New Washington State Burial Laws: Methods, Paperwork, and Benefits

Washington state burial laws recognize four legal ways to handle a person’s remains — burial, cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction (human composting) — and allow families to make the arrangements themselves without hiring a funeral director. Human composting became legal on May 1, 2020, making Washington the first state to authorize it. Which method you choose, who has authority to choose it, and what paperwork must be filed are all governed by state law.

The Four Legal Disposition Methods

State law requires that human remains be buried, cremated, processed through alkaline hydrolysis, or undergo natural organic reduction within a reasonable time after death.¹ All four are legally equivalent options.

Traditional Burial

Washington law generally requires interment in a licensed cemetery rather than on private land. Embalming is not required by state law, though a funeral home must either refrigerate or embalm remains once it receives them.² Before any embalming, the funeral director must obtain authorization from a family member or legal representative and must inform them that embalming is not legally required.

Cremation

Cremation must be performed at a licensed crematory by a licensed operator, and no cremation can begin until both a burial-transit permit and written authorization from the person with legal authority over the remains have been obtained.³ Simultaneously cremating more than one person in the same chamber is prohibited unless the authorizing parties give written consent.

Cremated remains can be stored in an urn, interred, or scattered. Scattering outside a cemetery requires a permit if the person doing it is not the individual who holds legal authority over the remains under RCW 68.50.160.⁴ Scattering on private property requires the landowner’s permission; scattering in national parks or waterways may require separate federal permits.

Alkaline Hydrolysis

Legalized in 2019 and often called aquamation, alkaline hydrolysis reduces remains to bone fragments and essential elements using heat, pressure, water, and base chemical agents in a licensed facility.⁵ The remaining bone fragments are processed into a powder similar to cremated remains and returned to the family. The liquid byproduct is treated and disposed of under wastewater management guidelines.⁶

Natural Organic Reduction (Human Composting)

The body is placed in a contained vessel with straw, wood chips, and other natural materials, where controlled conditions accelerate decomposition into soil. The facility must reach a minimum temperature of 131 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 72 consecutive hours to destroy pathogens, and the full process takes anywhere from several weeks to several months.³ Non-organic implants like joint replacements must be removed before the resulting soil is scattered or placed. Certain infectious conditions, including prion diseases and Ebola, may make a body ineligible for this method.

Who Decides What Happens to the Remains

The strongest authority is the deceased person’s own written wishes. A signed document expressing preferences for the method or place of disposition, witnessed by one person, is legally binding, and prepaid prearrangements filed with a licensed funeral home or cemetery cannot be cancelled or substantially changed by surviving family members.⁷

When the deceased left no written instructions, the right to control disposition falls to, in this order:

a designated agent named in a signed, dated, and witnessed written document
the surviving spouse or state registered domestic partner
a majority of the surviving adult children
the surviving parents
a majority of the surviving siblings
a court-appointed guardian at the time of death

The person with this authority is also entitled to physical possession of the remains without government interference.⁷ That right is what makes home funerals possible.

Handling Arrangements Without a Funeral Director

Washington does not require you to hire a funeral director. Family members and friends can legally perform every function a funeral director would handle — washing and dressing the body, arranging transportation, filing paperwork, and coordinating disposition — as long as they are not being paid to do so. The person with legal authority over the remains under RCW 68.50.160 can file the death certificate and obtain the necessary burial-transit permit directly.⁸

This route significantly reduces costs but puts responsibility for time-sensitive legal paperwork and health regulations on the family, including proper refrigeration or preservation of the body. The two key practical requirements are filing the death report within five calendar days and obtaining the burial-transit permit before any transportation or final disposition takes place.

Required Paperwork and Deadlines

A complete death report must be filed with the local registrar in the jurisdiction where the death occurred within five calendar days and before any final disposition of the remains.⁸ The funeral director, funeral establishment, or the person with the legal right to control disposition is responsible for entering personal data about the deceased and filing the completed report. A medical certifier — physician, coroner, or medical examiner — must attest to the cause, date, and time of death.

When a death occurs without medical attendance, the report goes to the coroner, medical examiner, or local health officer, who decides whether to certify the cause or investigate further. If no funeral director or authorized person is available, the coroner or medical examiner files the report directly.

A burial-transit permit must be obtained from the local registrar before transporting remains from one registration district to another.⁹ Remains shipped by common carrier must be enclosed in a leak-resistant container inside a second leak-resistant shipping container, with the permit attached to the outside. No cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction can begin until both the burial-transit permit and the authorizing agent’s written permission are in hand.

If you plan to fly with cremated remains, the TSA recommends a container made of lightweight material like wood or plastic. Containers that produce an opaque image during X-ray screening will not be allowed through the security checkpoint, and TSA officers will not open a cremation container even if the passenger requests it.¹⁰

What You Can Refuse to Buy

The federal FTC Funeral Rule requires every funeral provider to give you an itemized General Price List at the start of any in-person discussion about services, prices, or disposition options.¹¹ The list must show the provider’s name and address, an effective date, and retail prices for each individual item and service. You have the right to select only the goods and services you want rather than accepting a bundled package.

A funeral provider cannot tell you that state law requires embalming when it does not, cannot claim that an outer burial container is legally required when no such requirement exists, and cannot represent that any particular purchase is required by law or by a cemetery when that is false.¹² You can bring your own casket or urn purchased from an outside vendor, and the funeral home cannot charge a fee for accepting it.

Prepaid Funeral Contracts and Cancellation Rules

If you prepay for funeral arrangements, Washington law requires the cemetery authority to deposit part of your payment into a prearrangement trust fund. For merchandise like caskets or urns, the provider must deposit the greater of 50% of the contract price or the wholesale cost of the item. For services, the deposit is the greater of 50% of the contract price or the direct cost of providing the service.¹³

You or your beneficiary can cancel by making a written demand. The provider must refund 50% of the money received, minus the cost of any merchandise already delivered or services already performed, plus any interest earned, and the refund must arrive within 30 days. If the contract lists more than one beneficiary, all beneficiaries must sign the cancellation request. That 50% refund cap means cancellation can cost a significant amount, so it is worth comparing providers carefully before signing.

Financial Help After a Death

VA Burial Benefits

Families of eligible veterans can receive burial allowances. For deaths on or after October 1, 2025, the maximum burial allowance for a non-service-connected death is $1,002, with an additional $1,002 available for a burial plot. For service-connected deaths on or after September 11, 2001, the burial allowance increases to a maximum of $2,000. A headstone or marker allowance of up to $441 is also available.¹⁴ The VA will also reimburse transportation costs for burial in a national cemetery. To qualify, the veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and the person applying must be paying the burial costs without reimbursement from another source.

Social Security Lump-Sum Death Payment

Social Security pays a one-time $255 death benefit to a surviving spouse or, if there is no spouse, to eligible children — those under 18, full-time students ages 18 to 19, or adult children disabled before age 22.¹⁵ You must apply within two years of the death. The amount covers only a small fraction of typical costs, but many eligible survivors overlook it.

Religious, Green, and Tribal Burial Options

Religious groups with established traditions may seek exemptions from embalming or casket requirements, allowing practices like natural burial in a simple shroud. Green burials, which skip embalming and use biodegradable materials, are legally recognized throughout the state.

Native American tribes have distinct burial rights under federal law that can take priority over state regulations. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act gives ownership and control of Native American human remains discovered on federal or tribal lands to lineal descendants or, when descendants cannot be identified, to the affiliated tribe.¹⁶

For indigent individuals or unclaimed remains, county programs may provide disposition options, typically cremation or burial in a municipal cemetery, funded through local government budgets.

1
Washington State Legislature. Revised Code of Washington 68.50.110 – Burial, Cremation, Alkaline Hydrolysis, or Natural Organic Reduction
2
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 18.39 RCW – Embalmers, Funeral Directors
3
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 308-47 WAC – Cremation, Alkaline Hydrolysis, and Natural Organic Reduction
4
Washington State Legislature. RCW 68.05.195 – Burial or Scatter of Human Remains, Permit
5
Washington State Legislature. RCW 68.04.290 – Alkaline Hydrolysis or Hydrolysis
6
Legal Information Institute. Washington Administrative Code 308-47-035 – Holding Human Remains for Alkaline Hydrolysis or Natural Organic Reduction
7
Washington State Legislature. RCW 68.50.160 – Right to Control Disposition of Remains, Liability of Funeral Establishment
8
Washington State Legislature. RCW 70.58A.200 – Reports of Death, Filing and Registration Requirements
9
Legal Information Institute. Washington Administrative Code 246-500-040 – Transportation of Human Remains
10
Transportation Security Administration. Cremated Remains
11
eCFR. 16 CFR 453.2 – Price Disclosures
12
eCFR. 16 CFR 453.3 – Misrepresentations
13
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 68.46 RCW – Prearrangement Contracts
14
Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits
15
Social Security Administration. Lump-Sum Death Payment
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC Chapter 32 – Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation