What Are the Burial and Cremation Laws in Ohio?

Ohio imposes a 24-hour minimum waiting periodOhio Rev. Code § 4717.23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source before cremation. The person who holds the right of disposition signs the cremation authorization form before at least one witness and identifies the remains (R.C. 4717.22, 4717.24). A person may also authorize their own cremation in advance on a witnessed antemortem form, which the holder of the right of disposition may still cancel or change after death (R.C. 4717.21).

Ohio sets an order for who controls the disposition of remains: surviving spouse, then sole surviving child, or all surviving children collectively, then surviving parentOhio Rev. Code § 2108.81Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. The state allows you to name your own agent in advanceOhio Rev. Code § 2108.70Verified 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 lawOhio Rev. Code § 4717.13Verified Oct 17, 2026View source in Ohio. No Ohio law requires embalming. A body held more than 48 hours after death before final disposition must be embalmed or kept refrigerated below 40 degrees (R.C. 4717.13(A)(10)), and health department rules govern a death from a virulent communicable disease (R.C. 4717.12).

In Ohio, a licensed funeral director is not required — a family may legally direct the disposition itselfOhio Rev. Code § 3705.16Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. Ohio assigns the death registration and the burial permit to "the funeral director or other person in charge of the final disposition of the remains" (R.C. 3705.16, 3705.17), and licenses only the business or profession of funeral directing (R.C. 4717.13(A)(1)), so a family may register the death, obtain the permit and deliver the body to a cemetery or crematory itself. Embalming, operating a funeral home and operating a crematory each require a license (R.C. 4717.13).