Understanding the Law

While many people believe that dead bodies must be embalmed, the fact is that embalming is a choice. No state in the US requires embalming, but funeral businesses may have their own policy requiring embalming to use their facilities for public viewings and ceremonies.

Most states provide rules and regulations regarding embalming for professionals, and some have laws that impact families who choose to care for their loved ones without professional help. New Hampshire law is ambiguous at best, and misleading and confusing to many professionals and the public alike.

On This Page

  • Some facts about embalming every consumer should know
  • The embalming law in New Hampshire explained
  • How embalming requirements are handled elsewhere in the US

Facts About Embalming

  • The embalming process ensures a temporary preservative effect, usually with the assistance of formaldehyde-based chemicals, that cosmetically color and plump the skin to look more life-like during a public viewing or funeral service. (See Embalming Explained.)
  • Major organs are punctured and drained along with bodily fluids and replaced with embalming fluid. The discarded fluids go into the facility's dedicated line that empties into a private septic system or forwards to a wastewater treatment plant.
  • Embalming is not done in the interests of public health and safety. Embalming does not protect the public from a corpse's disease. The disposition of contagious disease cases are handled by the state. (See Dead Bodies and Disease: the Danger That Doesn't Exist by the Funeral Consumer Alliance's Executive Director Josh Slocum,  Dr. Michael Osterholm's letter from the Centers for Infectious Disease regarding the lack of need for embalming, and Excising a Health Risk by National Funeral Directors Association legal counsel Carol Lynn Green.)   
  • The preservative effects of formaldehyde usually last about two weeks before dissipating.
  • When an embalmed or unembalmed body is being held for longer periods of time, cool temperatures are primarily what slows down decomposition, such as in a mausoleum during winter months in cold climes.
  • Families may request the use of safe, effective, non-toxic, non-hazardous eco-balming with botanicals that also protect embalmers from the potential health risks of formaldehyde and other chemical exposure.
  • These may include methanol, dyes, hydrochloric acid, disinfectants, humectants, and sulfur dioxide, among others. Embalmers and funeral directors who embalm have a 13% higher death rate than the general public (Centers for Disease Control, Final Rights by Lisa Carlson and Joshua Slocum), an 8 x higher risk of leukemia than the general population (11.24.09 Journal of National Cancer Institute), a 3 x higher risk of ALS for embalmers (7.13.15 Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry) and risks for other disease abnormalities (1990 Journal of American Industrial Medicine; see also 
  • Families may choose to embalm for a variety of reasons; it is a choice.
  • Funeral homes may insist that the body be embalmed for a public viewing or public funeral ceremony as part of their own business policy.​
  • The Federal Trade Commission requires that the following language be included in the embalming section of every funeral home's General Price List: 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 have to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial.
  • The Federal Trade Commission advises the public that: Many funeral homes have a policy requiring embalming if the body is to be publicly viewed, but this is not required by law in most states.
  • Most funeral homes offer a private viewing opportunity that does not require embalming.

Understanding the New Hampshire Embalming Law

New Hampshire Title XXX Occupations and Professions 325:40-a states:
Deceased Human Bodies Exposed. — No dead human body shall be exposed to the public for a period in excess of 24 hours unless said body is properly embalmed. eff. July 1, 1971 (Source. 1971, 332:3)
This New Hampshire statute within the funeral director's profession is routinely misconstrued as saying, in effect, that bodies must be embalmed after 24 hours of being publicly viewed. It may also be misinterpreted to mean that bodies are legally required to be embalmed in order to have a viewing at all. Neither interpretation is accurate.
  • The letter of the law: A literal interpretation says that embalming is only required in the event that a body is going to be exposed to the public for a period of more than 24 hours. Even stretching the imagination to mean a noncontiguous total of 24 hours is not the same as saying that embalming is required after 24 hours from the time of death. This phrasing also seems to assume that it will be known irrefutably prior to the event that the body will be viewed for 24 hours or longer, requiring the procedure.
  • Whose 24 hours?: The law does not say anything about the time from the death to the procedure; it only says the time of being viewed. Who is running the clock? Are hospice nurses, physicians, hospital personnel, EMTs, paramedics, or family members responsible? Are funeral directors?
  • Public vs. Private: Home funerals, where the body is available for viewing by family, friends, invited guests, and other individuals in a private home or other unpublished venue, are by nature NOT considered public exposure. (See How to Have a Home Funeral in New Hampshire.)
  • What constitutes proper embalming?: The term “properly embalmed” begs for a definition. Arterial embalming may be the conventional standard, but botanical embalming is gaining ground, as are green embalming fluid options. What, conversely, constitutes improper embalming?
  • Refrigeration: NH law does not mention refrigeration, the most effective means of slowing decomposition. This may include storage in a walk-in or other properly sized cooler, use of A/C, use of dry ice, Techni-Ice®, cooling blankets, or having an open window during cold weather, all of which are effective, and mostly inexpensive. These techniques have been employed world-wide, some for eons, to positive effect and for lengthy periods of time. Requiring the use of refrigeration may be more affordable, manageable, and acceptable to individuals and families than requiring an expensive, invasive procedure.
  • Constitutional family rights: Having the State compel citizens to spend money on embalming for any reason could be considered an infringement on their family privacy rights.

How Other States Handle Embalming Requirements

​The following statistics demonstrate the inconsistent laws around preserving the body after death and prior to disposition. For instance, in the 14 states that require that the body be either embalmed or kept refrigerated, there are varying definitions of what refrigeration consists of, taking into account location, temperature, and length of time, plus condition of the body and any disease presence (and which ones are recognized and reportable in each state). Some laws fly in the face of true public safety, such as mandating that infectious or contagious corpses (they are different) be drained of fluids, recognizably the most dangerous thing to do.

Above all, it is clear from these laws that there are no conforming science-based guidelines, making the procedure mandate after 24 hours or 36 or 72 after the death arbitrary and unenforceable. (For a complete list of related state requirements, see State Requirements for Home Funerals, or go to the bottom the page for the Quick Guide to Legal Requirements by State Summary.)
  • 14 states have some form of "embalming OR refrigeration" requirements (one or the other must be performed at some point if it goes past the time allotment): Arizona • Arkansas • Colorado • Delaware • Florida • Hawaii • Kansas • Louisiana • Minnesota • Mississippi • Nevada • New Mexico • Texas • Virginia
  • 3 states do not recognize refrigeration as a valid alternative to embalming: Iowa • Michigan • North Dakota
  • 1 state requires embalming when the body will be exposed to the public for more than 24 hours: New Hampshire
  • 3 states prohibit embalming when infectious diseases are involved: Delaware • Hawaii • North Carolina 
  • 2 states require that bodies be embalmed in order to leave the state: Alabama • Arkansas
  • 8 states have statutes that mandate/give permission to embalm bodies that died of infectious or communicable diseases: Iowa • Kansas • Michigan • Minnesota • Missouri • Nevada • North Dakota • Wyoming
  • 1 state requires embalming of infected or communicable bodies specifically for public viewing: Oregon
  • 3 states require speedy disposition for bodies that died of infectious or communicable diseases: Missouri • Montana • Ohio
  • 7 states require embalming of all bodies being shipped by common carrier (airlines, trains, etc.) regardless of carrier requirements: Arkansas • Idaho • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Jersey • Wyoming (Certain faiths are routinely released from this requirement, while others are not)
  • 2 states’ Health Departments have the authority to determine whether a body with communicable disease will be embalmed: Minnesota • Nevada

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