Can I Have a Backyard Burial in Nevada if I Miscarry?
Full Question:
Answer:
Generally, a permit must be issued to have a backyard burial in Nevada.
Please see the information at the following link:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2001/Nov-26-Mon-2001/news/17502243.html
Please see the following NV statutes:
NRS 440.450 Prerequisites to disposal of body.
The funeral director or person acting as undertaker is
responsible for obtaining and filing the certificate of death
with the local health officer, or his or her deputy, in the
registration district in which the death occurred, and for
securing a burial or removal permit prior to any disposition
of the body.
NRS 440.420 Duties of funeral director, health officer and
coroner when death occurs without medical attendance.
1. In case of any death occurring without medical
attendance, the funeral director shall notify the local
health officer of such death and refer the case to the local
health officer for immediate investigation and certification.
2. Where there is no qualified physician in attendance, and in
such cases only, the local health officer is authorized to make
the certificate and return from the statements of relatives or
other persons having adequate knowledge of the facts.
3. If the death was caused by unlawful or suspicious means, the
local health officer shall then refer the case to the coroner for
investigation and certification.
4. In counties which have adopted an ordinance authorizing a
coroner's examination in cases of sudden infant death syndrome,
the funeral director shall notify the local health officer
whenever the cause or suspected cause of death is sudden infant
death syndrome. The local health officer shall then refer the case
to the coroner for investigation and certification.
5. The coroner or the coroner's deputy may certify the cause of
death in any case which is referred to the coroner by the local
health officer or pursuant to a local ordinance.
NRS 440.500 Burial and removal permits: Issuance; contents;
death from infectious, contagious or communicable disease.
1. Except as provided in subsections 2 and 3, if a
certificate of death is properly executed and complete, the
local health officer shall then issue a burial or removal
permit to the funeral director. The permit must indicate the
name of the cemetery, mausoleum, columbarium or other place
of burial where the human remains will be interred, inurned
or buried.
2. In case the death occurred from some disease that is held by
the Board to be infectious, contagious, or communicable and
dangerous to the public health, no permit for the removal or other
disposition of the body may be granted by the local health officer
except under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Board.
3. The Board may by regulation provide for the issuance of the
burial transit permit prior to the filing of the completed death
certificate if that requirement would result in undue hardship.
NRS 440.510 Contents of burial permit.
If the interment or other disposition of the body is to be
made within the State, the wording of the burial permit may
be limited to a statement by the local health officer and
over his or her signature that a satisfactory certificate of
death having been filed with him or her as required by law,
permission is granted to inter, remove or otherwise dispose
of the body of the deceased. The permit must include the
name, age, sex, social security number and cause of death of
the decedent, the name of the place where the human remains
will be interred, inurned or buried, and any other details
required on the form prescribed by the Board.
NRS 440.540 Necessity for permit to inter more than 72 hours
after death; removal of body to another registration district.
1. Except as provided in subsection 2, the body of any
person whose death occurs in this state shall not be
interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated or otherwise
disposed of, removed from or into any registration district,
or be held temporarily pending a further disposition more
than 72 hours after death, until a permit for burial or
removal or other disposition thereof has been properly issued
by the local health officer of the registration district in
which the death occurred.
2. If the person who is to certify the cause of death consents,
a body may be moved from the place of death into another
registration district to be prepared for final disposition.
NRS 440.560 Interment without burial permit prohibited.
No sexton or other person in charge of any premises in
which interments are made shall inter or permit the interment
or other disposition of any body unless it is accompanied by
a burial, removal or transit permit as provided in this
chapter.
NRS 440.070 Stillbirth defined.
As used in this chapter, stillbirth means a birth after at
least 20 weeks of gestation, in which the child shows no
evidence of life after complete birth.
NRS 440.030 Live birth defined.
As used in this chapter, live birth means a birth in which
the child shows evidence of life after complete birth. A
birth is complete when the child is entirely outside the
mother, even if the cord is uncut and the placenta still
attached. The words evidence of life include heart action,
breathing or coordinated movement of voluntary muscle.
NRS 440.020 Dead body defined.
As used in this chapter, "dead body" means a lifeless
human body, or such severed parts of the human body or the
bones thereof, from the state of which it reasonably may be
concluded that death had recently occurred, and where the
circumstances under which such dead body was found indicate
that the death has not been recorded.
NRS 440.040 Person in charge of interment defined.
As used in this chapter, "person in charge of interment"
means any person who places, or causes to be placed, a
deceased stillborn child, or dead body, or, after cremation,
the ashes thereof, in the earth, a grave, tomb, vault, urn or
other receptacle, either in a cemetery or at any other place,
or otherwise disposes thereof.
NRS 440.750 Interment, removal or other disposition of dead
body without permit.
Any funeral director, sexton or other person in charge of
the disposal who inters, removes or otherwise disposes of the
body of any deceased person without having received a burial
or removal permit shall be punished by a fine of not more
than $250.