Poland plans to modernize funeral laws and burial regulations

The Polish Ministry of Development and Technology is working on significant amendments to the 1959 Act on Cemeteries and Burial of the Dead. The proposed changes aim to liberalize funeral regulations, which are currently among the most restrictive in Europe.

Key proposals include allowing families to legally keep an urn with ashes in their homes and permitting the scattering of ashes in locations of personal significance to the deceased, excluding protected areas such as national parks. The ministry also intends to legalize the creation of memorial items, such as jewelry, incorporating parts of the ashes.

Additionally, the government plans to introduce “memory gardens” within cemeteries. These areas would allow for the use of biodegradable urns or the scattering of ashes on grass, moving away from traditional headstones and individual plaques. The project was recently reviewed by the government's programming team.