# bury a loved one, anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261 "2001-01-03T18:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![penael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@penael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penael)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/1 "2001-01-03T18:01:44Z")
What, if any, are the laws in preventing me from burying a loved one in my own backyard? I’m not talking about an animal here, I mean Grandma (hypothetically). If I own the property and follow the procedures from the local cemetary, what would prevent me? A permit, maybe, but I think that local custom alone would stand in my way. Maybe it has something to do with living inside city limits? Just curious. . . ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/2 "2001-01-03T18:13:06Z")
I believe there are zoning requirements for human burials. Some cities in California don’t allow burials, such as Pasadena. San Francisco doesn’t allow burials now, but there are some 19th century remains. And if you did bury a body in your backyard, wouldn’t you have to tell the next person who bought the property. What if the new buyer wanted to redo the backyard and put in a new lawn or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/3 "2001-01-03T18:31:03Z")
We discussed this some time back. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=44413](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=44413) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/4 "2001-01-03T18:32:04Z")
Laws vary widely, and it would be dangerous to assume those laws do not apply to you, no mater how far outside the city limits you are. Laws about the proper disposal of human remains are usually intended to prevent the transmission of disease and prevent contamination of water. BobT, is quite correct about California being very restrictive on where you can bury the dead. Just as an example, in Yorba Linda, the Richard Nixon Library and Memorial had to “donate” a bit of land to a local church, so former President and Mrs. Nixon are buried on “church property”. Weird, but that’s the way it works. To answer the OP, we need to know what state are you in. And (just curiosity) why do you want to bury grandma in the backyard? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/5 "2001-01-03T19:33:18Z")
> [@](#): > > bury a loved one, anyone? No, thanks. This week I’m only killing strangers. ---
**Author:** ![penael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@penael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penael)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/6 "2001-01-03T20:13:32Z")
I live in the state of Florida, but that is not relevant. (Imagine caskets and shoeboxes floating around everywhere) Basically I didn’t think that contamination would be an issue because 3 dogs and 14 hamsters are OK, but not a person?!? Seeing movies like Forest Gump, and Legends of the Fall lead me to believe that if you own a lot of property that would stay in the family, the practice seems allright. To tell the truth, I find it a little haunting knowning Grandmama’s cadaver is rotting away just outside my door. Is it a case-by-case basis and zoning law issue, or do I take movies too literally? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/7 "2001-01-03T20:22:56Z")
As the former Zoning Administrator for a locality here in VA, I can tell you very matter-of-factly that you can plant your loved ones anywhere you want, on your private property, in the Old Dominion. I was amazed when I was first asked this question, so I called the VA Dept. of Health (“we don’t care”) and the Board of Funeral Directors (“we don’t care”). Local zoning laws are going to vary, but in every ordinance I’ve ever seen the only regulation is on commercial cemetaries. Private ones can be anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/8 "2001-01-03T22:54:45Z")
It doesn’t surprise me that CA would be uptight about where you can bury a body. They threaten you with hell on earth if you don’t scatter ASHES outside a 1-3 mile limit. Our family has a beach house, though, and we pretty much surf-scatter everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/9 "2001-01-03T22:57:33Z")
Shit, unclear post, sorry- refers to the scattering of cremated human remains on the ocean, which must be done well away from shore. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2001, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/10 "2001-01-03T23:14:13Z")
When my best friend blew his brains all over my kitchen, a friend of mine who was a former special forces medic insisted on cleaning up the mess. He buried the brains and skull fragments, left behind after the cops and EMT’s did their thing, in his back yard. Don’t know how legal that was, but when he on his way to his house he got pulled over by the police, and they asked what was in the trash bag. He told them, and the officer informed him that it was illegal in Texas to transport human remains in such a way. He said to the cop “What was I supposed to do with them? You guys left them there. Should I put them in the dumpster for the cats to eat, or put them down the disposal?” The cop kinda turned green and left. Kind of an odd way to get out of a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/11 "2001-01-04T00:01:40Z")
Now that’s what I call a thread killer. ---
**Author:** ![penael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@penael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penael)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bury-a-loved-one-anyone/48261/12 "2001-01-04T01:24:43Z")
'nuff said. Thanks everyone.