Legal Requirements for Home Funerals

Last Updated: October 2025 

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The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. 

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Questions

  • ​I'm providing after-death care at home.
    • How long can I keep the body at home after death?
    • Does my state require the body to be embalmed?
    • What methods of disposition are legal in my state?
    • Are there any circumstances under which I would be required to wait before final disposition?
    • ​What do I need to do to get a death certificate?​
    • What do I need to do to get a burial-transit permit?
    • Is there a wait period before I can receive a burial-transit permit?

Glossary of Terms

  • Burial-transit permit: A permit required to transport a body FROM the place of bodycare/vigil TO place of disposition (if death occurs someplace different from bodycare, then this is not needed). May be called a disposition permit. Also called a Removal Certificate.
  • Death certificate: ​Legal record of death.
  • Disposition: The manner in which human remains are finally handled (e.g. cremation, burial, composting, etc.).
  • Refrigeration at home: Refers to cooling, not commercial refrigeration used in funeral homes. For more information, see Body Care & Cooling.​​    

Review Our Sources

Read the original legal sources for your state here.

I'm providing after-death care at home.

How long can I keep the body at home after death and under what conditions?

What are the relevant statutes in my state?

Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 5-506
(a) A health officer may take control of a body that is being kept in a room where an individual lives and that is in a
condition that endangers an individual in the house where the body is kept if:

(1) At least 3 individuals living near the house or a physician asks the health officer, in writing, to order final
disposition of the body;

(2) The health officer issues an order for final disposition, within a time period stated in the order; and

(3) Final disposition of the body is not made within that time.
​
(b) A person may not obstruct the carrying out of an order of a health officer under this section.

What are the experiences reported by others who have done this in my state?

Coming soon.

Does my state require the body to be embalmed? Refrigerated?

What are the relevant statutes in my state?

Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 5-513
(b) If the unembalmed body of a decedent is to be stored for more than 48 hours before final disposition, a funeral establishment, crematory, or reduction facility shall maintain the body with refrigeration and at a temperature determined by regulation.

(d) The body of a decedent may not be embalmed or artificially preserved without:

(1) The express permission of the person authorized to arrange for the final disposition of the body under § 5-509 of
this subtitle; or

(2) A court order.

What are the experiences reported by others who have done this in my state?

Coming soon.

What methods of disposition are legal in my state?​

What are the relevant statutes in my state?

Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 5-514
​
(a) An individual may not bury or dispose of a body except:
(1) In a family burial plot or other area allowed by a local ordinance;
(2) In a crematory;
(3) In a cemetery;
(4) In a reduction facility;
(5) By donating the body to medical science; or
(6) By removing the body to another state for final disposition in accordance with the laws of the other state.

What are the experiences reported by others who have done this in my state?

Coming soon.

Are there any circumstances under which I would be required to wait before final disposition?

What are the relevant statutes in my state?

Md. Code Ann., Health–Gen. § 5-503
A person may not cremate or initiate alkaline hydrolysis or natural organic reduction of a body until at least 12 hours
after death.

What are the experiences reported by others who have done this in my state?

Coming soon.

​What do I need to do to get a death certificate?​

What are the relevant statutes in my state?

Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 4-212 (West)
(b)(1) A certificate of death regardless of age of decedent shall be filled out and signed by:

(i) The medical examiner, if the medical examiner takes charge of the body; or

(ii) If the medical examiner does not take charge of the body, the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner
who last attended the deceased.

(2) The medical examiner, physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner shall fill in only the following
information on the certificate of death:

(i) The name of the deceased;
(ii) The cause of death and medical certification;
(iii) The date and hour of death; and
(iv) The place where death occurred.

(3) Any other information that is required on the certificate of death regardless of age of decedent shall be filled in:
(i) By the person who has charge of the body; or
(ii) If the State Anatomy Board has charge of the body, by the person who last had charge of the body before it was
sent to the State Anatomy Board.

(4) The medical certification shall be completed within 24 hours after receipt of the death certificate by the physician,
physician assistant, or nurse practitioner in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in
death, except when inquiry is required by the medical examiner.

What are the experiences reported by others who have done this in my state?

Coming soon.

What do I need to do to get a burial-transit permit?
​Is there a wait period before I can receive a burial-transit permit?

What are the relevant statutes in my state?

Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 4-215
(b)(1) Within 72 hours after death or after delivery in a fetal death and before final disposition or removal of the body
or fetus from this State, the mortician who first takes custody of the body or fetus shall obtain a burial-transit permit.

What are the experiences reported by others who have done this in my state?

Coming soon.

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