If you have preferences about how your funeral services are conducted or if you have preferences about where and how you are buried, it is important to let the people who are closest to you know about your wishes. A good way to help ensure that your funeral and burial preferences are honored is to include specific instructions in your will.
The information below is based on Kansas law and City of Lawrence cemetery rules and regulations and may not be applicable in other jurisdictions.
Do I have to be embalmed?
No. However, Kansas law does prohibit the transport of an unenbalmed dead human body by a shipping or transportation company.
Can I be buried on my own property?
Nothing in Kansas law requires burial in a cemetery or prohibits burial on private property. Local zoning rules may affect your ability to be buried on your own property. The Douglas County Code does not appear to prohibit burials on private property. HOWEVER, before proceeding with a private burial you must make sure that a death certificate has been filed. If the death occurred outside of a hospital or nursing home, the county coroner should be notified.
If I am cremated, what can be done with my ashes?
Kansas law does not have any provision regarding the disposition of cremated remains after they are delivered by the crematory to next of kin or other authorized persons. If you have preferences about what should be done with your ashes, make sure that those preferences are specified in your will or that your close family members know your wishes.
Do I have to use the services of a mortuary?
City of Lawrence cemetery rules do not require funeral services or interments to be conducted by a mortuary. However, the cemetery does not provide funeral service items such as tents, chairs, grass matting, or a lowering device.
Do I have to have a casket and a concrete vault?
In the cemeteries operated by the City of Lawrence (except for the “natural burial” section of Oak Hill Cemetery), burials must be in concrete boxes, concrete vaults, or metal vaults, with the exception that infants may be buried in wooden boxes. In the natural burial area, a body “must be interred in at least a minimum of a cardboard carrier,” but any carrier or coffin must be made of biodegradable materials. No concrete or metal vaults are allowed in the natural burial area.
What is “natural burial” or “green burial”?
According to the Green Burial Council,
“Green burial is a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that furthers legitimate ecological aims such as the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.” The City of Lawrence natural burial area meets the Green Burial Council standards for a “natural burial ground” and was the first municipally operated green burial area in the United States.
What is the federal “Funeral Rule”?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adopted the Funeral Industry Trade Practices Regulation Rule, also known as “the Funeral Rule,” to protect family members making funeral arrangements. Among other things, the rule requires funeral homes to provide written price lists for caskets and vaults, and prohibits funeral homes from charging a fee for handling a casket purchased elsewhere. For more on “the Funeral Rule” and the rights of funeral consumers, see the FTC’s Funerals: A Consumer Guide or the legal rights guide provided by the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City.
Links
Douglas County cemeteries (partiallisting)
City of Lawrence (785) 832-3451 (Parks and Recreation Dept., Cemeteries)
Beni-Israel cemetery Near Eudora. Operated by the Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation (785) 841-7636
City of Eudora City Cemetery (785) 542-2153
City of Baldwin Oakwood Cemetery (785) 594-6427
Lawrence and Baldwin City mortuaries
Lamb-Roberts Funeral Home (785) 594-3644
Lawrence Chapel Oaks Cremation and Funeral Services (785) 841-3822
Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home and Crematory (785) 843-5111
Warren-McElwain Mortuary and Cremation Services (785) 843-1120
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Greater Kansas City http://www.funeralskc.org/
Green Burial Council http://www.greenburialcouncil.org/