Welcome to the NHFA

What is a home funeral?

A home funeral is a family or community-centered response to death and after-death care. Families and communities may play a key role in:

• planning and carrying out after-death rituals or ceremonies, such as laying out the deceased and home visitation of the body
• preparing the body for burial or cremation
  
• filing of death-related paperwork such as the death certificate
  
• transporting the deceased to the place of burial or cremation
  
• facilitating the final disposition, such as digging the grave in natural burial
  

Home funerals may occur within the family home or not. Some nursing homes, for example, may allow the family to care for the deceased after death, and more church committees are housing and caring for the dead.

The emphasis is on minimal, non-invasive, and environmentally friendly care of the body. Support and assistance to carry out after-death care may come from home funeral educators or guides, but their goal is to facilitate maximum involvement of the family in charge of the funeral process, and their social network.

Who can become a member?

Membership is open to all. We hope you will find our resources helpful, and choose to support our work with donations and by becoming involved in committee activities, attending workshops and conferences, and passing on your knowledge to others in need. Please see our Join Membership and Donation pages for more information.

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Photo Above: Springtime at a natural burial cemetery where wildflowers are encouraged and fertilizers
and pesticides are never used. With home funerals the emphasis is on minimal,non-invasive,
and environmentally-friendly care of the body, and earth.