# What can I do with my dead body legally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-my-dead-body-legally/320716 "2005-09-08T21:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eyeballnija](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2bfe46/32.png) [@eyeballnija](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eyeballnija)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-my-dead-body-legally/320716/1 "2005-09-08T21:12:13Z")
This is a serious question- My mother passed away two weeks ago and told my father before she passed she wished to be cremated- When discussing this with my sister, she asked me what I wished to have done to my body when I no longer needed it. To be truthful, I plan on having my bones removed and wired together in the style of a medical skeleton found in classrooms and the such, and laid in a glass coffin. This is what I’ve always wanted, and being well into my adult years, I still do. My sister was not surprized, really (I’ve always been the black sheep), but curious to the legal exceptance of this, which I don’t know. That’s why I’m here… -Anyone?!.. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-my-dead-body-legally/320716/2 "2005-09-08T22:08:08Z")
I suggest you check out the book “Stiff.” (Sorry, my link failed, and I don’t have time to figure out what went wrong. The book is readily available on Amazon. If someone who’s better at linking than I am could do the honors?) Basically, the book is about “job opportunities for the dead,” with some gruesome side trips into the disgusting things which supposed scientists have visited upon live animals in the name of research (before I get pitted, you need to know the kinds of experiments I’m talking about. Trust me, they’re disgusting and pointless and are redolent of schoolboy sadism.) Anyway, I think it will give you a good launching point. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-my-dead-body-legally/320716/3 "2005-09-08T22:12:59Z")
Oh, I almost forgot – if you’ve got the guts for it (pardon the pun), you could always try [Plastination](http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/koerperspende.asp) (Yes, I am better at short links, now that you ask…) ---
**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:** [September 8, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-my-dead-body-legally/320716/4 "2005-09-08T22:14:17Z")
Curiously, while there are many laws regarding the disposal of human remains, [possessing and selling human bones is perfectly legal](http://www.boneroom.com/faqs/bones.html): > [@](#): > > In short, there is no law at the U.S. Federal level prohibiting you from having a human bone in your possession. The fact that some people believe there is or believe there should be such a law is irrelevant . This is not to say that such laws do not exist in other countries, or at the local level. For example, the state of Georgia has restrictions on who may purchase human bones. It is advisable to check your local laws on this issues, as we cannot know every state, county, or locality law in the United States and elsewhere. We work within the framework of U.S. Federal, California State, and International Treaty Law. Within these jurisdictions, there are no prohibitions on the sale or possession of human bones. ---
**Author:** ![BoringDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@BoringDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoringDad)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-my-dead-body-legally/320716/5 "2005-09-08T23:41:05Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Curiously, while there are many laws regarding the disposal of human remains, [possessing and selling human bones is perfectly legal](http://www.boneroom.com/faqs/bones.html): This is good news. When my friend dies he wants his skull turned into a huge goblet and we all have to chug ale from it at the funeral. (Lined in gold, the whole nine yards.) I think soup bowl for mine. The last one of our group of friends to die in 40 years is going to have a heck of a place setting in the nursing home.