What Are the Burial and Cremation Laws in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire has a 48-hour minimum waiting period before cremation. A medical examiner or coroner must authorize the cremation before it proceeds. Authorizing agent (person with custody and control per RSA 290, as defined in RSA 325-A:1, II) must sign a cremation authorization form (RSA 325-A:22, I-II). The crematory must also receive a completed permit for transit or cremation and a delivery receipt form (RSA 325-A:22, I; RSA 325-A:19, I). A medical examiner certificate is required confirming personal inquiry into cause and manner of death (RSA 325-A:18, I).

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

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

New Hampshire sets a statutory order for who controls the disposition of remains (N.H. RSA 290:16-290:17): Person designated in a written signed document by the decedent (RSA 290:17, I), then Person designated on a U.S. Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data (DD Form 93), if the decedent died while serving in the armed forces (RSA 290:17, I-a), then Surviving spouse (unless estranged per RSA 290:18), 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. New Hampshire does not require embalming by law. No New Hampshire law requires embalming. RSA 325:40-b gives a funeral home three alternatives when final disposition has not occurred within 48 hours after it takes actual physical custody of the body: embalm the body, maintain it under 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or encase it in a closed container with methods employed to prevent leakage. Refrigeration is therefore always an available substitute for embalming. Separately, at a crematory, unembalmed remains may be held no longer than 24 hours from the time of death unless refrigerated (RSA 325-A:19, IV). Embalming fluids containing arsenic, mercury, and other listed poisons are prohibited (RSA 325:41), and no fluid may be injected in an accidental, sudden, or suspicious death until the cause of death is legally established (RSA 325:40).

New Hampshire law does not require a licensed funeral director to direct disposition. RSA 290:3 expressly assigns the duty of obtaining the burial permit to "the funeral director, next-of-kin as defined in RSA 290:16, IV, or designated agent under RSA 290:17"; RSA 290:1 assigns the death record to the same three, and RSA 290:6 assigns the post-burial return of the permit to the same three. RSA 290:17 vests custody and control of the remains in the designated agent or next of kin. Even the emergency burial permit process is open to "New Hampshire licensed funeral directors, the next of kin, or the designated agent of the deceased" (RSA 5-C:70, III). A family may therefore legally obtain the burial permit and direct the entire disposition without engaging a funeral director. Licensing requirements under RSA 325 govern persons who hold themselves out as funeral directors/embalmers for hire; they do not compel a family acting on its own behalf to use one.

New Hampshire provides a publicly funded option when a family cannot pay for disposition: Town/city overseers of public welfare (local welfare), under N.H. RSA 165:3. Eligible veterans may also be interred at no cost through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. New Hampshire administers indigent burial at the municipal (town/city) level rather than through a county or statewide fund. Under RSA 165:3, when an "assisted person" dies in a town or city, the local overseers of public welfare must cause that person to be decently buried or cremated at the expense of the town or city; if the person died in a county nursing home, the cost falls to the town or city where the person resided when admitted. Apply through the local welfare office in the municipality of residence. RSA 165:16 separately requires the municipality to bury an indigent wartime veteran (90+ days of qualifying service, discharge other than dishonorable) who left insufficient estate. For veteran benefits: VA burial benefits (burial/plot allowances, headstone or marker, burial flag) and interment in a national cemetery are available to eligible veterans, and New Hampshire residents may be interred at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen (Route 3, ~10 miles north of Concord), a state-owned VA-grant-funded cemetery serving eligible NH veterans and their dependents. Eligibility and application are handled through the VA (cem.va.gov) and the cemetery.