What Are the Burial and Cremation Laws in Tennessee?

Tennessee has no statutory minimum waiting period before cremation. A medical examiner or coroner must authorize the cremation before it proceeds. Authorizing agent per § 62-5-703 priority order must sign a Board-approved cremation authorization form arranged through a licensed funeral establishment (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0660-9-.01); operator must also hold a permit for cremation of human remains (§ 62-5-504).

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

Yes. Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation) is legal in Tennessee.

Tennessee sets a statutory order for who controls the disposition of remains (T.C.A. § 62-5-703): Person named in written disposition directions or pre-need funeral contract, then Attorney in fact designated in a durable power of attorney for health care acting pursuant to T.C.A. § 34-6-204, then Surviving spouse, 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. Tennessee does not require embalming by law. No Tennessee law or regulation requires embalming. Refrigeration or dry ice may be used for preservation. There is no statutory deadline for disposition. T.C.A. § 62-5-102 exempts families, friends, or neighbors who prepare and bury their dead without charge from funeral director licensing requirements.

Tennessee does not require a licensed funeral director to direct disposition. T.C.A. § 62-5-102 exempts persons (family, friends, neighbors) who prepare for burial or bury their own dead without charge from the funeral-directing/embalming licensing requirements of Title 62, Chapter 5. The death certificate is filed under § 68-3-502; the vital-records rules and the state cremation-permit form refer to the "funeral director or person acting as such," so a family member acting in that capacity may complete the registration when no funeral director is engaged (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-07-01-.08; Form PH-3752). Cremation, however, must be arranged through a licensed funeral establishment supervised by a licensed funeral director per Board rule (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0660-9-.01), so fully family-directed disposition is practical only for burial, not cremation.

Tennessee provides a publicly funded option when a family cannot pay for disposition: County indigent (pauper) burial/cremation — county of death (T.C.A. § 5-9-101(4)). Eligible veterans may also be interred at no cost through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Indigent burial is a county responsibility, not a statewide program. Under § 5-9-101(4) counties are authorized (permissive, not mandated) to appropriate moneys for the burial or cremation of any poor person dying in the county who leaves no means to pay; the type of disposition (burial vs. cremation) is left to county discretion. Reimbursement requires an affidavit under § 5-9-311 showing the cost, that the expenses were for a pauper interred in the county, and that the claimant has no other means of payment. Unclaimed bodies are handled under §§ 68-4-102 to 68-4-103 and 68-4-113. Application is made through the county government (typically the county mayor/commission or the office handling indigent affairs) of the county of death. Veteran burial benefits are available: the Tennessee Dept. of Veterans Services operates five state veterans cemeteries (Middle Tennessee/Nashville, West Tennessee/Memphis, two East Tennessee/Knoxville, and Parkers Crossroads), with no-cost interment for eligible veterans and a cost for eligible dependents; federal VA national cemeteries are also available to eligible veterans at no charge (apply via the VA National Cemetery Administration, cem.va.gov).