Arranging a cremation or burial - what is involved?

There are quite a few practical steps which must be taken before a person can be buried or cremated. Some of them are to do with the person's body itself and some are to do with the paperwork which is required by law in NZ. Most people are unfamiliar with the process and can find all the forms overwhelming. However taking a step-by-step approach will help you to find your way through it all. I will go into the steps in more detail below, but a good summary of the paperwork requirements, plus some tasks that may need to be done if you are arranging a home funeral in NZ, can be found here.

The Department of Internal Affairs has also put out some useful guidance in their brochure Before Burial or Cremation.

Most of the information on this website relates to standard land burials or cremations. Cremation is usually a lot cheaper than burial, as no plot is required (although it is possible to buy a plot for the interment of a person's ashes if you wish). In NZ approximately 75% of people are cremated. It is also possible to be buried at sea, or on private land in some circumstances. If you are interested in either of these options, please click here.

The importance of local Councils and ownership

In NZ, all cemeteries are owned by Territorial Authorities (local Councils) who either operate them directly or contract out these operations, which is another story in itself. Councils own the land on which crematoria are located, and they either build and operate the actual crematoria themselves (these are the "public crematoria") or they license others to do so. All crematoria are operated by so-called "crematorium authorities" which are licensed by Territorial Authorities, and may be Council-owned entities, individuals, or private businesses - that is, funeral homes.

The cost of burial or cremation will vary depending on where you live. Different Councils charge very different amounts for both cremations and burials - there is no standard charge, and due to funding pressures many Councils are now withdrawing subdidies for these services which at one time were partially funded through rates. This has led to significant price increases in recent times.

Public cemeteries and crematoria have set fees for their services. These are transparent and usually include the use of a chapel which can be hired by the hour. However there are no controls (other than market forces) on what privately-owned and operated crematoria may charge for their services, or how they are offered. Funeral homes therefore often require their cremation services to be purchased as part of a package, which may or may not include access to their chapel. Often their fees are not transparent, with large amounts allocated to "professional services". In either case, once a person has been cremated their ashes will become available for collection in the next few days.

If you are planning to make arrangements without the help of a funeral director it is very helpful to find out the requirements of the cemetery or crematorium you are thinking of using well in advance. Public crematoria will almost always deal directly with families but privately-owned crematoria often will not. Even where a public crematorium is available, some councils are more helpful than others. For example, Whakatane District Council provides some very good information on arranging a cremation or burial without a funeral director. Other councils are not so cooperative, as this unfortunate story attests. This (hopefully unusual) case certainly reinforces the importance of being prepared in advance.

Paperwork requirements

In NZ the paperwork requirements for burial and cremation differ significantly. In the case of cremation, four extra steps are required. This is because NZ operates a "medical referee" system which requires two separate doctors to provide certificates before a body can be cremated. The second doctor checks for the possibiilty of the death being wrongful or unnecessary, in which case the Coroner must be alerted. This is a public interest provision designed to guard against the possibility of important evidence being destroyed.

The fact that a body can be exhumed later, if necessary, means there is no requirement for a medical referee's signoff in the case of burial. However as both embalming and burial destroy much of the evidence that modern pathologists use to determine the cause and circumstances of a death, it is unclear why medical referees are not involved in all cases of body disposal.

Arranging a cremation or burial - the practical steps

Step 1 - certification of cause of death

In New Zealand a funeral cannot take place, and a body cannot be legally disposed of, until the cause of death has been certified. This is usually done by a doctor or nurse practitioner who signs a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death or MCCD (often referred to incorrectly as the "death certificate"). If a coroner has been involved, an Authorisation for Release of Body must be obtained before the body can be collected. Once these forms have been completed, the body can be uplifted and prepared for either burial or cremation.

Step 2 - filling out the application forms

Each local Council will have its own forms which you will need to fill out in order to apply for either a burial or cremation. These can be found on their websites, and cemetery or crematorium staff will usually explain their processes, point you to the forms and may even send out information to you by email. This will guide you on such things as what materials a casket can be made of, how and where to deliver the body etc. So long as the wording of each form is compliant with regulations you don't have to use the exact form from each organisation. My Further resources page has a link to a Ministry of Health document which contains generic versions of all the forms required.

Payment will be required at the time the application forms are sent in, and once that has been received a booking can be made for either cremation or interment. If you live in an area where the crematoria are privately owned or operated (eg in Northland) you will either have to pay for their services, or book a public crematorium some distance from your dead person and drive them there. If the person was not normally resident in the borough where the crematorium is located, you may have to pay an additional "out of district" fee.

Applying for a cremation

The forms which must be obtained, and submitted to the crematorium, before a body can be cremated are as follows:

All these documents are well known to doctors, as they use them all the time. Doctors have access to all the forms (with the exception of Form A - the Application to Cremate) via the Ministry of Health's "Death Documents" website. As this is not accessible by the public the certifying doctor will either provide them for you, or you can download them from the internet, just via a simple search. The certifying doctor can also communicate with and send documents to the medical referee directly if they know you are handling the funeral arrangements yourself, and not using a funeral director.

Each of the above forms (except Form B which is optional), must be received by the crematorium, along with payment, before they will accept a body for cremation.

The medical referee's role

The medical referee's role is to check the information on the MCCD, Forms A, AB and B the then sign the Permission to Cremate. For some people in some locations, difficulty in locating a medical referee may delay completion of the paperwork. The good news is that although crematoria usually have their own stable of medical referees, if they all happen to be unavailable then technically any medical referee can examine any dead person's cause of death information and sign the Permission to Cremate form. If you run into any difficulties obtaining a Permission to Cremate, you can contact Dr Larry Jordan at larry.jordan@wellingtonmedical.co.nz, a medical referee associated with Whenua Tapu cemetery in Porirua who may be able to provide you with the form, or give helpful advice.

It is also worth finding out whether the medical referee's fee is included in the crematorium's charges. Often it is, but some medical referees will attempt to charge directly for their services even though they are already being paid by the crematorium. Ask questions and find out exactly what procedure you need to follow (for instance who emails what to whom in what order) to avoid being double charged. Sadly this kind of thing is rife within the funeral industry - it always pays to check thoroughly what you are being charged for and by whom.

Pacemakers & defibrillators

If the dead person had a pacemaker or defibrillator implanted, this must be removed before cremation as the batteries in these devices have been known to explode and could potentially injure staff. If the person dies in a hospital a doctor will remove the device, but if the person dies at home or in a rest home, finding someone to remove it might be more difficult. If the certifying doctor does not remove it, you will need to either find another doctor who will, do it yourself if you are sufficiently skilled, or find an embalmer who can do it for you. Funeral directors always have embalmers they can contact to do this, but they may be unwilling to divulge their details if you are not using their services.

At present there is no simple way to solve this problem - you will probably need to ask awkward questions, raise your voice, jump up and down and froth at the mouth, and otherwise use all your creativity and influence. Try not to get arrested. Obviously opting for burial is one solution as then the device can stay where it is. Of course in the vast majority of cases the person will not have a pacemaker or defibrillator, but it is something to be aware of.

Applying for a standard land burial

The forms which must be obtained before a body can be buried in a standard council cemetery are as follows:

The council will need to be paid upfront for the burial plot, and the cost of this will vary widely from council to council. You will be required to provide the exact dimensions of the casket or coffin you will be using. All councils have casket size limits above which special arrangements will have to be made and extra fees paid.

"Natural" or "Eco" burial

So-called "eco funerals" and "natural burials" are becoming more popular in NZ. Certified natural burials can take place only in certain designated areas or particular cemeteries. The process of arranging one is administered by Natural Burials, a not-for-profit organisation which has advocated for, and supported this practice in NZ for many years. You can arrange a natural burial yourself, but in order to do so you will need to comply with their certification requirements, including their standards for caskets and coffins. Full details of the processes involved can be found on the Natural Burials website, including a list of all the natural burial cemetery locations in NZ.

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Burial at sea

It is possible to be buried at sea in NZ's exclusive economic zone. Full details of how to go about it, and the application form, are provided here. The cost of assessing and issuing the permit is charged hourly according to the fees schedule relating to Exclusive Economic Zone Activities. You will need to make all the arrangements for transporting the body yourself.

Burial on private land

This is theoretically possible, but I have been told that to get the authorisation for it is very tricky. Apparently it can take up to two years to arrange. This video seems to contain some good information (from 4:00 onwards) on the difficulties involved.

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Step 3 - Registering a death

After a cremation or burial the person's death must be registered with Births Deaths and Marriages, a division of the Department of Internal Affairs. No payment is required for this. The Notification of Death for Registration form (NDR) is quite long and complicated so start gathering the information early - ideally before the person has died. For instance it will ask for information about their parents which may be quite difficult to find out once they are dead, especially if their birth documents are not available. This form is available online here. A pdf version is available here.

The NDR is supposed to be sent to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages within three days of the burial or cremation, but in reality they will wait if more time is needed to obtain some of the information required. They prefer the information to be delayed and correct rather than on time and inaccurate or incomplete.

Applying for a Death Certificate

The NDR form includes a box which can be ticked in order to request a death certificate, which requires a payment of $33. The death certificate will be provided once the death has been registered. A death certificate may be needed to close bank accounts and finalise other aspects of the dead person's business. However, when placing a death notice in a newspaper, if the paper wants to see a "Death Certificate" you can use the MCCD.

A website called Funeral Notice NZ provides a place for people to advise of someone's death without having to use a newspaper. You can also write an obituary for the person and post a photo, even years after the event.

The website My Trove provides a centralised platform for notifying many other government and private organisations about someone's death.

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While every effort has been made to present accurate and up-to-date information on this website, no responsiblity can be accepted for consequences arising from reliance on it. I encourage you to share it with anyone who may be interested in reducing the costs involved in saying goodbye to a loved one. Please use common sense, make careful local enquiries, and spread the word!