What is a home funeral?
A home funeral is when a loved one is cared for at home after death, giving family time to gather and participate in:
- planning and carrying out after-death rituals or ceremonies
- keeping the body cool with noninvasive techniques, such as ice or techni-ice (a frozen gel product)
- preparing the body for burial or cremation by bathing, dressing and laying out for visitation
- filing the death certificate and obtaining transport permit—a family designee will need to work with the Clerk in the town in which the death occurred; if possible, give the Clerk advance notice as they may not have used the MAVRIC system (new in 2025) to register a death.
- transporting the deceased to the place of burial or cremation
- facilitating the final disposition
It is legal in Massachusetts for a family to act as the family designee and take the role of the funeral director.
Plan Ahead
If you are considering caring for your own dead, we recommend that you plan carefully and communicate in advance with the agencies you may have to deal with – hospital, hospice, nursing home, board of health (Burial Agent), crematory, cemetery, etc. — to be sure they will not cause difficulties because of their own uncertainties about the law. Nursing homes often want a body removed immediately, even in the middle of the night. It is important to plan ahead. (Most hospitals have a morgue with refrigerated storage and will store a body for a few days if they are not full.) In the case of violent or unexplained death, the body will be turned over to a medical examiner and may be kept several days, which gives the family time to make preparations.
Body Care 101
Time is an obvious constraint in carrying out the care of your own dead.
There is no requirement in Massachusetts to hold a body before burial. It could take place as soon as the cemetery is ready. Cremation, however, must be delayed until 48 hours after death (unless the death has been attributed to a communicable disease).
According to Lisa Carlson, author of Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love (1998), a human body can be kept in a cool room for at least 24 hours before decomposition begins. Heat in the room should be turned off in winter, and air conditioning should be turned on in summer. Dry ice or techni-ice can be used in lieu of refrigeration. Some traditions keep the body at home or in a place of worship for up to three days.
Hand washing is an important way of limiting infection risk. It is unlikely that infectious diseases will be contracted from a dead body. However, anyone caring for their own dead should take the precaution of wearing rubber gloves and avoiding all contact of body fluids on unprotected skin. Soiled linens and clothes should be cleaned as they would be for a living person. Disposable material should be put into non-leaking plastic bags and disposed of with household rubbish. Durable equipment should be disinfected with a strong solution of bleach.
A washcloth and warm soapy water can be used to wash the body. See You CAN Do This: Family-Led Funerals for a presentation by Lee Webster recorded during FCAWM’s 2024 Annual Meeting & Program. She shared useful advice and methods for handling and cleaning a body at home.
The Home Funeral Alliance (HFA) is a national education organization dedicated to family-led and community-centered deathcare. The HFA provides webinars and connections to many relevant resources, as well as information about various helpers who could assist families. Examples:
- Home funeral guides are not licensed funeral directors and do NOT do the work of preparing the body, providing transportation, etc., but can assist families with information about all of the above.
- A Death Doula, also known as an End-of-Life Doula, is a non-medical professional who supports individuals and their families through the final stages of life. Unlike hospice, which focuses on physical comfort and symptom management, doulas focus on emotional presence, meaning-making, and continuity of care. They can guide families through what to expect before, during, and after death.
Death Certificates and Permits
An individual who chooses to make arrangements for the final disposition of a body has the same responsibilities and obligations as a funeral director, including timely reporting and filing of death certificates and permits.
Here’s an overview of the required sequence of official documentation steps:
- Certification of death by doctor, nurse, or other official as specified in state law
- Death certificate filed by Town or City Clerk (with correct info supplied by family)
- Permit to transport and dispose of body issued by Burial Agent of town or city where the death occurred
Prior to moving a deceased person, a family designee must obtain documentation from the certifying physician or nurse practitioner or other official. The family designee will then work with the City or Town Clerk in the community where the death occurred to complete an online record of death, by providing the Clerk with the legal and personal information about the decedent. Click here for examples of types of information needed. (It is wise to gather and write down the needed info well in advance of the death.) The Clerk will enter the death record into MAVRIC, the new Massachusetts Vital Records Information Collaborative death registration system, which in June 2025 replaced the previous system.
The Permit is sometimes called a “burial permit” but is actually a permit to transport a body and dispose of it by burial, cremation or donation to a medical school. Once the Death Certificate is filed, the Permit is issued by the Burial Agent in the town where death occurred, even if cremation or burial will take place in another town. Even though it is legal to transport a body WITHIN the same town or city after receiving the Death Certificate but before obtaining a Permit, it is better to obtain the Permit before claiming a body from an institution such as a hospital. The law requires that you obtain a Permit before transporting a body across town or city lines.
Whenever possible, individuals who are not funeral directors and will be obtaining a “burial permit” for the final disposition of a body should notify the Burial Agent (usually the board of health or the town clerk) before death occurs that a burial permit will be sought.
Blended funeral: hiring professionals for specific services
Some funeral directors will work with you to provide only selected services. For instance it is common to hire a funeral director to prepare paperwork and transport the body, while family and friends take care of the rest.
For those requesting green burial, you can choose to hire a funeral director to prepare the body (without embalming) and shelter it until burial. Some funeral homes have refrigeration facilities and allow visitation of unembalmed bodies. Check individual funeral homes for options and fees.