Florida Statute 382.006
“Burial-transit permit”
What it means
The funeral director who first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus must obtain a burial-transit permit before final disposition and within 5 days after death. The director provides the electronic permit from the electronic death registration system, or a manually produced permit, to the person in charge of the place of final disposition. The permit is issued by the department or by the local registrar or subregistrar of the registration district where the death occurred or the body was found.
A permit may not issue until a complete and satisfactory death certificate is filed, unless the funeral director provides adequate assurance that one will be registered. For a death from a disease the department deems infectious, contagious or communicable and dangerous to public health, a permit issues only under conditions the department prescribes. The permit is delivered to the person in charge of final disposition before interment or disposal in Florida, and a body taken out of state must be accompanied by the permit. A permit issued under another state's or country's law that accompanies a body into Florida is authority for final disposition here. Department rules may allow a permit before the certificate is filed where waiting would cause undue hardship.
- The funeral director who first assumes custody obtains the permit before final disposition and within 5 days after death (§ 382.006(1)).
- Issued by the department or the local registrar or subregistrar of the district where the death occurred or the body was found (§ 382.006(2)).
- No permit until a complete death certificate is filed, unless the funeral director gives adequate assurance it will be (§ 382.006(2)(a)).
- The permit is delivered to the person in charge of final disposition; a body sent out of state is accompanied by the permit (§ 382.006(3)).
- A permit issued under another state's or country's law, accompanying a body into Florida, is authority for final disposition here (§ 382.006(4)).
- Department rules may allow a permit before the certificate is filed where waiting would cause undue hardship (§ 382.006(5)).
Text of the statute (2026)
(1) The funeral director who first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus must obtain a burial-transit permit before final disposition and within 5 days after death. The funeral director shall provide the electronic burial-transit permit generated from the electronic death registration system, or a manually produced permit, to the person in charge of the place of final disposition.
(2) A burial-transit permit shall be issued by the department or the local registrar or subregistrar of the registration district in which the death occurred or the body was found. A burial-transit permit may not be issued: (a) Until a complete and satisfactory certificate of death or fetal death is filed in accordance with the requirements of this chapter and adopted rules, unless the funeral director provides adequate assurance that a complete and satisfactory certificate will be so registered. (b) Except under conditions prescribed by the department, if the death occurred from some disease that is deemed by the department to be infectious, contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the public health.
(3) The funeral director shall deliver the burial-transit permit to the person in charge of the place of final disposition, before interring or otherwise disposing of the dead body or fetus within this state; or when transported to a point outside the state, the permit shall accompany the dead body or fetus to its destination. (4) A burial-transit permit issued under the law of another state or country, or a certification of a death certificate issued under the law of a state or country that does not issue burial-transit permits, which accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into this state shall be authority for final disposition of the dead body or fetus in this state.
(5) Rules of the department may provide for the issuance of a burial-transit permit prior to the filing of a certificate of death or fetal death upon conditions designed to assure compliance with the purposes of this chapter in cases in which compliance with the requirement that the certificate be filed prior to the issuance of the permit would result in undue hardship.
Excerpts are the subsections the summary relies on. Read the full official text of § 382.006.
History. s. 1, ch. 67-312; s. 5, ch. 87-387; s. 91, ch. 97-237; s. 2, ch. 2013-138; s. 3, ch. 2015-105.
How it applies
The statute assigns the permit duty to the funeral director who first assumes custody, not to the family. Its timing is tied to the death certificate (§ 382.006(2)(a)). For disposition in Florida, the permit goes to the person in charge of the place of final disposition; for disposition outside the state, it accompanies the body. A body brought into Florida with a permit issued elsewhere may be disposed of here on that authority (§ 382.006(4)).
Questions people ask
Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 382.006 (“must obtain a burial-transit permit before final disposition and within 5 days after death.”)
Last checked: October 17, 2026
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