Can I Keep An Urn With Ashes In My Home?

Question: Can I keep an urn with ashes in my home?

Answer: Yes, of course! It's perfectly legal to keep the ashes at home with you. There are several ways to do this. Let's take a look.

Use the "temporary" urn

When you get the remains back from the crematorium, they'll be in a cardboard or plastic box that measures approximately 8.5" x 6.5" x 4.5". This is called a temporary urn.

You can simply keep the temporary urn filled with ashes in your home. Just because it's called a "temporary" urn doesn't mean it won't serve you well. It's simple, but it holds the remains. What more do you need!

Decorate the container and put it in a special place, or tuck it away up in a closet. It's up to you.

Get a beautiful cremation urn for display

This is what we do for you here at Urns Northwest. So of course we recommend this option! Keeping the ashes of your loved one at home inside of a beautiful cremation urn and setting it on display - we think this is a great way to honor your loved one's memory.

There are many urn themes and styles, some of which may suit your loved one perfectly. We have stunningly elegant glass urns which are hand blown in the Pacific Northwest. In our Oregon shop, we make personalized urns creatively disguised as wall-mounted memorial plaques. We also offer beautiful wood urns with stunning 3-dimensional inlay art scenes, and many more options besides.

Start shopping for the perfect urn memorial here.

Divide the remains

Many families choose to divide the ashes. You can give some to each family member who wants some.

Consider dividing the remains equally among siblings, or perhaps you can retain the larger portion and give each person a small amount to go into some cremation jewelry keepsakes.

You can also scatter a portion (large or small, or half and half) while keeping the rest of the ashes at home for display or as a keepsake token.

Remember, the choice is up to you!

Keep, then scatter

Perhaps you plan on scattering the ashes as some special location. But you need to save up for the trip, or maybe you just aren't ready to let go right now. That's ok.

Keep the remains for now, then scatter at a later date. We have urns designed to help you scatter, and they also look great as display memorials until the time is right.

Keep, then bury

The same thing goes for burial. You can keep the remains at home for a season, then bury it later. If your cemetery requires the urn to be buried inside of a burial vault, learn more about those here.