Cremation or burial: cost, timing and what each involves

Around three quarters of funerals in the UK are now cremations, and for a family with no faith rule and no instruction from the person, the choice is usually made on practical grounds. This guide is those grounds: what each involves, what each costs, how long each takes and what paperwork each needs. The faith question comes at the end, because where it applies it comes first.

What each involves

A burial is the coffin placed in a grave, in a cemetery or a churchyard, usually after a service at a church, a chapel or the graveside. The grave is marked with a headstone once the ground has settled, some months later. The family has a place to visit, and a place to maintain. The coffin or casket is chosen by the family; the ones we supply are listed with their material and finish.

A cremation is the coffin cremated at a crematorium, usually after a service in the crematorium chapel, or, for a direct cremation, with no service at all. The ashes are returned to the family within days, and what happens to them is the family’s choice: kept, scattered, buried in a small plot, or taken abroad. Direct cremation step by step follows the cremation itself; what to do with the ashes covers what follows.

What each costs

SunLife’s 2026 report puts the average traditional attended burial at £5,440 and the average traditional attended cremation at £4,200, with a direct cremation at £1,628. The gap between burial and cremation is mostly the grave. A cemetery charges for the exclusive right of burial and separately for the interment, and together those run from around £1,000 in parts of the north to several thousand pounds in London and the south east, with a headstone on top. A crematorium fee is roughly £700 to £1,200. How much does a funeral cost in the UK has the full breakdown, and how much does a direct cremation cost the cheapest of the three.

How long each takes

Neither has a legal deadline. A burial can in principle happen sooner, because it needs only the registrar’s certificate for burial and the cemetery’s booking. A cremation also needs the application for cremation and, in England and Wales, the medical examiner’s clearance behind the registrar’s certificate, and cannot be booked until they exist; with us a direct cremation is seven to ten days from the first call. A traditional funeral of either kind is usually two to three weeks after the death, set by the service booking rather than by the paperwork.

The paperwork for each

Both start with the death being registered, and what to do when someone dies puts that in order. A burial then needs the registrar’s certificate for burial, the green form, and the cemetery’s own application. A cremation needs the same green form marked for cremation, the application for cremation signed by the family, and, where the coroner is involved, the coroner’s certificate instead of the registrar’s. What happens when the coroner is involved explains that case, which affects both equally.

The three things that usually decide it

The faith. Islam and Orthodox Judaism require burial. Hinduism and Sikhism require cremation. Most Christian denominations permit both, with Orthodox Christianity preferring burial. If the family belongs to a tradition with a rule, that is the answer, and what different faiths say about cremation sets out each.

The place. A family that wants a grave to visit, near where they live, in a cemetery they know, chooses burial for that reason and it is a good one. A family that is scattered, or that expects to move, often finds that a grave becomes a place no one visits, and chooses cremation so that the ashes can go where the family is.

The money. A grave is the single most expensive item in any funeral, and for many families the difference between burial and cremation is the difference between a funeral they can pay for and one they cannot. There is no shame in that being the reason. What is the cheapest way to be cremated in the UK covers the routes for a family with very little.

If the person left no wish and the family disagrees

The decision belongs to the executor if there is a will, and otherwise to the next of kin, and a family that cannot agree should know that before the argument goes on too long. In practice most families find that one of the three things above settles it once it is said out loud. Direct cremation or a traditional funeral is the next decision if the answer is cremation.