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The Minnesota Department of Health Mortuary Science Section provides iInformation on the regulations and requirements of the final disposition of a dead human body in Minnesota.

The Mortuary Science Section receives information requests from a variety of people, including the public, who wish to take care of the funeral process on their own and those who wish to use a mortician. The Section also receives questions from coroners and medical examiners, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, county registrars, hospitals and nursing homes, physicians and nurses, medical records staff, funeral home and crematory owners, morticians, and cemeteries. In an effort to provide information to this broad range of people, the Mortuary Science Section staff has put together this manual answering the questions most commonly asked. Updated 01/2011 3 Death touches everyone eventually, and when it does, there are many important decisions to make. Whether one decides to use a funeral home or care for a loved one independently, there is much to do. This manual addresses the necessary duties, possible choices and legal requirements that must be met when a death occurs.

About the agency: The Minnesota Department of Health is the state health agency of the State of Minnesota in the United States. The department has four offices in Saint Paul and seven outside of the Twin Cities metropolitan area: Bemidji, Duluth, Fergus Falls, Mankato, Marshall, Rochester, and St. Cloud.