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Many states allow at home burials. Check your local zoning laws; you may legally be laid to rest on your own property.

Rekindling an old tradition
Backyard burials were a common practice during the colonial era. Farmers usually buried their dead on their own land. This was an era where the basics and self-sufficiency were daily practice, and caring for one’s own dead and the burial in their own land were necessities.

Backyard Burial Benefits
Backyard burials are making their way back out of obscurity. In the current economy, with finances a major concern, $6,000 for an average American funeral can be overwhelming in comparison with the few hundred dollars it costs to hold a home funeral and burial. Many states allow at home burials and the financial savings are significant.

Aside from the financial savings involved, home burials offer an array of fringe benefits. One can visit their loved ones whenever they wish, they can landscape around the grave as desired and they can choose any grave marker desired. Backyard burials are usually more often visited, frequently maintained and lovingly tended. Backyard burial in open land is a meaningful choice. (Read more information on natural burial.)

Backyard Burial Risks
There risks of backyard burials are minimal. There are concerns however that backyard burials may make property harder to sell. Plus, should one sell their property there is no guarantee that the next owners will respect the burial ground. Each state has different regulations on backyard burials, but three are most common. 1) The burial ground becomes a permanent easement on the land to ensure the graves are never moved. 2) Later owners of the property may claim the burial ground as abandoned after years of nonuse, then the bodies would be relocated to a regular cemetery. 3) Owners of land containing a private cemetery would be required to allow visitation by family members (this is often secured by recording the burial ground with the deed to the land.)

Even Celebrities Have Backyard Burials
One of the most famously celebrated home burials is Elvis Presley’s home burial ground at Graceland, located within the Memphis, Tennessee city limits. This was made possible thanks to a zoning variance granted by the county board.

Bill Cosby also established a private family cemetery on his Shelburne, Massachusetts family estate, where his only son Ennis is buried.
(Read more on celebrity funerals and burials.)