What Are the Burial and Cremation Laws in Iowa?

Iowa has no statutory minimum waiting period before cremation. A medical examiner or coroner must authorize the cremation before it proceeds. Person with authority under § 144C.5 must sign a cremation authorization form (IAC 481-900.10(4)); a medical examiner cremation permit is required before cremation (Iowa Code § 331.805(3)(b); IAC 641-127.6).

No. Natural organic reduction (human composting) is not currently authorized in Iowa.

No. Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation) is not currently authorized in Iowa.

Iowa sets a statutory order for who controls the disposition of remains (Iowa Code § 144C.5): Designee, or alternate designee, acting pursuant to decedent's declaration (§ 144C.3), then Surviving spouse (not legally separated; whereabouts reasonably ascertainable), then Surviving child(ren) (majority rules if more than one; whereabouts reasonably ascertainable), and so on. You can also name your own agent to control your remains in a signed, written document before death. You can record those wishes alongside the rest of your estate plan when you create a revocable living trust.

No. Iowa does not require embalming by law. No state law requires embalming in all cases. Under IAC 481-900.6(3)(a), embalming may be omitted provided interment or cremation is performed within 72 hours after death (or within 24 hours of taking custody if the remains were previously in the custody of others, whichever is longer). Under IAC 481-900.6(3)(b), if refrigeration at 38-42 degrees Fahrenheit is used, embalming or final disposition may be extended up to 72 hours longer than that maximum (144 hours / 6 days from death).

Iowa does not require a licensed funeral director for a family-directed BURIAL. Iowa Code § 156.2(4) exempts from mortuary science licensing "[p]ersons who, without compensation, bury their own dead under a burial transit permit secured pursuant to section 144.32." Under § 144.32(1), a person other than a funeral director, medical examiner, or emergency medical service who assumes custody of a body must secure a burial transit permit (issued by the county medical examiner, a funeral director, or the state registrar) before removing the body from the place of death. Two limits apply. First, a burial transit permit shall not be issued to a person other than a funeral director when the cause of death is or is suspected to be a communicable disease (§ 144.32(4)). Second, the exemption is written for burial only: a family-directed CREMATION still runs through a licensed funeral establishment, because IAC 481-900.10(2) provides that a cremation establishment "will contract only with a licensed funeral establishment and will not contract directly with the general public," and the cremation authorization form must carry the signature and license number of the funeral director who obtained it (IAC 481-900.10(4)(a)(1)). The death certificate must be filed within three days and before final disposition in either case (§ 144.26(1)(a)).

Iowa provides a publicly funded option when a family cannot pay for disposition: County general assistance, administered by the county board of supervisors (Iowa Code ch. 252); indigent veteran burial administered jointly by the county board of supervisors and the county commission of veteran affairs (Iowa Code § 35B.14). Eligible veterans may also be interred at no cost through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Indigent burial is handled at the county level. Under Iowa Code § 252.27(1), county general assistance "may consist of the burial of nonresident indigent transients and the payment of the reasonable cost of burial, not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars." County general assistance for poor persons generally is established under § 252.25; applications are made to the county general assistance director or board of supervisors (§ 252.33). For veterans, § 35B.14 makes the county commission of veteran affairs responsible for interment of an indigent veteran (as defined in § 35.1), or the veteran's spouse, surviving spouse, or minor child, in a sum not exceeding an amount set by the county board of supervisors; burial expenses are paid by the county of residence. Federal VA burial benefits (burial allowance, gravesite, headstone/marker) are available to eligible veterans, and the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs operates the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in rural Dallas County, where eligible veterans, spouses, and dependent children may be interred. Eligibility and application: VA (cem.va.gov / va.gov) for federal benefits and national/state cemetery interment; the county general assistance director or county commission of veteran affairs for county indigent and veteran burial assistance.