The UK’s largest, award-winning independent funeral directors is urging families to carefully consider the location of the final resting place of a loved one, as it records an increase in requests for exhumations.
A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service has noted a rise in the number of requested exhumations – the digging up or removal of a buried human body or cremated remains from the ground – over the last two decades. It comes as families adapt to modern lifestyles, changing funeral preferences and a greater demand for choice in end-of-life options.
But the East Midlands funeral directors is warning families of both the practical and emotional implications of an exhumation, and strongly recommend that the first site of a burial should always be treated as a person’s final resting place.
Jackie Lymn Rose, fourth generation Lymn and Company Director, said: “There are many reasons we may be asked to support with an exhumation, ranging from requests from legal and religious authorities through to personal and familial choices. For example, a family may decide to move abroad, and would like the deceased to be both exhumed, repatriated and reburied in a new country.
“Sometimes families wrongly assume that moving a body once it has been buried is a simple process, but there is both strong legal and religious protocol that can prohibit this from taking place.
“Many families also do not consider the emotional impact that an exhumation can have, with moving a body often bringing up feelings of sadness and grief. Disturbing what should be someone’s final place of rest can force those close to the deceased to confront the loss all over again, which can be difficult to process – even if the exhumation is what those close to the person had wanted.
“Given this, we would always strongly advise people to never assume that a loved one can simply be moved.”
Each request for an exhumation is considered in isolation and can be submitted by either specific family members of the deceased, the HM Coroner in whose jurisdiction the remains are buried, or the Local Authority. In 2025 A.W. Lymn applied, on behalf of clients, to exhume on six occasions – five of these were successful.
Jackie has dealt with many exhumations throughout her career, notably the exhumation of a body first buried in 1866, which was repatriated and reburied in Australia. Stringent regulations must be fulfilled throughout the process. Most notably, a written request by the grave owner, offspring and spouse of the deceased, along with a reason for the request. If other remains are likely to be disturbed in the process, written permission from other interested parties is also required.
Where someone has been buried plays a significant role in how likely it is that permission will be granted for an exhumation. When remains are exhumed from unconsecrated ground, a Licence is required from the Ministry of Justice, which is “for the most part sympathetic to the request” explained Jackie.
However, moving a body from consecrated ground can pose many more complexities, particularly in Church of England burial spaces. Here a Bishop’s Faculty must be obtained from the Diocese in whose jurisdiction the remains are buried. But religious beliefs mean that permission to disturb human remains is often refused.
Furthermore, a Bishops Faculty fee has to be paid on application and is not refundable whatever the outcome. However, there is no charge for a Ministry of Justice Licence.
Jackie added: “We understand that families’ circumstances can change, and sometimes there is a genuine wish and need to exhume the deceased. Exhumations from consecrated grounds are incredibly rare, therefore it is our duty as funeral directors to ensure that any family who may be struggling to make a decision on a final resting place is aware of the difficulties in securing permission to move the deceased at a later date.
“The same rules apply to full burial or burial of cremated remains (ashes) on private land such as one’s own garden.”
Established in 1907 in Nottingham when Arthur William Lymn conducted his first funeral, today the business is known as A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, now operating 36 funeral homes across the Midlands in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and one in Leicestershire, as well as Hammerwich Crematorium and Cemetery in Staffordshire, employing more than 175 people across the business.
