Home Death Care
In Massachusetts it is legal for persons to care for their own dead. There is no requirement to hire a funeral director or funeral home.
To learn more about home funerals and caring for the deceased at home, consult these resources:
- Home Funeral Alliance (HFA) supporting home funeral education.
- Webinars on the HFA You-tube channel including a free selection of basic ones in this featured collection.
- You CAN Do This: Family-Led Funerals a Zoom recording of Lee Webster’s presentation at FCAWM’s Annual meeting in Northampton, Oct. 24, 2024.
- Caring For Your Own Dead: FCAEM Guidelines for Burial or Cremation Without a Funeral Director. (2019)*
- Issues to Consider in Preparing for Disposition of Decedents (Mass.gov) by Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Health & Human Services.*
Several FCAWM board members, past and present, have attended workshops about how to care for the dead at home. In fall 2013 two such workshops were held in western Massachusetts locations (Leverett and Warwick). Public response was positive, filling both workshops to capacity.
* 2026 Update: This page is being augmented to include recent information about family-led death care. The 2019 FCAEM Guidelines have been very helpful for years — with examples of state forms and explicit instructions. But forms and procedures changed as the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics introduced MAVRIC, the new state system for the processing of birth, death, marriage, divorce, fetal death and other vital events. Over the past two years many training sessions were held for workers in various roles (Funeral directors; Board of Health Burial Agents; City and Town Clerks; Medical certifiers; Medical facility staff; Registered Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant Pronouncers; and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner).
For families wishing to register the death of a loved one, the key step is to communicate with the appropriate Town or City Clerk. That means the clerk for the town or city in which the death occurs. The clerk can access the MAVRIC system on behalf of the family. No special forms needed by the family.
We advise consulting with the clerk IN ADVANCE, if a family member’s death is anticipated. It is possible that the clerk had not attended MAVRIC training, or will need a refresher. Family-led death care is uncommon. Your local clerk may never have heard of the idea, and might be puzzled. MAVRIC training for clerks is still available (remotely).
MAVRIC training documentation did include this Q & A:
Will there be a “not working with a funeral home” option for city/town clerks when creating a new death case? “Yes. This special designee option will be available shortly after MAVRIC goes live.”
MAVRIC went live in June 2025.
A query to MAVRIC staff in April 2026 confirmed: For families not working with funeral home, the Town Clerk where the death occurred will complete the record.
April 6, 2026: We have now created an expanded Home Funeral page (to replace this one):
https://funeralconsumerswmass.org/home-funerals-caring-for-your-own-dead/