Funeral and burial laws in Washington

• No state requires embalming in every case. Federal law, the FTC Funeral Rule, forbids a funeral home from telling you it does.
• No state law requires a casket for cremation, and the funeral home must offer an alternative container. Vault requirements come from cemeteries, not statutes.
• Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on 2026-09-07. Laws change. Confirm any hour threshold with the funeral home or the state board before relying on it.

Is embalming required in Washington?

Never required by Washington law for a family. RCW 18.39.215(1)(b) requires the funeral director or embalmer to tell the family that 'embalming is not required by state law, except that embalming is required under certain conditions as determined by rule by the state board of health,' and no Board of Health rule mandating embalming was located. The operative rule is refrigerate-or-embalm. WAC 246-500-030 requires funeral directors, embalmers and others assisting in preparing remains to refrigerate or embalm the remains upon receipt, and RCW 18.39.215(2) makes it a gross misdemeanor for a licensee not to refrigerate or embalm upon receipt (waivable in writing by the proper state or local authority), so refrigeration is an accepted alternative and in practice the default. WAC 246-500-030 lets remains stay out of refrigeration for up to 24 hours for washing, clothing, viewing or sitting with the deceased at the direction of the deceased or the person with the right to control disposition, except where death involved prion disease, tuberculosis, Ebola or another contagious disease posing a public-health hazard, a radioactive seed implant within 30 days of death, a nuclear pacemaker or a radiologic incident. There is no embalming trigger for common-carrier or out-of-state transport; WAC 246-500-040 requires only that remains shipped by common carrier be enclosed in a leak-resistant container inside a second leak-resistant shipping container with the burial-transit permit attached. In any death within the coroner's or medical examiner's jurisdiction no one may embalm or make final disposition without the coroner's consent (RCW 68.50.108).

How long can you wait before burial or cremation in Washington?

No fixed hour deadline for burial or cremation. RCW 68.50.110 requires that human remains 'be decently buried, undergo cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction within a reasonable time after death.' The only clock is WAC 246-500-030, refrigerate or embalm upon receipt, with the 24-hour window out of refrigeration for washing, viewing or sitting with the body. The report of death must be filed within five calendar days after death and before final disposition (RCW 70.58A.200(2)). No statute sets a maximum time a body may be kept at home beyond the 'reasonable time' standard.

Can you bury someone on private land in Washington?

Legal statewide as of June 11, 2026, under new conditions. Until that date RCW 68.50.130 made disposition anywhere other than a cemetery, a family burial ground or a religious building a misdemeanor, and there was no defined way to create a family burial ground. Substitute House Bill 2239 (2026 c 173, signed March 24, 2026, effective June 11, 2026) created chapter 68.74 RCW and defined 'family burial ground' as privately owned land designated under that chapter for interment (RCW 68.04.330). Under RCW 68.74.010 a natural person may designate an area of land the person owns as a family burial ground; all natural-person co-owners must consent in writing; it may not be on land co-owned with a legal entity; it must be set back at least 25 feet from the parcel boundary and may not be within 150 feet of a designated critical area, within 100 feet of a public right-of-way or easement boundary, within 100 feet of an existing drinking-water well or 200 feet of a drinking-water spring; and it may not exceed 10 percent of the parcel. The owner may not sell plots or charge fees (RCW 68.74.030). Within 30 days of each interment the owner must report it to the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and record with the county auditor the decedent's name and dates of birth and death as on the death certificate, the owners' names, the legal description and parcel number, and the latitude and longitude of the grave verified by two witnesses or the coroner, sheriff or designee (RCW 68.74.040). Cities and counties may regulate or prohibit family burial grounds by ordinance (RCW 68.74.070), so check local zoning first; sellers must disclose a family burial ground to buyers (RCW 68.74.050; RCW 64.06.020). A report of death and burial-transit permit are still required, and with no sexton the permit is marked 'no person in charge' (RCW 70.58A.210(7)).

Even where state law allows it, the county or town usually has the last word through zoning, and a burial on private land should be recorded against the deed so a future buyer knows. A family burial ground can also complicate a later sale.

Can the family handle it without a funeral director?

Yes. Washington's vital-records statutes assign every duty to 'a funeral director, funeral establishment, or person having the right to control the disposition of the human remains under RCW 68.50.160,' so the next of kin or designated agent may obtain the personal data, provide the report of death to the medical certifier within two calendar days, file it with the local registrar and obtain the burial-transit permit (RCW 70.58A.200(3); RCW 70.58A.210(2)-(4)). WAC 246-500-040 sets hygiene, container and permit rules for 'any person transporting human remains' without limiting who may transport. The order of authority is in RCW 68.50.160(3), the DD Form 93 designee for service members, a designated agent named in a signed and witnessed writing, the spouse or registered domestic partner, the majority of adult children, the parents, the majority of siblings, then a court-appointed guardian. Steps that require a licensee or official are embalming (licensed embalmer only, RCW 18.39.215), the medical certifier's attestation of cause of death (RCW 70.58A.200(4)), the coroner's consent in coroner-jurisdiction deaths (RCW 68.50.108), and cremation itself, which must be done at a crematory with a permit or endorsement under RCW 68.05.175 that receives the burial-transit permit (RCW 70.58A.210(4)(a)). Whether a particular crematory will accept remains directly from a family is that business's policy. Both People's Memorial Association (the Funeral Consumers Alliance affiliate) and the National Home Funeral Alliance treat Washington as a state where families may act without a funeral director.

Death certificate and permits in Washington

Filing the death certificate

A complete report of death must be filed with the local registrar in the local health jurisdiction where the death occurred within five calendar days after the death or finding of remains and before final disposition (RCW 70.58A.200(2)). The funeral director, funeral establishment or person having the right to control disposition obtains the personal data, provides the report to the medical certifier within two calendar days, files the completed report with the local registrar and obtains the burial-transit permit (RCW 70.58A.200(3)). The medical certifier attests to cause, date and time of death and returns the report within two calendar days (RCW 70.58A.200(4)). Deaths without medical attendance go to the coroner, medical examiner or local health officer (RCW 70.58A.200(6)); if no one has the right to control disposition, the coroner, medical examiner or local health officer files (RCW 70.58A.200(7)). Funeral homes file through the state Electronic Death Registration System; a family filer works with the local registrar at the county health department.

Burial or transit permit

Required before any final disposition. Once the report of death is filed, the local registrar issues a burial-transit permit to the funeral director, funeral establishment or person having the right to control disposition (RCW 70.58A.210(2)), so a family member holding that right may obtain it. No one may make final disposition until the report is registered and the permit obtained (RCW 70.58A.210(3)). The permit is delivered to the funeral establishment, permitted crematory or cemetery authority before interment, or attached to the container when the body is shipped by a transportation company (RCW 70.58A.210(4)); the place of disposition returns the completed permit to the local registrar within ten days (RCW 70.58A.210(6)(c)). Where no one is in charge of the place of disposition, 'no person in charge' is written across the permit (RCW 70.58A.210(7)). WAC 246-500-040 requires the permit before remains are moved between registration districts. Remains brought from another state must be accompanied by that state's permit (RCW 70.58A.210(9)). No permit is needed to spread cremated remains (RCW 70.58A.210(9)); a disinterment permit is needed to disinter (RCW 70.58A.210(8)).

Cremation waiting period in Washington

No statutory waiting period. Neither chapter 68.50 RCW nor chapter 70.58A RCW imposes a 24- or 48-hour hold before cremation. Prerequisites are the registered report of death and a burial-transit permit (RCW 70.58A.210(3)); authorization from the person with the right to control disposition in the RCW 68.50.160 order (a signed, witnessed directive of the decedent is itself sufficient, RCW 68.50.160(1)); and, in any death within the coroner's or medical examiner's jurisdiction, the coroner's consent before embalming or final disposition, with any autopsy to be performed within five days unless a court extends the time (RCW 68.50.108). Cremation must be performed at a crematory holding a permit or endorsement under RCW 68.05.175, and each body must be cremated separately unless the authorizer consents in writing (RCW 68.50.185).

Caskets and vaults

No Washington statute or rule requires a casket for burial or cremation, and none requires an outer burial container or vault; RCW 68.04.165 merely defines 'outer burial container' and vault requirements are cemetery policy. The only container rules are in WAC 246-500-040, which requires a leak-resistant container inside a second leak-resistant shipping container for shipment by common carrier, plus general hygienic handling for anyone transporting remains. Family burial grounds under chapter 68.74 RCW carry no casket or vault requirement; only above-ground mausoleums or columbaria must meet class A fireproof construction and local building codes (RCW 68.74.020).

Scattering ashes in Washington

Permitted with consent. RCW 68.50.130 provides that disposition of human remains following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis or natural organic reduction 'may also occur on private property, with the consent of the property owner; and on public or government lands or waters with the approval of the government agency that has either jurisdiction or control, or both, of the lands or waters.' No burial-transit permit is required for spreading cremated remains in accordance with state, federal and international law (RCW 70.58A.210(9)); WAC 246-500-050 lets the registrar issue a permit for transporting cremated remains by common carrier if one is wanted. Scattering on Washington state lands or waters therefore requires the managing agency's approval, for example Washington State Parks or the Department of Natural Resources; individual agency procedures were not verified. At sea the federal EPA general permit applies, at least 3 nautical miles from shore with notice to EPA within 30 days.

At sea, federal rules apply everywhere. The EPA allows scattering at least three nautical miles from shore and asks for a report within 30 days. Inland waters follow the state.

Your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule, in every state

Whatever Washington adds, federal law requires any funeral home to give you an itemised price list before you agree to anything, to quote prices over the phone if you ask, to let you buy only the items you want rather than a package, and to accept a casket or urn bought elsewhere without a handling fee. It also forbids claiming that embalming, a casket for cremation, or a vault is required by law when it is not.

Other states

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming