Private Burial on own property

Provided that the all of the normal procedures associated with registration of the death have been completed to the satisfaction of the Registrar (and Coroner, if applicable), there is no law which prevents a burial taking place on private land. The Coroner or Registrar of Births and Deaths will issue a certificate for burial, the detachable section of which (part C) must be completed by the person arranging the burial and returned to the Registrar within 96 hours of the burial taking place.

There are several advantages to this form of burial, both of a personal and financial nature , in that it gives you total freedom in the organisation of the funeral and avoids the cost of purchase a grave in a cemetery.

However there are a number of points which should be noted

i) If you are not the owner of the land where the burial is to take place then you must obtain permission for the burial from the owner of the land.

ii) You must notify any individual or mortgage company that has an interest in the property of your intentions.

iii) Notification that a burial has taken place, together with an accurate location map should be appended to the Deeds of the property.

iv) The local Environmental Health Officer should be consulted regarding the burial procedure and any possible effect on nearby watercourses etc.

vi) If you move house then it may be possible to exhume the body , however disturbance of human remains is illegal without first obtaining an Exhumation Licence from the Home Office. You may need to seek professional assistance with the exhumation.

v) The presence of the burial may reduce the value of the property, and could make future any re-sale difficult. The purchaser may then wish to exhume the body and have it re-buried in a cemetery. To prevent this you could obtain a restrictive covenant by which you can ensure the grave remains untouched, but this will involve additional costs.

Burial on farm land.

This is an option which may be considered by some landowners which will constitute the setting up of a formal burial ground. This will require a very long term commitment to the project Statutory requirements regarding maintenance of burial records must be observed.