Home Burials
How do Wisconsin laws affect the the growing home-funeral movement? Here are facts and resources to help you through the complexities of the system.

In Wisconsin, home burials are legal. However, one still has to fill out the proper permits (of which there are many), and fill them out meticulously. Check with your local Office of Vital Records to learn about regulations in your area. You ll find their number in the phone book.

Cremation
Cremation is becoming more accepted in Wisconsin and the rest of the United States. By the year 2010, the cremation rate is expected to rise to around 50%. Cremation is already popular in other areas of the world, with between 50-75% cremation rates in both England and Japan.

In Wisconsin, there is a 48-hour waiting period before cremation is permitted. Although there aren't any state laws restricting where you may scatter cremains, you must get permission from the cemetery if you choose to bury or deposit cremains on its grounds. The state must be notified of the final disposition of the cremains within 60 days, even if you decide to keep them at home.

Embalming
There is no law in Wisconsin controlling when bodies should be embalmed. In fact, Wisconsin law does not require that bodies be embalmed at all. In a few states embalming is required when crossing state lines; a few more states require embalming when the body is being transported by a common carrier.

Embalming has become a controversial topic. Some believe that embalming methods used by funeral homes do not preserve the body more than a few days and that dry ice or refrigeration would serve just as well. Also, it s questionable whether embalming is considered good for public health. Some feel it s a health hazard since it opens up the body and exposes workers to bodily fluids. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends all embalmers work in gloves, facemasks and body suits. Embalming was once thought to halt the spread of communicable diseases but new studies have shown that certain bacterium can be found in bodies even after the process.

Funeral Homes
Wisconsin is one of many states that adopted the Funeral Rule. This rule requires that funeral homes give out specific price lists on request for items and services offered. Since it is considered common for traditional funeral homes to mark up a casket by a large percentage --sometimes as much as 300-500% writes Earnest Morgan, author of Dealing Creatively with Death -- these price lists are extremely valuable.

According to Lisa Carlson, author of Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love (Upper Access Inc., 1998), most people do not shop around for a funeral home but rather choose one that has already served the family in the past or is closest to their home. Price does not seem to be factor in the decision. This is surprising since funeral homes are, in a sense, competing for business. Based on statistics gathered in 1995-96, there were 590 full-time mortuaries in Wisconsin, when the death rate could reasonably support less than a third of those (approx. 180).

It is illegal in Wisconsin for a mortuary to own a cemetery or vice versa, though a few big funeral home chains have tried in recent years to test that law.

Organ/Body Donation
There are two medical schools in Wisconsin that accept body donations, the University of Wisconsin Medical School and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Both encourage prior enrollment.

To learn more, contact:

University of Wisconsin, School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy
1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706
Ph: 608/262-2888

The Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Anatomy
8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226
Ph: 414/257-8261

For more information about body donor programs in other parts of the U.S., visit the Anatomical Board of America for a complete list.

Resources
Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love, by Lisa Carlson
Upper Access Inc., 1998
This book includes examples of people who choose home burials for their loved ones, as well as listings of burial and cremation-related laws in each state.

Wisconsin Funeral Service: A Consumer's Guide, 3rd edition
Prepared in cooperation with the Wisconsin Funeral Director's Association, it focuses on burials and cremations in funeral homes and touches on what things funeral homes can and cannot do by Wisconsin law. If you can t find this brochure in your library, visit the Wisconsin Funeral Director's Association Web site for similar information.

Funerals: A Consumer Guide, 1996
Published by the Federal Trade Commission Consumer and Small Business Advisory, it offers a wealth of basic information in an easy, straight-forward way. The guide is available online at numerous sites including at http://www.lincon.com/consumer/brochures/content/misc/funeral/funeral.htm

Wisconsin Death Trip, by Michael Lesy and Charles Van Schaick
University of New Mexico Press, 2000
A glimpse into the past to help us better understand how we deal with death today, the book includes photos taken by Charles Van Schaik from 1890 -1910 and essays from turn of the 20th century editions of the Badger State Banner, Black River Falls, WI.

Dealing Creatively with Death: A Manual of Death Education & Simple Burial, by Earnest Morgan
Upper Access Book Publishers, 14th edition, 2001
The book covers a wide range of death-related problems: social, emotional, philosophical and practical. It has been updated every 2 or 3 years for the last 28 years.

Organizations in Wisconsin to contact for more information
Nonprofit Funeral Consumer Information Societies and Memorial Societies of WI
6900 Lost Lake Road, Egg Harbor, WI 54209-9231
Ph:920/868-3136 or 1-800-374-1109

Funeral Consumer Information Society of Milwaukee Area
13001 W. North Ave., Brookfield, WI 53005
Ph:414/782-3535

Wisconsin Center for Health Statistics (for a pamphlet called Burial by Immediate Family Members)
PO Box 309, Madison, WI 53701

Helpful Links
For more information about the film A Family Undertaking

The Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA), previously known as Funeral and Memorial Society of America

The National Funeral Director's Alliance

National Casket Retailers Association

Consumer Reports, May 2001 issue about prepaid funerals