Yes, in most of the United States you can be buried on your own land, but whether it works for your specific property depends on state law, county zoning, and a short stack of permits and recordings you have to complete in the right order. A few states prohibit the practice outright, and even where it’s allowed, local rules usually decide whether your particular parcel qualifies.
States Where Home Burial Is Off the Table
Burial law is set at the state level, not federally, so the rules shift as you cross state lines. California, Indiana, and Washington ban home burial outright. Arkansas, Louisiana, and the District of Columbia impose restrictions that come close to a ban, typically funneling burials into established cemeteries. In each of the restrictive states except D.C., families can sometimes work around the prohibition by formally establishing a private family cemetery on their property, though that process adds significant legal and administrative steps.
Everywhere else, state law permits burial on private land in principle. The real question is what your county and municipality allow.
Local Zoning Decides Whether Your Property Qualifies
County and municipal zoning codes control land use, and a zoning ordinance can prohibit backyard burials in areas zoned purely residential, require a minimum lot size, or ban the practice within city limits altogether. Start with the local health department, the planning and zoning commission, or the county clerk’s office. Those offices can tell you whether your property qualifies, whether you need a special-use permit, and whether the burial site itself meets environmental standards.
Some jurisdictions require you to formally designate a portion of your property as a “family cemetery” or “home burial ground” before any burial takes place. That designation typically involves a survey of the burial area, a formal application, and sometimes approval from a local board. Skipping this step where it’s required can make the burial itself illegal, not just create paperwork problems later.
The Paperwork You Need
Three documents form the backbone of a legal burial: a death certificate, a burial-transit permit, and, in some places, a separate permit establishing the burial site.
Death Certificate
A physician, medical examiner, or coroner has to sign the death certificate. Nothing else moves forward without it. The signed certificate is filed with your local registrar or vital records office to create the official record of the death.
Burial-Transit Permit
Once the death certificate is filed, the local registrar or health department issues a burial-transit permit, sometimes called a disposition permit. It authorizes transport of the body and the burial itself. It carries identifying information about the deceased, the cause of death, and the intended place of burial, and it stays on file as proof the burial was lawfully carried out.
States That Require a Funeral Director
In most states, a family can handle every step of a home burial without hiring a funeral professional. About ten states require a licensed funeral director for at least some part of the process. Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New York all require a funeral director to file the death certificate. Iowa and Louisiana impose their own versions of mandatory involvement. Alabama requires a funeral director for certain portions of the arrangements. If you live in one of those states, a funeral professional has to be part of the process even if the family handles the physical burial.
If you do hire a funeral home for any part of the process, the FTC Funeral Rule protects you from being told embalming is required when it isn’t, from being forced to buy a casket from that funeral home, and from being pushed into a bundled package instead of an itemized selection.1Federal Trade Commission. Complying with the Funeral Rule Home-burial families often need only one narrow service from a funeral home, so an itemized price list matters more here than it would for a full traditional funeral.
Where the Grave Can Go on Your Property
Once the paperwork is in order, the physical location of the grave has to meet health and environmental standards. These exist to protect groundwater and neighboring properties, and violating them can trigger an order to disinter and relocate the remains at your expense.
Depth
Most jurisdictions require the top of the casket or burial container to sit at least 18 to 24 inches below the surface. Some localities require deeper burial, particularly in areas with sandy or loose soil. Confirm the number with your county or municipal health code before you dig.
Setbacks From Water, Roads, and Property Lines
Zoning codes and health regulations typically require the grave to sit a minimum distance from property lines, occupied buildings, public roads, wells, streams, lakes, and other water sources. The distances vary widely. Some jurisdictions require 150 feet or more from water features and public roads; others set shorter minimums. Setbacks from wells tend to be the most strictly enforced, because the primary concern is preventing contamination of drinking water. Your local zoning office or health department will provide the exact numbers.
Flood Zones and Wetlands
Land in a designated flood zone or wetland area is generally off-limits. Flooding can expose remains and contaminate surface water, so most jurisdictions that allow home burial explicitly exclude those areas. If any part of your property falls in a FEMA-mapped flood zone, plan the burial site well outside that boundary.
Embalming and Casket Rules
People planning a home burial often assume they need to embalm the body and buy a manufactured casket. Neither is usually required.
No federal law requires embalming, and the FTC Funeral Rule bars funeral homes from claiming otherwise unless state or local law actually mandates it. What states typically require is that the body be embalmed or refrigerated within a set window, often 24 to 72 hours, if final disposition hasn’t happened yet. About a dozen states don’t mandate embalming under any circumstances. For a home burial happening promptly after death, embalming is rarely a legal issue.
No state requires a traditional manufactured casket for burial on private land. Most jurisdictions do require some form of container or covering, but the definition is broad enough to include a simple wooden box, a biodegradable shroud, or even a favorite blanket. Burial vaults are a cemetery policy, not a legal requirement in the United States, so on your own land you can skip them entirely. That makes private land one of the easiest settings for a green or natural burial.
Recording the Grave on Your Property Deed
This step is easy to overlook and critically important. Most jurisdictions require you to record the location of the burial on your property deed with the county recorder’s or clerk’s office. The recording creates a permanent public record of the gravesite, and it runs with the land, so any future buyer will see the notation during a title search.
Recording does more than satisfy a legal requirement. Graves on private property are generally protected from disturbance under state law even after the land changes hands. A new owner typically cannot bulldoze a recorded gravesite without a disinterment permit and a formal relocation process. Without the recording, that protection becomes much harder to enforce, and a future owner might disturb the site without knowing it exists.
There’s a practical tradeoff worth thinking through before you commit to a location. A recorded burial site can affect the property’s marketability. Some buyers are deterred by the presence of a grave, and lenders or title companies may raise questions. That’s not a reason to avoid home burial, but it’s a conversation to have with your family in advance.
Moving the Remains Later
Disinterment, the legal term for exhuming buried remains, is tightly regulated everywhere. If circumstances change and the remains have to be relocated, you’ll need a disinterment permit from the local health department. In most jurisdictions, only a licensed funeral director can apply for that permit, even in states that don’t require one for the original burial. The next of kin or whoever has legal authority over the disposition must authorize the disinterment, often through a sworn affidavit, and some states also require a court order. The process is expensive and emotionally difficult, so the permanence of the decision matters, particularly if there’s any chance the property will be sold in the coming years.
Veterans Benefits Still Apply
Veterans buried on private property remain eligible for certain federal benefits. The Department of Veterans Affairs will provide a government-furnished headstone or marker for any eligible veteran’s grave, including graves on private land. You request one by filing VA Form 40-1330 with a copy of the veteran’s discharge paperwork.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Headstones, Markers, Plaques and Urns
The VA also pays a plot allowance for veterans buried in cemeteries not under federal jurisdiction. As of October 2024, that allowance is up to $978, available when the veteran was discharged due to a service-connected disability, was receiving VA compensation or pension, or died in a VA facility.3U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Burial Benefits – Compensation Whether a home burial on private land qualifies for the plot allowance depends on whether your jurisdiction treats the site as a “cemetery” for VA purposes. Contact your regional VA office to confirm eligibility before filing a claim.