Home funerals
Home funerals in California
Family may file
Families may handle home death care without a funeral establishment.
What the law says
- The family files the death certificate with the local registrar, signed by the attending physician or coroner, and gets a permit for disposition (Cemetery and Funeral Bureau consumer guide).
- With home death care the family is not required to embalm or refrigerate the body (Cemetery and Funeral Bureau consumer guide).
- The family arranges a casket or other container and makes arrangements with the cemetery, crematory, hydrolysis or reduction facility (Cemetery and Funeral Bureau consumer guide).
Who to ask
The California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau licenses funeral homes in California and can answer questions about the rules. A local funeral home can tell you whether the option is offered near you.
Other options in California
- Human composting: Legal from January 1, 2027
- Water cremation: Legal
- Scattering ashes: State rules
- Body donation: Programs
Funeral homes near you
Call two or three homes and compare their written price lists.