What Are the Burial and Cremation Laws in Michigan?

Michigan imposes no statutory minimum waiting periodMCL 333.2848Verified Oct 17, 2026View source before cremation. A medical examiner or coroner authorizes the cremation before it proceeds. The person with the right to control disposition under MCL 700.3206 authorizes the cremation, and the county medical examiner of the county where the death occurred signs the authorization for final disposition (MCL 333.2848(3)).

Michigan sets an order for who controls the disposition of remains: surviving spouse, then surviving adult child, then surviving adult grandchildMCL 700.3206Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. The state allows you to name your own agent in advanceMCL 700.3206(2), MCL 700.3206aVerified Oct 17, 2026View source, and that designation takes priority over the default order. Those wishes can be recorded alongside the rest of an estate plan when you create a revocable living trust.

Embalming is not required by lawMCL 333.2848Verified Oct 17, 2026View source in Michigan. No Michigan law requires embalming for an ordinary death. A body that died of a listed communicable disease, or that is shipped by common carrier and cannot reach its destination within 48 hours of death, must be embalmed by a Michigan-licensed embalmer (R 325.1, R 325.2). A funeral home may not embalm without authorization from a relative or the person entitled to custody unless reasonable efforts to reach them have failed and more than 48 hours have passed since death (MCL 339.1810).

In Michigan, a licensed funeral director is required for the dispositionMCL 700.3206Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. The handling, disposition and disinterment of a body must be supervised by a person licensed in mortuary science (MCL 700.3206(1)). A licensed funeral director certifies the death record and files it within 72 hours (MCL 333.2843(3)), so a family cannot complete a disposition without one.