Exhumation means the removal from the ground of the remains of a human being. These remains can be in the form of a body or cremated remains. Any disturbance of buried human remains is classed as exhumation and it follows that it is illegal to disturb human remains without the appropriate authority.

Either the Home Office or the Diocesan Registry grants the appropriate authority. In cases where the deceased is buried in consecrated ground both authorities are needed.

From Mears Exhumation Service - As specialist of 'one to one' exhumation, at the request of family members, we believe that we give the personal service that our clients want. We do not undertake multiple exhumations to allow building work or exhumations on behalf of the Police or Government Departments. In short we only carry out our services for private families.

We feel that this type of exhumation should be undertaken by a company affiliated to a Funeral Directors and not a multi diverse construction type company. Our 'one to one' service is, we feel, unique in this field.

One personal contact from the first meeting until the end of the contact with your family. The exhumed remains can be re-interred, cremated or repatriated to another country. For an initial conversation please feel free to contact Steven Mears on 0500 691 783.

The person seeking the exhumation may obtain a form either from the Home Office directly or from the Burial Authority. Having completed part A, the person should then send to the Burial Authority for completion of part B. This part is for the Burial Authority to say they have no objection to the proposed exhumation. They then send the form to the Home Office. The Home Office makes no charge for granting and issuing a licence.

The Chancellors are very particular that there should be sufficient grounds for an exhumation. Generally speaking the written permission of the owner of the exclusive rights to the grave will be required to authorise an exhumation. In addition permission of the next of kin of the deceased to be exhumed will also be necessary. Where it is necessary to disturb other human remains in order to carry out an exhumation, the written permission of the next of kin of each person so disturbed must normally be obtained.

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