Scattering Cremation Remains

After cremations with funeral or not, as part of our cremations services, you will receive the cremated remains of your loved one. While you may choose to keep some of your loved one’s cremation remains in a cremation urn in your home or use part of the cremation remains to have cremation jewelry made for immediate family members, you and your family will almost certainly want to scatter some of your loved one’s cremation remains in a place where they wanted or that was special to you and your family. Talk with your family about cremation to help you decide your options. 

Scattering cremation remains is a very personal way to honor and respect the memory of your loved one. Where you scatter the cremation remains is also a very personal selection, but there are some guidelines for scattering cremation remains that you should be aware of.

You may choose to hold a memorial service for your loved one before you scatter their cremation remains, or you may choose to include a more intimate memorial service as part of scattering their remains. Either option is acceptable, but you will need to decide which is more appropriate for you and your family.

Read More: Cremation Service Basics

Your loved one may have specified where they desired to have their cremated remains scattered. If the place where your loved one wanted their cremation remains to be scattered on private property that you or your immediate or extended family own, then scattering the remains of your loved one is no problem.

However, if the place where you want to scatter the cremation remains of your loved one is private property that is owned by someone other than family, then you’ll need to get the permission of the property owner to scatter the remains there.

If your loved one wanted their cremation remains scattered on a public body of water or public land, such as a public park or a national park, then you will need to check with federal, state, or local authorities to see what restrictions they may have on scattering remains and to get authorization to scatter them.

If you want to scatter the cremation remains of your loved one in a family cemetery instead of burying the remains in an urn garden or storing them in a columbarium or a mausoleum, you will need to get the cemetery’s permission. Most cemeteries do not allow for scattering of cremated remains on cemetery grounds, so you should plan on having an alternative if that is your preference.

If you’re scattering your loved one’s cremation remains on land, there are two common methods that you can use. One is known as raking, where you rake the remains into the soil. The other method is known as trenching. With this method, you create a shallow trench to place the cremation remains in, either loose or in a biodegradable urn, and then cover them.

If you’re scattering your loved one’s cremation remains in the wind or on the water, there are environmentally-friendly ways to do this. Scattering urns, which are available from the funeral home, allow you to scatter the cremation remains in the wind without worrying that they will be blown back on scattering participants. These specially-designed urns can also be put into water, where the cremation remains will natural dissolve.

For a water scattering of your loved one’s cremation remains, you may need to get permission if the body of water where you want to scatter is a public beach. Check the local laws to see if you need permits before you scatter.

Guidance on scattering cremation remains is part of the cremations services we offer, so you can depend on our compassionate and experienced team at Hopler & Eschbach Funeral Home to help you. You can visit our funeral home at 483 Chenango St., Binghamton, NY 13901, or you can call us today at (607) 722-4023.