What Are the Burial and Cremation Laws in Louisiana?

Louisiana has no statutory minimum waiting period before cremation. A medical examiner or coroner must authorize the cremation before it proceeds. Authorizing agent per R.S. 37:876 priority, signed cremation authorization form witnessed by a funeral director, notarized, or executed before two witnesses (R.S. 37:877). Coroner must be notified and must issue a cremation permit (R.S. 13:5716).

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

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

Louisiana sets a statutory order for who controls the disposition of remains (La. R.S. 8:655): Person designated by decedent in a notarial testament or written and notarized declaration, then Surviving spouse (if no pending petition for divorce filed by either spouse), then Majority of surviving adult children, 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. Louisiana does not require embalming by law. La. R.S. 37:848(D)(2) provides that a body held by a funeral establishment longer than thirty hours after the time of death "shall be embalmed or the body may be refrigerated continuously at a temperature not to exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit." A body that is neither embalmed nor refrigerated must be buried, cremated, or otherwise disposed of within thirty hours after death (R.S. 37:848(D)(3)). Embalming is never mandatory as such — refrigeration is always an alternative, and nothing in the Subsection may be construed to require embalming where the specific practices and beliefs of a religious group prohibit it (R.S. 37:848(D)(7)). All human remains must be disposed of and prepared through a licensed funeral establishment (R.S. 37:848(D)(5)).

Louisiana requires a licensed funeral director/establishment for disposition. La. R.S. 37:848 mandates that every dead human body be disposed of and prepared through a funeral establishment under the supervision of a licensed funeral home or embalmer, so family-directed disposition without a director is not permitted. The funeral director files the death certificate (La. R.S. 40:47, 40:49) and obtains the burial-transit permit required before any interment, cremation, or removal (La. R.S. 40:52).

Louisiana provides a publicly funded option when a family cannot pay for disposition: Parish/municipal coroner indigent (pauper) disposition (La. R.S. 13:5715). Eligible veterans may also be interred at no cost through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. When a decedent has no known property or assets sufficient to defray disposition costs, the parish coroner arranges disposition (preferably through a Louisiana licensed funeral home) under La. R.S. 13:5715. Expenses, not to exceed the actual cost of the service, are paid by the parish or municipality of the decedent's Louisiana domicile, or by the parish/municipality where death occurred if the domicile is out of state; the state pays for residents of state-operated health care or treatment facilities. Apply through the parish coroner's office. Separately, eligible veterans and certain family members may receive VA burial benefits and interment in a national cemetery. Louisiana National Cemetery (Zachary) "has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains." Port Hudson National Cemetery "has space available for cremated remains" and may accommodate casketed remains in the gravesite of a previously interred family member. Baton Rouge National Cemetery and Alexandria National Cemetery (Pineville) are closed to new interments, though subsequent interments in an existing gravesite are still accepted. Eligibility and applications: cem.va.gov.