Michigan Funeral Home Laws and Licensing: A Guide for Owners (2026)

Michigan funeral home laws sit mainly in Article 18 of the Occupational Code, beginning at MCL 339.1801, and are administered by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Death registration is in the Public Health Code, the right to direct disposition is in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code, and preneed is in the Prepaid Funeral and Cemetery Sales Act. This guide states what each section says, with the section number, as read on the state’s own sites in September 2026.

Who regulates funeral homes in Michigan?

LARA regulates funeral homes in Michigan through its Corporations, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau. LARA’s mortuary science page says the department licenses funeral establishments, mortuary science licensees, resident trainees and courtesy licensees under Public Act 299 of 1980. MCL 339.1802 creates the Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science.

Death records belong to a different department. LARA’s death certificate bulletin of October 15, 2018 says Part 28 of the Public Health Code is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), which houses the state vital records office. Terms used in this guide are defined in the funeral service glossary.

What license does a funeral home need in Michigan?

A Michigan funeral home needs an establishment license from LARA for each location. MCL 339.1806(3) says a person may engage in the practice of mortuary science only at a fixed location, and may not open or maintain a place for practice without an establishment license issued for that specific location.

• Manager. MCL 339.1809(1) requires a manager who holds a mortuary science license, lives no more than 75 miles from the establishment, and whose name is displayed at the entrance. An individual may not manage more than one establishment unless the director grants a waiver for two under subsection (2).
• Ownership disclosure. MCL 339.1806(5) requires the applicant to disclose ownership interests, with different detail for trusts, corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies.
• Prepaid certification. MCL 339.1806(4) bars issue or renewal unless the applicant certifies that it is registered under the prepaid act or has a contract with a registrant.
• Building. MCL 339.1809(6) requires a preparation room with a tile, cement or composition floor, drainage and ventilation. R 339.18931 adds a room that holds 50 or more people, an office for arrangements, and 12 air changes an hour in the preparation room.
• Inspection. MCL 339.1806(7) says the department may inspect an establishment or a branch. The section states no interval.
• Changes. MCL 339.1806(8) says a change in ownership or location automatically cancels the license, and the change must be reported within 30 days.
• Cemeteries. MCL 339.1812 bars a person that owns or conducts a cemetery from owning or operating a funeral establishment, with stated exceptions.

LARA’s mortuary science page, read in September 2026, lists an initial establishment fee of $540 (a $115 application fee plus a $425 license fee) and a renewal fee of $425. LARA says the license expires on October 31 of every odd-numbered year, with a 60 day late renewal period and a $20 late fee. MCL 338.2243 sets the establishment license fee at $212.50 per year when paid after September 30, 2025. The order of steps for a new firm is in how to start a funeral home.

What license does a funeral director or embalmer need in Michigan?

Michigan issues one personal license for both roles. MCL 339.1801 defines the practice of mortuary science as the practice of embalming or the practice of funeral directing, or both, and MCL 339.1803 says no one may practice embalming without a mortuary science license.

MCL 339.1806(2) lets the department waive part of the training year for an applicant with a baccalaureate degree, and R 339.18923 puts the waivable portion at 6 months. R 339.18928 requires a licensee to keep proof of continuing education for 4 years after the renewal application. A licensee from Indiana, Ohio or Wisconsin may apply for a courtesy license under MCL 339.1806a, which is valid for 2 years and does not allow embalming or operating an establishment.

How soon must a death certificate be filed in Michigan?

A Michigan death record must be filed with the local registrar of the district where the death occurred within 72 hours after the death, under MCL 333.2843(3). The record must be certified by a funeral director licensed under Article 18 or by a courtesy license holder.

The funeral director who first assumes custody of the body reports the death and obtains the personal data and the medical certification (MCL 333.2843(1)). The medical certification must be completed within 48 hours after death by the physician in charge of the patient’s care, or by the attending physician when the death occurred in an institution. If a medical examiner investigation is required, MCL 333.2844 gives the medical examiner 48 hours after taking charge of the case.

MCL 333.2843(2), as amended by 2026 PA 3, requires the funeral director’s report to be submitted through the web-based application system the department established for registering deaths. The same subsection applies that requirement to medical certifications beginning 1 year after the amendment took effect, and the section’s history note gives that date as March 17, 2026. MDHHS’s vital records rules call the system the electronic death registration system (R 325.3211), and LARA’s bulletin calls it EDRS.

R 325.3210 says that when information is missing at the deadline, the funeral director files the certificate with what is available, and a supplemental report is due within 60 days after the death. MCL 333.2843(5) says a physician who is properly presented with a medical certification shall not neglect or refuse to certify. The working side of that rule is in death certificate physician signature delays.

What are Michigan’s cremation rules?

Michigan requires two things before a cremation: authorization from the person with the right of disposition, and the county medical examiner’s signature. None of the sections read for this guide states a waiting period in hours, so this guide could not confirm one from the state’s own site as of September 2026. Ask LARA and your county medical examiner.

• Permit. MCL 333.2848(3) says that when final disposition is by cremation, the medical examiner of the county where the death occurred signs the authorization for final disposition. MCL 52.210 makes it a misdemeanor to remove a body to a crematory without the medical examiner’s signed permit.
• Who may authorize. MCL 700.3206(3) sets the order: a person designated under federal law for a service member, a funeral representative, the surviving spouse, then adult children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings, followed by more distant relatives who notify the establishment. Subsections (4) to (12) add time limits, majority rules and exceptions.
• Disagreement. MCL 700.3206(5) says people who share the right decide by majority, and MCL 700.3207 allows any of them, or the funeral establishment, to petition the court.
• Transport to the crematory. R 339.18935 requires a rigid container resistant to leakage, the authorization under MCL 700.3206, and a cremation permit endorsed by the county medical examiner.
• Identification. R 339.18937 requires the licensee arranging disposition to obtain positive identification and keep the record for at least 7 years. R 339.18932 requires a band or tag with the name of the deceased when a body enters the establishment’s care.

MCL 700.3206(1) also says the handling, disposition or disinterment of a body must be under the supervision of a person licensed to practice mortuary science in Michigan. MCL 456.522 defines cremation as incineration. A keyword search of the Michigan Compiled Laws on the Legislature’s site in September 2026 returned no section containing "alkaline hydrolysis" or "natural organic reduction", so ask LARA before offering either. MCL 339.1809a covers unclaimed cremated remains. A custody record that follows the body through these steps is described in the chain of custody guide.

Is embalming or refrigeration required in Michigan?

Michigan’s rules require embalming in two transportation situations, and the sections read for this guide state no general refrigeration requirement. R 325.1 says the bodies of people who died of diphtheria, meningococcic infections, plague, poliomyelitis, scarlet fever or smallpox may not be transported unless embalmed and disinfected by a Michigan licensed embalmer.

R 325.2 covers other causes of death. A body that will reach its destination within 48 hours from the time of death, or that is addressed to a medical college for demonstration, may be received for transportation in a sound shipping case. Otherwise the body must be prepared as R 325.1 describes. LARA’s bulletin of June 26, 2018 reads the two rules this way and notes that religious or cultural requirements may prohibit embalming.

Consent comes first. MCL 339.1810(1)(k) penalizes embalming without express authorization from a relative or a person entitled to custody, with an exception where reasonable efforts failed and more than 48 hours have passed. MCL 700.3207(6) lets an establishment embalm while a court petition is pending if refrigeration is not reasonably available. MCL 750.160c makes it a crime to fail to supervise final disposition more than 60 days after taking possession of a body, and lists six exceptions.

The FTC Funeral Rule adds a federal limit on what you may say. The FTC’s compliance guide says you cannot tell consumers that state or local law requires embalming if that is not true, and that the itemized statement must tell the consumer in writing that embalming is not required by law where that is the case.

How is preneed regulated in Michigan?

Preneed in Michigan is regulated by LARA under the Prepaid Funeral and Cemetery Sales Act, MCL 328.211 to 328.235. MCL 328.216 says a person may not sell or provide merchandise or funeral services under a prepaid contract without a certificate of registration, which is valid for 3 years.

MCL 328.222(2) sets a different escrow share for cemetery merchandise sold by a registered cemetery, and other exceptions exist in the act. MCL 328.222(14) requires a statement to each contract buyer at least once a year unless the buyer waives it in writing. Life insurance sold with funeral goods has its own section in the Insurance Code, MCL 500.2080, which this guide does not summarize. A filing method for the contracts is in preneed recordkeeping.

What price disclosures apply in Michigan?

The FTC Funeral Rule applies in Michigan as in every state, and Michigan law adopts it by reference. MCL 328.225(1) says a person who offers merchandise or funeral or cemetery services on a preneed or at-need basis shall comply with the FTC’s price disclosure rules at 16 CFR Part 453, whether or not the rules by their own terms apply to the offering.

• General Price List. A General Price List is the printed list of the goods and services a provider sells, with a price for each. The FTC’s guide says it must be given, to keep, to anyone who asks in person about funeral goods, services or prices.
• Telephone. The FTC’s guide says callers who ask about prices get accurate information from the price lists, and cannot be required to give a name, address or phone number first.
• Itemized statement. The Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected is given at the end of the arrangements discussion.
• Retention. The FTC’s guide says to keep price lists and statements for at least one year. Michigan’s R 339.18942 requires the statement to be kept for not less than 7 years.

The FTC’s guide states a penalty of up to $53,088 per violation. The federal rule is set out in FTC Funeral Rule basics, and keeping one price list that feeds every statement is covered in General Price List management.

Can a Michigan funeral home record phone calls?

MCL 750.539c requires the consent of all parties before a device is used to eavesdrop on a private conversation. The section reaches a person "who is present or who is not present" during the conversation, and a violation is a felony punishable by up to 2 years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.

MCL 750.539a defines eavesdropping as overhearing, recording, amplifying or transmitting any part of the private discourse of others without the permission of all persons engaged in it. MCL 750.539h gives the parties to such a conversation civil remedies: an injunction, actual damages and punitive damages.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press lists Michigan among the all-party consent states, at least for recordings made by a third party who is not in the conversation, and says courts disagree on whether a participant may record without the permission of the others. This guide does not summarize that case law. The same guide says consent of all parties is presumed when the parties are warned of the recording and continue talking. Ask an attorney before you record, and read call recording and AI disclosure for the disclosure side.

A compliance calendar for Michigan funeral homes

The table lists the recurring duties confirmed for this guide, with the section or page that sets each one. Inspections are not on it, because MCL 339.1806(7) says the department may inspect and states no interval.

How FuneralHQ handles this

FuneralHQ is funeral home software that keeps the case, the signed authorizations and the custody record together. Documents carry e-signatures, and custody forms are signed and timestamped, with QR and barcode scan checkpoints. FuneralHQ prepares the physician request from the case and tracks each filing milestone. FuneralHQ does not file electronically with any state death registration system, so your staff complete that step in Michigan’s own system.

The General Price List is kept once, and the statement is built from the same line items. Every call the phone assistant answers opens with a notice that the call may be recorded, and the assistant never quotes a price. FuneralHQ does not give legal advice and does not tell a firm whether it is compliant. A firm that wants software to file death records with the state should choose something else. FuneralHQ comes in three packages, Platform, Growth, and Growth Managed: see pricing.

Questions to ask the Michigan board

These are the points this guide could not settle from the statutes and rules alone. Put them to LARA’s licensing division or the Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science.

1. Does any Michigan statute or rule set a waiting period before cremation, and where is it found?
2. Are alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction permitted in Michigan, and under which section?
3. Does any rule require refrigeration of an unembalmed body, and after how many hours?
4. How often does the department inspect a funeral establishment, and what does an inspector ask to see?
5. MCL 339.1809 allows a waiver to manage two establishments. How does that fit with the two establishment limit in R 339.18931?
6. Which continuing education courses has the department approved for the current license cycle?
7. Must every death record go through the electronic death registration system, and what applies when the system is unavailable?
8. How are insurance funded prearrangements treated under the prepaid act and MCL 500.2080?

Common questions about Michigan funeral home laws

Does Michigan have a separate embalmer license?

Article 18 describes one license for both roles. MCL 339.1801 defines the practice of mortuary science as the practice of embalming, the practice of funeral directing, or both, and MCL 339.1803 says no one may practice embalming without a mortuary science license. The State License Fee Act, MCL 338.2243, still lists yearly fees for embalmer and funeral director licenses, so ask LARA about older licenses.

Can one person manage two Michigan funeral homes?

MCL 339.1809(1)(d) says an individual shall not manage more than one funeral establishment. Subsection (2) lets the director grant a waiver for two establishments when they are in the same or contiguous counties, within 90 miles of each other, and in counties whose population density is below the state’s. LARA publishes a waiver worksheet on its mortuary science page.

Does FuneralHQ file Michigan death certificates electronically?

No. FuneralHQ prepares the physician request from the case and tracks each filing milestone, and it does not file with any state death registration system. MCL 333.2843(2) requires the funeral director’s report to go through the web-based system the department established, so your staff complete that step there and record the milestone in the case.

What is a funeral representative in Michigan?

A funeral representative is a person named in writing to make decisions about funeral arrangements and disposition. MCL 700.3206(2) requires the designation to be dated, signed, and either signed by two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary. An owner or employee of the funeral establishment that will provide services may not serve unless that person is the spouse or a relative.

What happens to a Michigan funeral home license when the business is sold?

MCL 339.1806(8) says a change in ownership or location automatically cancels the establishment license, and the change must be reported to the department within 30 days. Under MCL 339.1806(6), a new license is not granted unless the applicant assumes the unperformed prepaid contracts or certifies that they were assigned to another establishment or provider.

How long must a Michigan funeral home keep records?

The mortuary science rules set 7 years for three records: the case report (R 339.18932), the documentation of positive identification (R 339.18937), and the statement of funeral goods and services selected (R 339.18942). MCL 328.218 requires prepaid records for at least 36 months after the contract is performed, and MCL 333.2848(2) sets 7 years for a fetal disposition permit.

What happens if the person with the right of disposition cannot be found?

MCL 700.3206(4) passes the right to the next person in the order when those with priority cannot be located, decline, or fail to act within 72 hours after death is pronounced. If no one acts within 14 days after the death, MCL 700.3206(9) gives the decision to the medical examiner for the county where the person lived. MCL 700.3209 protects an establishment that relies on the order in good faith.

Can a Michigan funeral home hold a body until the bill is paid?

MCL 339.1810(1)(i) makes it a violation to refuse to promptly surrender custody of a body on the express order of the person lawfully entitled to custody. LARA’s bulletin of June 26, 2018 says withholding a body or cremated remains may not be used to collect a debt, and suggests consulting legal counsel about collection.

Can a cemetery own a funeral home in Michigan?

MCL 339.1812 says a person or company that owns or conducts a cemetery in Michigan shall not own, manage or operate a funeral establishment, directly or indirectly. The section also bars a funeral establishment on property used or designated as a cemetery. An exception covers the owner of a private burial ground used for the owner’s family.

How do Michigan’s rules compare with neighboring states?

Each state sets its own deadlines, license types and preneed rules, so the sections in this guide do not carry across the border. FuneralHQ publishes guides in the same format for Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania, each built from that state’s statutes and board pages.