DATABASE of rural & non-commercial Cemeteries:

https://history.utah.gov/cemeteries/ Start your search for a cemetery that will, instead of a vault, allow using a lid-free graveliner (placed over the shrouded body or casket like a cover of a butter dish). Some cemeteries find this an acceptable option to keep the ground from collapsing while letting the body remain in contact with the soil.

COMING SOON (watch it unfold): Statewide Cemetery Price Survey

 

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Burial on Your Own Rural Land

Cities forbid cemeteries on private property. However all counties (except 3) allow private cemeteries on rural land. 
 

Utah Law 8-3-1 (last updated 2014) Illustrates that the State accommodates organizations & individuals to own and control cemeteries:

(1)An executive officer of an organization in control of a cemetery, including a municipality or a cemetery maintenance district, or an individual owner in control of a cemetery, offering burial lots for sale in any county, shall file and cause to be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county within which the respective cemetery is situated an accurate plat of the cemetery.

(2)The plat required under Subsection (1) shall clearly show:

(a)the sections of burial lots which have been disposed of and the names of the persons owning or holding each burial lot; and

(b)the sections of burial lots held for disposal.

(3)An executive officer or owner shall file additional plats of any addition to a cemetery before offering for sale any burial lots located in the cemetery.

(4)A county recorder may not collect any fee for filing and recording an original plat required under this section.

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Sanpete (2014) & Sevier (2024) Counties Forbid Burial outside Municipal Cemeteries

Land Use Definition was changed to: "Cemetery/ Crematoriums- A burial place or grounds owned, operated and maintained by a municipality with endowment care feasibility and disallowed for private persons or entities in all Sanpete County zones." 

In Sevier County §154.003 it ends with all "county zones". They're just copying each other!​

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Garfield County Burials Prohibited Outside Established Cemeteries

§92.02 From and after the effective date of this chapter, it shall be unlawful for any person to cause or permit human remains to be interred or buried on any land lying outside the boundaries of an established cemetery in the county.

Passed 7-8-2002 Penalty: §10.99

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Despite the brevity by which these three counties strip its' citizens of property rights, bad on them for taking those rights at all.

We heard that the restriction occurred to reduce the number of abandoned and mismanaged cemeteries [punisher mentality].

How about counties, instead, publish general guidelines as a solution [voluntary mentality]. 

Suggestion for model wording for rural burial

 

Prepaying For Plots

IF you have prepaid for a plot (not recommended), do start to pay for all the expenses that go with it (opening/closing, a grave liner or vault headstone, "inspection" fees) because prices will rise and they may not keep you informed, even if there's a change of ownership to a multinational corp with shareholders (which means even more price hikes). Cemeteries that actually publish their policies & procedures online (like Orem) are better than corporate cemeteries, like "Dignity", that hide theirs. 

 

Selling Plots

Some cemeteries make it difficult to resell plots so understand the fine print before buying.

FIND Cemetery Plots for SALE or SELL one you don't want: https://cemeteryplotlistings.com/

I have also known people who successfully bought and sold plots through Facebook Marketplace.

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City Cemetery Issues

If you pre-purchase a plot the contract will say "Prices subject to change". How? City Councils "raise revenue" through increasing cemetery opening/closing (o/c) fees just to make money off the plot AGAIN and to dissuade out of town burials, not because it costs that much more to open/close the grave.

 

We spoke with a family (in 2017) who had to pay $2100 for (o/c) because their deceased loved one wasn't a resident of Bountiful city any longer.  A deceased parent had purchased several plots many years before the city council voted for exorbitant non-resident fees. City Councils know that families move away and aren't watching how they vote. So they have non-residents by the neck to pay 4x what a resident pays for o/c.  

What's normal?

Orem city (2025) the fees are close to each other for opening/closing, aka "interment":
Residents $737

Non-resident $942

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What's NOT normal?

Kaysville city (2017) 

Resident $650

Non-resident $2650 Kaysville has amended their ways since they were caught.

In 2017 if you moved away from Kaysville to live in a care center, you were no longer considered a resident, despite how many years you paid taxes there.This was the case in Alpine city until it was exposed. Now you get resident status as long as you still own your home there.
 

Veteran's Cemeteries

Honorably discharged veterans get FREE burial at a National Veterans Cemetery & Utah's State Veterans Cemetery.  Free burial often includes a grave plot (or niche in the case of ashes), vault, opening and closing, marker, and setting fee. 

Spouses of Veterans get burial for under $828 plus the cost of a vault.

Utah's Veteran Cemetery & Memorial Park : 801-254-9036

17111 S Camp Williams Rd

Bluffdale, UT 84065

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The"DD 214", is a document of the United States Department of Defense, issued upon a military service member's retirement, separation or discharge from active-duty military.  This is needed to get burial in a Veteran's cemetery.  If it is lost do not wait until after death to try to obtain one.

 

Reservists and National Guard retired personnel with 20 yrs of service are eligible for burial also, as are surviving spouses and dependent children (under rules established by the State of Utah:  Google "Utah 71-7-3" to read it).

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Utah Families can act as their own funeral director when caring for their veteran dead with proper paperwork from the Health Department's Vital Records Office (located in the county where death occurred). Family may bring their veteran to the cemetery themselves, make their own casket and bypass a mortuary completely, saving several thousand dollars. (see how on our "DIY Funeral" page)​​

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Simple Natural Burial

In 1993 the modern idea of green burial really took hold with a movement to allow the body to return to the earth unimpeded again. More on the science and logic  https://www.greenburialcouncil.org/science_green_burial.html

Common elements:

-No embalming

-Use a natural casket or shroud

-No concrete or plastic vault (lid) liner (no lid) encasing the casket

-Burial is in an area with native trees, shrubs and flowers, with no man-made additions

-Burial is typically 3ft deep for shroud burial (3.5 to 4 ft deep for casket)

-Grave markers are those that do not intrude on the landscape

-A record is kept of exact location of each burial, either using global positioning coordinates (GPS) or the old rebar, string and measuring tape method.

 

One Dispositioner living in a town with a flexible city cemetery wrote,

"Four of us dug his grave and I would highly recommend that because it was a labor of love." 

 

More ​​

​Conservation Burial Grounds on YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQM35Rngryc (start at 1:05)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUnmkyCGMA8

Promession a form of body disposition not yet available in the U.S..

Getting Governments & Communities on Board with Green Burials

Want to take free courses on forest burial or how to host a virtual funeral,

or pet loss: https://www.redesigningtheend.com/

 

Body Composting (NOR: Natural Organic Reduction) in Utah

Available in Washington State and Boulder, Colorado A body will reach at least "131 degrees F for 72 hrs", transformation to soil completed within 4-6 months. Then any remaining bone is crumbled and mixed into the the 1-2 cubic yards of rich soil that had been a body.

The Colorado Burial Preserve in Florence, Colorado is designed specifically to receive this special soil on the surface of the ground, but some or all can be kept by the family and brought anywhere.  Seth Viddal presents on this process of body composting, complete with a slide show starting at 24:30, Q&A starting at 42:00.

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​2025 Utah Legislative session

The Senate committee on the SB84: https://citizenportal.ai/-eb2255540-e7f140f0

Amy Sullivan, Salt Lake Death Doula, wrote a summary of opposing points from the Senate Committee meeting so that we can answer them in 2026:

-"Graves in my hometown had to be removed because they were unsafe, and now we want to put cemeteries in our backyard."

-"Regulation on the returning soil may not adequately address the transportation and safe use of the returning soil."

-"Some bacteria can last in the soil for centuries, and this soil might have long-lasting effects."

-"We’re not against NOR itself, just the bill."

-"Many states that have made it legal have had to back-regulate."

-"We’re concerned with the soil. What do you do with that soil? Do you have to connect it to a real estate title?"

-"If I place remains on my property, and if I sell that property, do I have to disclose that and let other people know?"

-"We need regulation on how and where you dispose of these remains."

-"This is pushing against a cultural norm, and that’s difficult to deal with. I’m uncomfortable culturally with the change."