Title XXVI, Cemeteries; Burials; Dead Bodies

Any person wishing to have a temporary right of entry over private land in order to enter a private burial ground enclosure to which there is no public right of way may apply in writing to the selectmen of a town or the mayor of a city stating the reason for such request, which m…

I. Any person or organization interested in caring for a burial ground which has not been maintained and the owner of which is unknown, or whose present address in unknown, may petition the selectmen, town council, mayor, or cemetery trustees for permission to clean, maintain, re…

Historic burial grounds and cemeteries, including their markers, walls, gates, and other associated and identifying features and artifacts, are meaningful to the history, historic landscape, cultural, religious, craft and architectural traditions of the state; were established pr…

Whenever there is a public necessity for the discontinuance of any municipal cemetery and the removal of the remains of persons buried in such cemetery, the cemetery may be discontinued by a 3/4 vote of the legal voters present and voting at any town meeting held for the purpose,…

The governing body may, at the expense of the municipality, disinter all the remains of persons buried in such cemetery and reinter the same in the unoccupied part of another cemetery within the municipality, such reinterment to be in the place designated by the nearest surviving…

The monuments, gravestones, and other appurtenances attached to the graves shall be carefully removed and properly set up at the place of reinterment with as little injury as the nature of the case will admit. In case of injury to any monument, gravestone, or appurtenance, the da…

I. Whenever a burial space or spaces in any cemetery subject to the provisions of this subdivision have remained unused for a period of 50 years, and the owner has not improved such space or spaces by causing a monument, gravestone, or other permanent appurtenance to be placed on…

Whenever a burial ground within the boundaries of the town has been neglected for a period of 20 years or more, the municipality may declare it abandoned for purposes of preservation, maintenance or restoration.

Every municipality shall provide, or may enter into agreements with adjacent municipalities or nonprofit entities to provide, one or more suitable cemeteries for the interment of deceased persons, which shall be subject to such regulations as the municipality may establish. In th…

Upon the sale of cemetery lots, the legislative body may, at any annual or special meeting, vote to determine whether funds received from such sale shall be deposited in the general fund of the town as a sale of town property or deposited with the trustees of trust fund for the m…

To declare a burial ground abandoned: I. The municipality shall place an advertisement in at least one newspaper having general distribution in the municipality and surrounding area. The advertisement shall state the intent of the municipality, identifying the burial ground by na…

Any burial ground declared abandoned under these provisions shall become a municipal cemetery for management purposes and shall be managed by the cemetery trustees, who shall assume all the authorization and rights of natural lineal descendants.

No person shall make gravestone rubbings in any municipal cemetery or burial ground without first obtaining the written permission of the town selectmen or the mayor of a city or designee. Before granting such permission, the selectmen or mayor will ascertain to the best of their…

All other unauthorized conduct under RSA 635:6 and 635:7 regarding the abuse of cemeteries shall be penalized as provided in RSA 635:8.

All cemeteries and burial grounds shall be laid out in accordance with the following requirements: I. No cemetery shall be laid out within 100 feet of any dwelling house, schoolhouse or school lot, store or other place of business without the consent of the owner of the same, nor…

Every municipality shall raise and appropriate sufficient funds, by taxation or otherwise, to provide for the suitable care and maintenance of the municipal public cemeteries within its boundaries which are not otherwise provided for by an alternative funding source. Every munici…

The corporate officer or designee of a cemetery corporation or town cemetery trustees charged with the responsibility of operation and administration of any cemetery under their control shall keep a record of every burial showing the date of burial and name of the person buried, …

I. Every municipality shall elect a board of cemetery trustees consisting of 3 members, unless a town at an annual or special town meeting votes that the board shall consist of 5 members. In the initial election of cemetery trustees, they shall be elected by ballot at an annual t…

I. Except in those municipalities in which other provisions have been made by a general or special act of the legislature, all cemetery trustees in the state shall: (a) Adopt bylaws and regulations for their transaction of business and for the establishment and management of all …

Any person designated as a cemetery trustee failing to comply with the provisions of RSA 289:7 shall be guilty of a violation. Any other person who violates this chapter or any regulation established under the authority of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation.

Cemetery corporations and the trust fund trustees of municipalities may take and hold funds in trust, and may apply the income of the trust to the improvement, watering, or embellishment of the cemetery, or to the care, preservation, or embellishment of any lot or its appurtenanc…

Whenever a person shall die, the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician associate attending at the last sickness shall complete and deliver to the funeral director, next-of-kin as defined in RSA 290:16, IV, or designated agent under RSA 290:17 or shall comple…

Whenever a fetal death shall occur, the attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician associate shall fill out a fetal death record. This will be solely a statistical report.

If an anticipated death occurs in a hospital, a nursing home, a private home served by a home health care provider licensed under RSA 151, an assisted living residence as defined in RSA 161-J:2, II, or a hospice, the registered nurse attending at the last sickness may pronounce t…

The record of death upon which the permit is issued shall be forwarded to the town clerk within 6 days after it is received.

I. No dead body of a human being may be released or transferred from any residence, hospital, or other facility to any person other than a funeral director or designee, or to the next-of-kin as defined in RSA 290:16, IV, or designated agent under RSA 290:17 who shall be responsib…

Such transfer shall be made under the direction of a funeral director, next-of-kin as defined in RSA 290:16, IV, or designated agent under RSA 290:17, and the funeral director, funeral director's representative, next-of-kin, or designated agent shall leave with the institution fr…

Any body for which a burial or removal permit has been secured, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, may be taken through or into another town for funeral services without additional permits.

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of RSA 290 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

A justice, upon complaint made on oath by any person that he has reasonable ground for suspecting that a deceased person who has been interred came to his death by some unlawful means, may issue his warrant, requiring that the body shall be disinterred and examined, and may summo…

In this subdivision: I. "At-need funeral arrangements" means funeral arrangements made after death. II. "Custody and control" means the right to make all decisions, consistent with applicable laws, regarding the handling of a dead body, including but not limited to possession, at…

The custody and control of the remains of deceased residents of this state are governed by the following provisions: I. If the subject has designated a person to have custody and control in a written and signed document, custody and control belong to that person. The person desig…

Notwithstanding RSA 290:17, if the surviving spouse and the subject were estranged at the time of death, the spouse shall not have custody and control of the subject's remains. In this case, custody and control belong to the next of kin following the spouse.

Notwithstanding other provisions of this subdivision, the court of probate for the residence of the deceased may award custody and control to the person determined by the court most fit and appropriate to carry out the responsibilities of custody and control, and may make decisio…

No dead body of a human being shall be removed from a hospital, a nursing home, a private home served by a home health care provider licensed under RSA 151, or a hospice without a pronouncement of death certified by hand or other approved electronic process by a physician or a re…

If the subject has left written and signed instructions regarding funeral arrangements and disposal of the subject's remains, the person having custody and control shall abide by those wishes to the extent that the subject paid for those arrangements in advance or left resources …

Except to the degree it must be considered by the court under RSA 290:19, IV, the fact that a person other than the subject has paid or agreed to pay for all or part of arrangements does not give that person a greater right to custody and control than that person would otherwise …

The personal representative of the estate of the subject does not, by virtue of being the personal representative, have a greater right to custody and control than the person would otherwise have.

A party who, in good faith, acts upon the instructions of the party having custody and control is not liable for having carried out those instructions.

The ownership of a cemetery plot or burial space, as defined under RSA 289:1, II, shall be governed by the following provisions: I. If the deceased has designated a person to assume ownership of the cemetery lot or burial space in a written and signed document, ownership passes t…

It shall be the duty of the funeral director, next-of-kin as defined in RSA 290:16, IV, or designated agent under RSA 290:17 to add to the death record the date and place of burial, and having certified the same by hand or other approved electronic process, to forward it to the d…

Whenever it shall be determined that a dead fetus will be disposed of by means of burial or cremation, the burial permit will be issued in accordance with the rules and regulations of the department of health and human services.

The division of vital records administration, department of state, may issue an emergency burial permit in an emergency as defined by RSA 5-C:70.

In any case in which the town where the death occurred and the town of residence or burial is different, the burial permit shall indicate the actual date of interment where the dead body is stored in a tomb or vault prior to burial.

No interment of the dead body of a human being, nor disposition of the body in a tomb or vault, shall be made without a permit, and only in accordance with it. No disinterment, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, of the dead body of a human being shall be made without a…