Can You Be Buried on Your Own Property in Massachusetts?

You can arrange a home burial on private property in Massachusetts, but only after you secure written approval from two separate local authorities — your town’s board of health and its governing body, usually the select board or city council — and only if the land itself meets the state’s siting rules.¹ The property also has to be under the control of the decedent’s family, so leased or rented land does not qualify. Burying someone first and dealing with paperwork later is not an option.

The Two Approvals You Need

Both approvals are written, and both must be in hand before burial. The board of health handles the site evaluation. The local governing body — select board in most towns, city council in cities — signs off on establishing the family burial plot itself.¹

To open the board of health review, you submit a site plan showing the proposed burial location in relation to your property lines, along with setback distances to every wetland, pond, river, stream, and private or public well in the surrounding area.¹ Each municipality handles the review on its own schedule. Some towns have never processed a home burial request, so timelines vary widely and you should expect the process to take weeks rather than days.

Getting the Burial Permit

Site approval is not the same as authorization to inter remains. Under M.G.L. Chapter 114, Section 45, no person may bury or otherwise dispose of a human body until a burial permit has been issued by the board of health, its designated agent, or the town clerk.² The permit will not be issued until the board receives a satisfactory written statement of the facts required by law and a death certificate signed by the attending physician, or by a physician affiliated with the board if that is necessary.

If you hire a funeral director, they usually handle this. Massachusetts does allow families to manage a burial directly, in which case obtaining the permit is your responsibility. Burying someone without one can lead to legal consequences, including an exhumation order.

Whether Your Land Actually Qualifies

The most common reason a home burial cannot go forward is the property itself. M.G.L. Chapter 114, Section 35 prohibits burial on any land where surface water or ground drainage could flow into a stream, pond, reservoir, well, or other source of public water supply, including any tributary or aqueduct connected to one, unless the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has reviewed and approved a written plan for the site.³

State guidance directs boards of health to forward every approved home burial request to the appropriate MassDEP regional office anyway.¹ Properties near wetlands, floodplains, or any waterway connected to municipal water systems draw the closest scrutiny. If MassDEP denies the plan, the burial cannot happen there no matter what the town has said.

The state also recommends hiring a Certified Soil Evaluator to perform a geologic evaluation of the proposed burial area. That evaluation covers the estimated seasonal high water table, soil composition to a depth of at least four feet, depth to bedrock, and how consistent conditions are across the plot.¹ The bottom of the excavation must sit at least three feet of naturally occurring soil above the seasonal high water table, and the body must be covered by at least three feet of soil.

A few more physical limits will disqualify a property outright: the plot cannot be inside a FEMA Velocity Zone or a 100- or 500-year flood zone, and the ground slope cannot exceed 3:1.¹ Land with seasonal flooding, high water tables, shallow bedrock, or steep terrain is unlikely to qualify.

Casket, Vault, and Green Burial Rules

Massachusetts has no state law directly addressing green burials and no statewide requirement to use a vault, casket, or grave liner for a home burial.⁴ Concrete grave liners are a cemetery policy, not a legal mandate, so on your own land a biodegradable shroud or a simple wooden container is generally acceptable. Green burial in Massachusetts typically means no embalming, no metal or hardwood casket, and no vault.

One boundary worth naming: a board of health can prohibit green burial of someone who died from an infectious disease, pending its own review.¹

The Zoning Wrinkle

Local zoning ordinances, operating under M.G.L. Chapter 40A, control how land within a municipality may be used.⁵ Most residential zoning codes do not mention private burials at all, which leaves a gray area. Some towns read their codes as prohibiting burials on residentially zoned land. Others treat it as permitted so long as the health and environmental rules are satisfied.

If your town’s zoning is not clearly permissive, you may need a special permit or variance from the zoning board of appeals, which usually means a public hearing where abutters can object. A property with conservation restrictions may also need approval from the local conservation commission. Outcomes depend heavily on how your town views nontraditional land uses.

Recording the Burial on the Deed

Massachusetts expects families who conduct a home burial to record it on the property deed before the land can be transferred.¹ Once the board of health approves the site, file a copy of the approved site plan as an addendum to the deed at the county Registry of Deeds. That way, a future buyer, heir, or title searcher will find the grave during a routine title check.

Keep detailed private records too. Document the GPS coordinates of the grave, the identity of the person buried, and the date. A restrictive covenant setting the burial site’s boundaries and prohibiting disturbance of the remains adds another layer of protection. Without those records, a grave can easily be disturbed during future construction or landscaping by someone who never knew it was there.

If the Property Is Later Sold

Nothing in Massachusetts law prohibits selling land that contains a private grave, but the burial site must remain undisturbed unless the proper steps are followed. The grave will appear in a title search, and buyers will want to understand what comes with it. Realistically, a burial on residential property can reduce buyer interest and complicate the appraisal.

If a new owner or the original family wants to move the remains, they must first obtain an exhumation permit from the board of health or town clerk where the body is buried. Section 45 of Chapter 114 requires that permit before anyone can exhume a body and move it to a different grave, cemetery, or town.² The family of the deceased should be notified before any relocation. Some municipalities also impose deed restrictions preventing future development directly over the grave.

Descendant access is a separate concern. Massachusetts does not have a specific statute granting descendants an automatic right to visit graves on private land. Once the property is sold, visiting the grave requires the new owner’s permission. The most reliable protection is to negotiate an express easement at the time of sale, recorded in the deed, granting descendants the right to enter the property at reasonable times to visit and maintain the grave. Without that easement, a new owner can legally refuse access.

When To Bring in an Attorney

A home burial touches property law, environmental regulation, municipal zoning, and public health at the same time. An attorney familiar with Massachusetts land use can help you prepare the board of health application, draft the deed amendment and any restrictive covenants, and build a visitation easement into a future sale. That kind of help matters most in towns that have little experience with home burial requests, where the absence of established procedures can produce delays or denials that better preparation would have avoided.

Estate planning is the other side of the same problem. Putting a wish to be buried on your own land in your will alone is often not enough, because a will is frequently not read until after disposition of remains has already happened. A separate burial directive, advance communication with your board of health, and a family that understands the approval steps are what turn the wish into something your family can actually carry out.

1
Mass.gov. Information for Local Boards of Health on Home Burials and Green Burials
2
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 114 Section 45 – Burial Permits, Permits For Removal Of Bodies, Certificates Of Death, Deceased Veterans
3
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 114 Section 35 – Lands to Be Used for Burial, Approval
4
Mass.gov. Issues to Consider in Preparing for Disposition of Decedents
5
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A – Zoning