Legal Requirements

• It is illegal to disturb human remains without lawful authority. This applies to bodies and to cremated remains buried below the ground. The correct legal authority for exhuming or disturbing human remains depends upon the status of the ground of the exhumation or disturbance.

• Where the grave lies in consecrated ground a Bishop's Faulty will be required. Where the ground is not consecrated a Home Office License is required. In some instances both will be required.