Yes, you can be buried on your own property in Pennsylvania. State law does not prohibit private burial, but doing it legally means clearing several hurdles: a death certificate filed within 96 hours, a burial permit from the local registrar, compliance with your municipality’s zoning rules, correct grave placement to protect water sources, and a permanent record on the property deed so future owners know the grave exists.
Start With Local Zoning
This is where most home-burial plans hit a wall, so handle it first. Pennsylvania’s home-rule system gives municipalities broad authority over land use, and rules about private burials vary dramatically from one township to the next. Some allow family cemeteries on residential land with minimal requirements. Others restrict burials to agricultural zones, impose minimum lot sizes, or ban private burials outright. Philadelphia does not permit human burials anywhere outside an established cemetery.
Before anything else, contact your local municipal zoning office or planning commission and ask whether private burial is permitted on your property and what permits are required. Get the answer in writing. Rural townships are far more likely to allow it than suburban boroughs or cities, but don’t assume. If the municipality says no, that local ordinance controls regardless of what state law allows.
Death Certificate and Burial Permit
Pennsylvania’s Vital Statistics Law requires a death certificate to be filed with the local registrar of vital statistics within 96 hours of death and before any burial takes place.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Vital Statistics Law of 1953 – Registration Districts and Local Registrars Duties and Death and Fetal Death Registrations and Reports The registrar will not issue a burial permit until this certificate is on file, and no one may proceed with burial without that permit.
The medical portion of the certificate is completed by the physician, certified registered nurse practitioner, or physician assistant who attended the deceased during their last illness.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 35 P.S. Health and Safety 450.502 Personal details about the deceased are supplied by a family member or whoever knows the facts best.
You Do Not Need a Funeral Director
Pennsylvania law does not require a licensed funeral director for a home burial. The statute allows the “person in charge of interment,” typically a family member, to file the death certificate and manage the entire process, including transporting the body and overseeing the burial itself.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Vital Statistics Law of 1953 – Registration Districts and Local Registrars Duties and Death and Fetal Death Registrations and Reports You can hire a funeral director for specific tasks, but nothing in state law makes it mandatory.
If you transport the body yourself in a private vehicle, no transit permit is required. A transit permit is only needed when remains are shipped by common carrier such as an airline or freight service.3Legal Information Institute (LII). 28 Pa Code 1.24 – Transit Permit
Timing, Body Preparation, and Grave Depth
Pennsylvania requires the body to be embalmed or refrigerated if burial does not occur within 24 hours of death. Most families should plan around that deadline, since coordinating the grave, permits, and family often takes longer than a day. Complete the burial within 24 hours and embalming is not required.
State law does not require a casket or a burial vault. A simple shroud is legal. Your choice affects grave depth. When a casket is placed inside an outer container, the top of the container must be at least 1.5 feet below the natural ground surface. Without an outer container, or without a casket at all, the minimum depth increases to 2 feet below ground level.4Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. 28 Pa Code 1.21 – Depth of Graves These are minimums measured from the top of whatever is buried, so the actual hole needs to be considerably deeper.
Water Sources and Setbacks
Pennsylvania’s oldest burial-site rule targets water contamination. Under Title 9 of the Pennsylvania Statutes, it is illegal to bury a body on any land whose drainage flows into a stream supplying water to a city unless the burial site is more than one mile from that city.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Statutes Title 9 P.S. Burial Grounds 10 – Pollution of Water by Use of Land for Burial Purposes Prohibited Land already being used as a burial ground before the law took effect is exempt.
Broader water quality protections apply under the Clean Streams Law, enforced by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.6Department of Environmental Protection. Stream and Wetland Regulatory Program – Regulations and Laws Where municipalities have adopted family cemetery rules, common setbacks include at least 30 feet from property lines and 100 feet from any private or public water wells, wetlands, or watercourses. Confirm the exact numbers with your zoning office, because they vary.
Record the Burial on the Deed
Creating a permanent record of the grave is one of the most important steps, and it is easy to overlook in the middle of grief. Without documentation, future owners may have no idea a burial exists on the land, and your family loses any legal foothold to protect the site.
The standard approach is to record the burial on the property’s deed at the county Recorder of Deeds office. Prepare a detailed map showing the exact location and dimensions of the burial area, ideally from a professional survey with GPS coordinates, and file it with an amended deed so the burial appears in any future title search. Recording fees vary by county. Some families also record a deed restriction or easement specifically preserving access to the site, which provides stronger legal protection than a map notation alone.
What Happens When the Property Is Sold
Pennsylvania law directly addresses this. Under Title 9 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, the owner of property containing a private cemetery or private family cemetery must grant reasonable access for visitation to the burial plot.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. 9 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 703 – Reasonable Access for Visitation The obligation applies regardless of when the burial occurred or when the current owner acquired the property.
The owner does get some control over how access works. If a residential building sits on the land, the owner can require prearranged visit times and designate the frequency, hours, duration, and route of access.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. 9 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 703 – Reasonable Access for Visitation The owner cannot refuse access entirely. That statutory right is the strongest reason to record the burial properly. A buyer who knows about the grave before purchasing has clear notice; a buyer who discovers it afterward is still bound by the law, but the dispute gets contentious fast.
Pennsylvania’s seller disclosure requirements generally obligate you to reveal conditions that materially affect the property, and a burial qualifies. Some buyers will walk away because of it. A well-documented, neatly kept family plot on a large rural parcel affects marketability very differently from an unmarked grave in a suburban backyard.
Moving the Remains Later
If the family ever decides to relocate the body, Pennsylvania requires a disinterment permit from a local registrar before any remains can be removed.8Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. 28 Pa Code 1.25 – Disinterment of Dead Human Bodies The application requires the deceased’s name, date of death, and cause of death, along with written consent from the next of kin or a court order if the family disagrees. Plan the site well from the start and this step rarely becomes necessary.