Hollywood movies and true crime podcasts can teach us that only two types of people will bury someone in their yard: ghosts and murderers.
Many people are trying to save money while honoring the memories of loved ones, despite the average funeral cost in the US being $8,000 Maybe it's the reverse - perhaps Gladys died recently and you don’t want to spend any more on the body.
You may be asking yourself the same question: What if I... bury them in my backyard? What are the possibilities?
Home burials are a little like a lot of questions about what you can or can't do for corpses.
According to Ask a Mortician, Caitlin Doughty, "Burying dad back in the backyard can be legal." It can also lead to a nightmare in the bureaucratic department.
She said that every country, every city, state, and town has its own laws regarding this matter, while many others have no laws at all.
For example, in the UK there are no laws that prohibit you from burying someone within your backyard. Only two conditions apply: You must have permission from the landowner, and the grave must be far enough away to avoid contamination.
You're likely to encounter significant obstacles back in The Land Of The Free. For example, in Indiana, Washington or the District of Columbia, it is prohibited to bury someone at home. California has the same law. According to state health codes, anyone who disposes of human remains in any other place than a cemetery is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Even celebrities and the wealthy have been affected by this ruling. In 2009, Michael Jackson's death, initial reports suggested that he would be buried at Neverland Ranch. He was finally interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, where many of Hollywood's most famous bodies were buried.
Things are a bit more relaxed in other parts of the US. Tennessee is an example of a state that does not prohibit home burial. This is why Graceland can be visited by Elvis Presley.
Some states, such as New York, Michigan and Louisiana, offer a middle route. You can bury a body on the property of your choice, provided that an official funeral director is present. It may seem like an imposition but it could be a blessing in disguise.
There are many rules and regulations that you won't be aware of if you don't have to deal with the process of burying bodies every single day. Even the US states that allow home burial have limitations on where the body can be buried. This is similar to the UK.
They may also specify how far you can place the gravesite from your neighbor's property, how deep it must be, how close you can bury the body to a water source like a stream or lake, and other restrictions," says Rome Memorials, Pennsylvania funeral directors.
While most states allow you to do it yourself, you must still follow the laws, rules, and regulations governing your state or locality.
If you live in an area that has lots of land, you are more likely to be allowed to bury someone on your property. This is especially true if you plan on living there for a long period. Doughty says that you shouldn't live in a suburban home or in a big city.
She said that she was very supportive of a 'do-it-yourself' death, but that it is not something she could see. Imagine that you live in a suburb and that you bury your dad in the backyard. Then you have a third child and want to move into a larger place. After the new owner installs a sprinkler system, it's like "oh dear God, dead skull!"
Even if your future buyers or neighbors aren't too concerned about your dead body, there are practical reasons to not bury them on your property. Lee Webster, president and CEO of the National Home Funeral Alliance told How Stuff Works that having dead bodies on your property doesn't bode well for real estate.
Most people don't like the idea of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a place where their grandpa is decomposing in the yard. It is much more difficult to take bodies from graves than it is to put them in. Federal law states that once you are in the ground, you will be there forever.
If home burials are permitted in your area and you don't mind paperwork, you might consider a home burial. With natural or "green" burials growing in popularity and "death positive” movements that aim to make it easier for people to die at home, it seems like burying loved ones at home is the next step.
Be aware that you will be living in a cemetery your entire life.
Webster warned that if you place a dead body on any piece of property it will become a cemetery. Webster said, "This is related to anti-desecration laws and cemetery law that dates back to Roman times."
