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Is Embalming Required? What the Law Says and How to Decline It

The short answer to "is embalming required?" is no, in most cases. The Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule makes every funeral home print on its price list that, except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law, and it forbids a home to claim the law requires it when it does not. The state rules cited below cover delays, viewings and shipping, and every one of them accepts refrigeration for a delay. A funeral home can still treat embalming as necessary for a funeral with a viewing, so the real choice usually comes down to whether you want one.

Do You Have to Be Embalmed? It Depends on the Arrangement

Embalming uses chemicals, inside and outside the body, to disinfect it and slow decomposition, in the Texas Funeral Service Commission's description. Whether it is needed turns on what happens next and how soon.

Situation	Embalming needed?	What the source says
Immediate burial	No	FTC: cannot be called required
Direct cremation	No	FTC: cannot be called required
Closed casket, no viewing	Usually no	FTC: not if refrigeration is available
Public viewing	Possibly; homes may require it	FTC: "may be necessary" for a viewing
A delay before burial or cremation	Embalming or refrigeration	Texas 24 hours, Louisiana 30, Minnesota 72
Shipping out of state or abroad	Depends on carrier and destination	Some airlines take unembalmed remains

Is Embalming Required by Law? What the FTC Funeral Rule Says

The Funeral Rule, 16 CFR Part 453, covers businesses that sell both funeral goods and funeral services to the public. Its embalming provisions do four things.

No false claims. A funeral provider may not say state or local law requires embalming when it does not (section 453.3(a)(1)). It may not call embalming required for a direct cremation, an immediate burial, or a closed-casket funeral without viewing or visitation when refrigeration is available and no state or local law requires it (section 453.3(a)(2)(i)).

A disclosure on the price list. This wording must appear on the General Price List in immediate conjunction with the price shown for embalming (section 453.3(a)(2)(ii)):

Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial.

A separate price. If the home offers embalming, the General Price List must show it as its own item, apart from other preparation of the body and the use of facilities and staff for a viewing (section 453.2(b)(4)(ii)).

Permission first. A provider may not embalm for a fee without prior approval, expressly described as embalming, from a family member or other authorized person, except where state or local law requires it whatever the family chooses, or in one narrow case when the family cannot be reached (section 453.5(a)). Your itemized statement must say you do not have to pay for embalming you did not approve if you chose an arrangement such as a direct cremation or immediate burial, and must explain any embalming charge (section 453.5(b)).

How to Negotiate Funeral Costs covers the Rule's other protections.

When Embalming Can Be Required: Delays, Viewings and Shipping

Those special cases come from state and local law, and carriers add rules of their own. Other states differ from the examples below.

A delay before burial or cremation

Texas requires a body held more than 24 hours, or in transit, to be embalmed, refrigerated or sealed in a leak- and odor-proof container, says the Texas Funeral Service Commission, which also states that Texas law does not require embalming. Louisiana requires a funeral home holding a body longer than 30 hours after death to embalm it or keep it continuously refrigerated at no more than 45 degrees Fahrenheit; otherwise the body must be buried or cremated within 30 hours, or as soon as possible after the authorities release it. Minnesota requires embalming, refrigeration or dry ice when final disposition will not happen within 72 hours of death or the body's release.

A public viewing

The Funeral Rule's own wording says embalming "may be necessary" for a funeral with viewing, which leaves a funeral home room to require it for a viewing. Minnesota names a public viewing as one of its triggers, yet accepts refrigeration there too, or dry ice when the viewing is on private property.

Shipping by air, out of state or abroad

Minnesota requires a body sent by public transportation to be properly embalmed and enclosed in a casket or alternative container and an outside shipping container, under the carrier's rules (section 149A.93). The Texas commission says most common carriers require embalming before shipping, and that the destination's laws apply. Some airlines take unembalmed remains: Southwest Airlines Cargo requires two sealed body bags, or a sealed casket or metal container, inside an approved outer container, and American Airlines Cargo says dry ice is not necessary and asks shippers to check the rules at origin and destination. For a death overseas, the other country's law comes first; the U.S. Embassy in Peru, for example, lists embalming among Peru's requirements for sending remains out of the country.

How Much Does Embalming Cost?

The National Funeral Directors Association's 2023 Member General Price List Study put NFDA's national median for embalming at $845, up from $775 in 2021. It lists other preparation of the body, such as casketing, cosmetology, dressing and grooming, separately at a median of $295, and the use of facilities and staff for a viewing at $475. These are medians from NFDA member funeral homes' price lists, not quotes, and NFDA notes that costs vary by region.

NFDA also counts embalming in its median for a funeral with viewing and burial, covered in How Much Does a Funeral Cost in 2026? To see what it adds to a real quote, enter each home's embalming price in the Funeral Price Comparison Calculator, or set the preparation line to "Not chosen" in the Funeral Cost Calculator: Itemize a Traditional Burial.

Refrigeration and Other Alternatives to Embalming

Refrigeration is the alternative the Funeral Rule itself names. The state rules above also accept dry ice in Minnesota and a sealed leak- and odor-proof container in Texas. Refrigeration is not one of the items the Rule requires on the General Price List, so ask how the home charges for it and for how many days.

Two arrangements leave embalming out by design. Under the Rule, a direct cremation or an immediate burial takes place without formal viewing, visitation or ceremony with the body present, though an immediate burial may include a graveside service. Direct Cremation Explained: What Is Included and What Is Not covers what that price includes, and the Green Burial Cost Calculator shows what changes when embalming, the vault and the sealed casket come off the bill.

Can You Refuse Embalming? How to Decline It

Yes, in most situations, and it is easiest at the start:

• Say it on the first call: "Please do not embalm." The Rule requires approval that names embalming, so a clear no matters. Follow up by email or text so there is a record.
• Ask for the General Price List and find the embalming line and the disclosure beside it.
• Ask how long the home can keep the body under refrigeration, and what it charges.
• If the family wants to see the person, ask whether the home allows a short private viewing without embalming.
• If you are told the law requires embalming, ask which law. The Rule requires the home to identify and describe in writing, on your itemized statement, any legal requirement it cites (section 453.3(d)(2)).
• Check the itemized statement before you sign or pay, and question any embalming charge you did not approve.

Putting Your Embalming Wishes in Writing

If you do not want embalming, write that down with your other wishes, along with what you want instead: refrigeration, a direct cremation or immediate burial, a private family viewing. Minnesota, for one, lets a person direct the preparation, type and place of their own final disposition in writing, and whoever controls the disposition must carry out reasonable, lawful directions to the extent the person provided the money for them; advance arrangements must be written, dated, signed and witnessed. The Funeral Planning Checklist: Planning Your Own Arrangements in Advance covers the rest of the plan.

More on this topic: Burial or Cremation: How to Decide · What to Do When Someone Dies: A Checklist by Time

Embalming rules come from federal regulation, state law and each funeral home's policy. The Texas, Louisiana and Minnesota rules cited here are examples, not the rule everywhere; confirm yours with your state's funeral board or health department. This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

• Federal Trade Commission, via eCFR: 16 CFR Part 453, Funeral Industry Practices (the Funeral Rule)
• National Funeral Directors Association: 2023 NFDA General Price List Study Shows Inflation Increasing Faster than the Cost of a Funeral (December 8, 2023)
• Texas Funeral Service Commission: Facts About Funerals
• Louisiana State Legislature: R.S. 37:848
• Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes:Minnesota Statutes 149A.91, Preparation of Body; 149A.93, Transportation of Dead Human Bodies; 149A.80, Right to Control and Duty of Disposition
• Southwest Airlines Cargo: Human Remains
• American Airlines Cargo: Human Remains
• U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy in Peru: Disposition of Remains

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a funeral home embalm without permission?

Not for a fee, except in two situations under the FTC Funeral Rule: state or local law requires embalming in the circumstances whatever the family chooses, or the home cannot reach the family after diligent effort, has no reason to think they would object, and gets their approval afterward. Otherwise the Rule requires prior approval, expressly described as embalming, from a family member or other authorized person. Minnesota goes further and requires written authorization, or oral permission that uses the word embalm, confirmed in writing as soon as possible.

Do you have to be embalmed to be cremated?

No. The FTC Funeral Rule bars a funeral home from saying embalming is required for a direct cremation, and the Texas Funeral Service Commission states that embalming and a casket are not required for cremation. A body can be refrigerated while it waits; in Texas, for example, cremation cannot take place within 48 hours of death unless a medical examiner or justice of the peace waives the wait. If a viewing comes first, the home may require embalming for the viewing itself.

Can the family see the body without embalming?

That depends on the funeral home and the state, so ask before anything is decided. Minnesota, for example, does not treat a viewing as public when it is limited to the people on its list of who may control a disposition, such as the spouse, adult children, parents, siblings and grandchildren, and their minor children, so its public-viewing rule does not apply. Ask the home whether it allows a short private viewing for the immediate family without embalming, and what it charges.

Who decides whether a body is embalmed?

The person with the legal right to control the disposition, which state law sets. In Texas, for example, that is first a person the deceased designated, then the surviving spouse, then any one of the adult children, then either parent, then any one of the adult siblings, then the next of kin in the order of inheritance. Naming that person in writing puts your choice first, and the Texas Funeral Service Commission publishes a form for the written designation.

What if my religion does not allow embalming?

Tell the funeral home at the first call. Under the FTC Funeral Rule you can usually choose an arrangement that does not require embalming, and some state laws make room for faith directly: Louisiana's statute says nothing in its embalming rules requires embalming where the practices and beliefs of a religious group prohibit it. Ask how the home will care for the body until the burial, such as by refrigeration.