disposition one of the three common arrangements, or a named method from the options table?
- Has it been checked against any written wishes and any faith requirement, with the source of each answer written down?
- For a method beyond burial and flame cremation, is the state list named with its publisher and date, and has a provider confirmed it is offered?
- Are the provider's, cemetery's or program's conditions written beside it?
- For cremation, does the sheet say where the ashes go, or "later"?
Worked example
Sam Okoro (fictional) writes "direct cremation, decided" on the decisions sheet. Ellen's note asked for cremation and "no funeral," so the wishes match. No faith requirement applies. The provider Sam chose in Funeral homes and your rights says it needs Sam's signature on the cremation authorization and an alternative container, and gives a date. Under ashes Sam writes "later: maybe the lake." Whether ashes can be scattered at the lake is open, settled by who owns the land or water and the local rules; this manual does not say. Sam names the person who will ask (Carol Peck, who knows the park). All five criteria are met, and the open item has an owner. (Carol's role here is a detail added for this example.)
Common mistakes
- Treating a state list as an offer. A method legal in your state may have no provider near you. Call before you write "decided."
- Buying a vault before asking the cemetery. The cemetery decides whether a liner is enough.
- Ordering VA's commemorative urn or plaque when national cemetery burial is still possible.
- Scattering on someone else's land without permission, or in inland waters without asking the state.
- Registering with a donation program and stopping there. A program can decline the body at death; write the backup provider.
What is still unresolved
This chapter does not settle whether a method is legal where you are (the state funeral board does), whether it is offered (providers do), or who has the right to choose (Who decides). The prices of goods for the chosen method are in Goods, prices and the statement; national cemetery eligibility and allowances are VA's to decide (Paying and benefits); religious questions are for the family's clergy or community.