What Can You Do With a Dead Body in Mexico?
As we plan for end of life, the question of body disposition arises. What to do with your body after you die is a personal one. Choosing ahead of time may bring us peace.
There is the peace of knowing our next-of-kin won’t have to stress about guessing what we would have wanted or making the ‘right’ decision, there may be peace in knowing that we can afford our chosen method of body disposition, or that we have the paperwork ready and everything planned out.
As the body is quite possibly our greatest attachment in this life, knowing what will happen to it after we have died can also help bring us peace.
So, what are the options if we die in Mexico? Can you send the body back to the United States? Can a temporary or permanent resident be buried in Mexico, and where? Cremated? Scattered? What happens to the body if you have no plan at all?
The short answer is, you have options. What those options are depends on planning, budget and, sometimes, the region of Mexico you live in.
Let’s walk through them.
Sending Remains Back to the United States
Some US Citizens who die in Mexico prefer to be repatriated to the United States.
There are many reasons for this. You may want to be buried in a family plot. You may wish to rest beside a spouse or family member who died years earlier. You may want your ashes scattered somewhere meaningful in your country of origin. Or, perhaps a loved one in the US wants to keep your cremated remains nearby.
If you plan to send remains back to the US, whether in a coffin or in an urn, you must work with a Mexican funeral home. Your nearest US consulate can provide you with a pre-approved list of local funeral homes, but they will not arrange transport or cover expenses. The planning part is up to you, or will be left to your next-of-kin.
Requirements for Repatriation
To be returned to the United States from Mexico, a body must be either embalmed or cremated.
If embalmed, the embalming must meet US standards. Not all Mexican funeral homes offer embalming that complies with those requirements, so it is critical to confirm details with the US consulate nearest the place of death. You will also need to contract with a US-based funeral home to receive the body. The two funeral homes, (in Mexico and in the US) will work together to coordinate paperwork and airline arrangements.
Cremated remains are much simpler and less expensive to repatriate. You can take cremated remains to the US in your carry-on luggage as long as you have the appropriate import paperwork, which you can get from a Mexican funeral home.
You may hear stories of people driving across the border with cremated remains or packing it in their luggage without any paperwork at all, but this is not recommended. It’s easy enough to get the forms from the funeral home who does the cremation, so there’s no need to skip this step.
Cost of Repatriation
Repatriating a body is expensive.
Funeral home services in Mexico, including collecting and preparing the body, completing paperwork and transporting the remains to the airport, can cost between $3,000 and $5,000 USD. Airline shipping fees for a body can reach $3,000 USD or more. In total, returning a body for burial in the US may cost $10,000 USD or more, not including the US funeral home’s expenses upon arrival.
Shipping cremated remains is significantly cheaper. Airline fees for ashes may be under $600 USD, and you can often bypass this fee by carrying cremated remains onboard as hand luggage.
Both Mexico’s Secretaría de Marina and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration recommend transporting ashes in a lightweight wood or plastic container that can be x-rayed. Metal containers may be denied boarding. You will need documentation, including the acta de defunción (death certificate) and cremation paperwork.
If burial in the U.S. matters deeply to you, consider insurance that specifically covers repatriation of remains. Standard travel insurance policies may include this benefit—but they are typically designed for people traveling on short trips. If you live in Mexico full-time, travel policy benefits may not apply.
Burial in Mexico
Choosing burial in Mexico is often far less expensive than repatriation. But cost is not the only consideration.
Perhaps you consider Mexico home. Your family may live here. You may belong to a local religious community. Burial, rather than cremation, may align with your beliefs.
If you’d like your body to be buried in Mexico, know that burial in Mexico differs from burial in the United States in several important ways.
Cemetery Ownership and Rules
Cemeteries in Mexico may be:
Municipally owned
Owned by a religious organization
Privately owned
Each has its own regulations.
A rural cemetery under the authority of an ejido (communal landholding), for example, may restrict burial to members. A Catholic cemetery may prioritize parishioners. Some municipal cemeteries are divided into sections (Catholic, Jewish, etc.). In some regions of Mexico, cemeteries even have designated sections for foreigners.
Before assuming you can be buried somewhere specific, it is important to confirm eligibility. Visit the cemeteries near where you live and ask them what your options are. A funeral home can also guide you.
Temporary vs. Perpetual Plots
One of the biggest surprises for US immigrants to Mexico is this: not all cemetery plots in Mexico are forever.
Temporary burial—often for six years—is common in public cemeteries, especially in densely populated urban areas. If you do not purchase a perpetual deed, your remains may be moved to a common grave after the minimum term expires. If the body was embalmed and has not sufficiently decomposed by that time, it may be cremated when your lease is up.
Perpetual plots are available but more expensive.
Unlike in the United States, pre-purchasing burial plots far ahead of time is not common practice in Mexico unless you’re adding to an existing family crypt. Most plot decisions are made after death, and made quickly.
Regulations state that bodies must be buried within 24-48 hours, and if not, the body must be embalmed (at your additional expense). Planning ahead, therefore, may be crucial if avoiding embalming is important to you.
Cemeteries may also charge annual maintenance fees, and expenses such as vault construction, grave sealing and headstones are typically separate.
It is also important to note that, unlike in some US states, burial on privately-owned land is not permitted in Mexico. Land must be zoned specifically for cemetery use.
Green Burial in Mexico
Green burial, natural burial without embalming chemicals, concrete vaults or unsustainable materials, is growing in popularity worldwide.
In Mexico, embalming is not required for burial, which simplifies matters somewhat. However, most conventional cemeteries still require concrete grave liners, vaults or crypts. Fully “green” burial as defined in the US remains limited in Mexico.
There is currently one dedicated green cemetery for reforestation in Mexico, located in San Miguel de Allende. It was inaugurated in 2023 through collaboration between the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation of Central Mexico, the Green Burial Council, the Global Green Burial Alliance and local partners. The site integrates reforestation efforts and natural burial practices.
A growing number of ecological parks across Mexico allow the burial of biodegradable urns without concrete encasement. Families may plant trees or mark sites with natural stone rather than quarried headstones.
If environmental impact matters to you, research your options carefully in your specific region. The availability of environmentally-friendly body disposition remains limited in Mexico, but is expanding.
Cremation in Mexico
Cremation is the most common and affordable disposition method among expats.
Once you’re cremated, what you do with your ashes is entirely up to your next-of-kin. There is no federal law in Mexico prohibiting families from keeping, scattering or transporting cremated remains, as ashes pose no public health risk. This gives families flexibility.
Cremation services are widely available throughout the country, though quality and cost vary.
Members of the Mexican social security system (IMSS) may access cremation services at certain locations for approximately $11,000 MXN. Private funeral homes generally charge between $12,000 and $20,000 MXN.
Cremation eliminates the need to purchase cemetery space, unless you wish to inter ashes in a columbarium or ecological park.
While cremation is not considered environmentally neutral due to emissions, it remains the simplest and least expensive option for many.
Funeral and Disposition Costs in Mexico
Costs vary by location and provider, but in general, funeral costs in Mexico remain less expensive than in the United States.
For comparison, in the US, direct cremation often costs between $1,400 and $3,000 USD, while traditional burial and funeral services can exceed $10,000 USD.
In Mexico:
Body preparation for burial may cost up to $46,000 MXN.
Temporary gravesites may cost around $14,000 MXN.
Perpetual cemetery plots can exceed $100,000 MXN.
Cremation typically ranges from $12,000–$20,000 MXN privately.
Depending on your choices, total funeral and disposition costs in Mexico may range between $800 and $8,000 USD.
Prices are influenced by location, cemetery type, funeral services, and whether a full ceremony is included.
What Happens If You Have No Plan?
If you die in Mexico without a will or clear instructions on what you’d like done with your body, and without a representative to speak for you, events unfold according to local law.
Authorities will transport your body to the local morgue. An autopsy is likely, especially if no one is present to certify natural causes of death.
The morgue will notify the nearest US consulate. The consulate will attempt to locate and contact your next-of-kin. If family members cannot be located—or do not respond—your body may be placed in a fosa común, or common grave.
This outcome is not dramatic. It is bureaucratic.
And it is avoidable.
The Importance of Planning
What you can do with a dead body in Mexico depends largely on what you decide in advance.
You can:
Repatriate remains to the United States.
Be buried in a Mexican municipal, religious or private cemetery.
Purchase a perpetual plot—or accept temporary burial.
Choose cremation and scatter or keep ashes.
Seek out green burial options with the help of a legal advocate.
Without a plan, those decisions will be made by others, or by default systems that may not reflect your wishes.
Planning for body disposition in Mexico means:
Documenting your preferences in a legally recognized directive.
Informing loved ones of your intentions.
Researching cemetery or cremation options in your specific region.
Considering repatriation insurance if burial in the US is important.
Setting aside funds for funeral expenses.
Dying in Mexico does not have to be complicated. Cross-border logistics, however, can be.
A funeral home can be your ally in planning ahead of time. Speaking with them far before you’ll need their services ensures you will have the correct paperwork ready for your wishes to be honored. You can also lock in rates ahead of time by purchasing a pre-need plan.
The most compassionate thing you can do for those you love (or in the least, for the Mexican system that will end up caring for you) is to make your wishes clear while you are alive - and - to put those plans into place.
Do you have a pre-need funeral plan in Mexico, or another wish? Let us know about it in the comments below, or join the discussion in our private Facebook group.
