Can You Bury a Deceased Person in Your Garden?
In a word, yes. While it may sound sinister, burying a body in your garden is legal. You must meet conditions like owning the land, having burial authority, and registering the burial. Consider issues like taxes, property value, and zoning laws. For pets, bury them 3 feet deep, encased, away from pipes. For people, you can bury ashes or full bodies. Mix ashes into soil under trees. Or bury bodies in shrouds, without coffins. Public cemeteries are owned by cities. Private ones are owned by families or businesses.
Is Home Burial Legal?
Can you bury a deceased person in your garden? There are no laws that prohibit home burial. You must check local zoning laws for restrictions on home burials. It is also legally required to use a funeral director, even if you are burying on private land. Embalming is only required if a person died of a contagious disease.
Burial Considerations and Costs
Cremated remains can be buried on public or private property, including your back garden or front yard. You can also bury ashes in a dedicated urn garden, a cemetery plot, or natural burial ground. As urns are much smaller than caskets, a single burial plot can accommodate multiple urns. It’s essential to check with the cemetery before moving forward with burying multiple urns in a plot.
Additional Information
According to experts, cremains in the ground will generally stay as they are for decades. While they can technically biodegrade, it’s a prolonged process. For example, it could take years before they mix with the soil in a garden.
Burying a person’s ashes in the garden is possible, but it is crucial to follow local laws, consider the soil type, think about a marker, and process emotions to ensure it is the right decision for you and your loved ones.
Natural burials cost an average of $2,000 to $3,000 including a burial plot, interment fees, and a shroud or environmentally friendly casket.
Generally, unless otherwise provided before death by the deceased, the right will go to the surviving spouse; if there is none, it will go to the next of kin.