45 States Approve of Home Funerals for their residents.
Only 5 States Do not:
(Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, New York.) |
Legal
Rights to Home Funerals
Many people do not know is that it is legal for them to take their loved
ones home (in their own car) and to keep them (if cooled) for a number
of days. Currently home funeral is legal in 45 states. Also, many people
do not realize that embalming is not mandatory for burial and that it
is actually a dangerous toxin for the environment.
(Read more on the
benefits of Green Burial.)
Legally, you can take your own dead home with you as long as you get
the proper permit for transporting, and follow approved procedures for
cooling, and length of time before burial. Even a home burial is not
illegal in some states and counties. |
You
have a right to dispose of your own body and to have whatever ceremonies
you want, as long as you provide the money.If you don't leave any instructions
or you don't provide financing, other people will be in charge (in this
order): an agent under a healthcare power of attorney; your husband or
wife; your children; your parents; or your brother and sisters. These
persons, except for the agent under the power of attorney, actually have
a legal duty to provide a "decent and respectful" disposition
of your remains based on what would be appropriate for people with your
social standing and lifestyle (of course, always assuming your estate
is sufficient to pay for it).
If the person will power of disposition fails to take care of things within
a reasonable time, the next person in line may step in, but the person
who fails in his duty may be liable to the person who steps in for treble the expenses that person incurs! |
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Did
you know?
Even if you do not specifically provide the money for your preferred
final disposition (funeral & burial plan), that disposition has
to be carried out if your estate has
enough assets to cover it.
Remember - Legally these instructions don't have to be in your will.
(This section reference: California Health and Safety
Code Sections 7000 et seq. and 10305 et seq.)
Home
Burial
Of course, permits are required. No one may dispose of human remains
without a death certificate being filed with the local county registrar
of births and deaths and a disposition permit obtained from the same
office. The permit will specify the proposed location of burial.
Many states, like the state of Oregon, are silent on this issue. Title
97.120(2) says it is actually up to each individual county as to the
laws concerning home burial. Most counties ask for a certain acreage
amount, a distance of at least 150’ from a water supply, and at
least two feet of earth on top. Before burial, the person in charge
must sign the burial-transit permit and return it within 10 days to
the registration of the county in which the death occurred. The practice
is generally discouraged because of the potential affect on the property
value. Because the practice is not common yet, society is still uncomfortable
with it. Neighbors might find it disturbing to watch someone bring a
body home, hold a funeral in their home, and then bury the body in their
yard. However, a number of planned “Green Burial Preserves”
are currently in development throughout the country to fulfill the demand
for natural burials.
Additional Legal Info specific to California
Various criminal offenses relate to burials. They are misdemeanors,
with a maximum punishment of six months in county jail and a $1,000
fine (which would be approximately doubled by various fees). This is
the maximum, usually imposed only if the defendant
refuses probation. If the District Attorney has taken the trouble to
file a case, the minimum punishment he would probably seek would be
probation for several years.
Some of the offenses are:
1) Scattering human ashes or burying someone without a permit.
2) Buring remains of more than one body in a single grave UNLESS both
decedants have consented.
3) Not disposing of human remains within a "reasonable time"
(usually eight days).
4) Disposing of human remains (other than cremated remains) in any place
except a cemetery.
(This section reference: California Health and Safety
Code Sections 7000 et seq. and 10305 et seq.) |
