290:5 Burial Permit Required. –
No interment of the dead body of a human being, nor disposition of the body in a tomb or vault, shall be made without a permit, and only in accordance with it. No disinterment, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, of the dead body of a human being shall be made without a permit from the department of state, countersigned by the local health officer, and only in accordance with such permit. Before a disinterment permit is granted, the surviving spouse, parents, and children, who are 18 years of age or older, of the deceased human being shall be given written notice by certified mail of the disinterment request and shall be afforded 10 days from the written notice to object to the disinterment before the permit is issued. Such disinterment permit shall not be required for removal of such dead body from a tomb or vault for the purpose of burial, for reinterment of dead bodies after discontinuance of a public cemetery, as provided in RSA 289:15 and 289:16, if a body is to be removed within the geographic boundaries of the same cemetery, nor in a case where an autopsy has been ordered by a county attorney or the attorney general. No person shall assist in, assent to, or allow an interment or disinterment to be made until a permit has been obtained under this section. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.