Can you scatter human ashes anywhere you want in Florida? The law may surprise you

When my time comes, I joked with a childhood friend from the Hurricanes Swim Team, scatter my ashes in Lane 4 at the University of Miami pool.

The center lane of an Olympic-sized competitive pool is where the top-seeded swimmers race. What a distinction for all eternity.

But can you have your ashes, or your loved ones’ ashes, scattered in anywhere you want in Florida?

The answer may surprise you.

Legally, Florida laws don’t regulate where you can store or scatter cremains, according to funeral homes such as Florida Family Cremations. According to legal site Nolo.com, no Florida laws restrict where you may keep or scatter ashes.

The only Florida statute dealing with cremation centers on the cremation process and what may happen if ashes are not claimed within 120 days from the time of cremation. The funeral home or disposal establishment may dispose of the ashes.

KNOW MORE: Demand grows for Florida funerals that preserve nature, cut pollution

Otherwise, here’s what you can do when considering the spreading of ashes or designating the spread of your own.

Scattering at sea

Scattering ashes at sea is the first image that comes to mind for many. There’s an allure to the ocean, and for those who loved the sea, the idea of resting in its powerful waters is enticing.

But know this:

The federal Clean Water Act, which also governs scattering ashes in inland waters like rivers and lakes, requires that cremated remains be scattered at least three nautical miles from land. The Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t offer permits for scattering ashes at beaches or shorelines — although that hasn’t stopped some people.

You can go out to sea by yourself if you have access to a boat. Or funeral homes including Van Orsdel offer scattering at sea services during which their team spreads the ashes for you in the Atlantic off Miami’s coast. Officials there can help plan a private charter, too. The funeral home also files the EPA paperwork for you.

Ocean Ashes in Islamorada in the Florida Keys offers a $499 ash-scattering cruise for up to six passengers, complete with an ice cooler for snacks or drinks that you bring on board. The company also supplies rose petals, and, as with the funeral home plan, you’ll get a certificate of scattering at sea by mail after the service.

For more information on scattering ashes at sea, including the contact information for the EPA representative in Florida, see the EPA’s Burial at Sea page.

KNOW MORE: Undersea memorials to loved ones also may help revive Florida’s dying coral reefs

Private property

You can scatter ashes on your own private property. If you want to scatter ashes on someone else’s private land, it’s best to ask permission.

If your mom or dad loved the Dolphins or shopping at Publix, scattering their ashes on the goal line at Hard Rock Stadium or in the deli line may not be granted. Or practical. That Lane 4 idea at the university pool? You’d be vacuumed up or brushed into the drain even if a kindly pool manager gave their OK for a quickie splash of your cremains while no one was looking.

Public property

Although Florida doesn’t have laws against scattering ashes, you may want to check with your county or city should you wish to scatter ashes at a locale such as Tropical, Charles Hadley, Salvadore or any other South Florida park.

Federal land

You can scatter ashes in federal parks including the Everglades or Biscayne National Park. But there are some protocols to follow.

You need a Special Park Use Permit that you can obtain on the National Park Service site.

“The scattering should be a small private affair, held away from high visitor use areas,” the park site says. “Because cremains cannot be placed or dispersed within 100 yards of a body of water, road or trail, or within developed areas, this activity is not permitted at Convoy Point.”

The ashes must be fully refined with no detectable remains that let passerby note these are human remains (teeth, bones, you get the idea). The ashes should also be completely dispersed and not piled in one location or buried.

And while you’re scattering, don’t disturb any of the park’s natural resources.

You can’t leave a monument, memorial, plaque, structure, urn, photo or any other commemorative item inside the park to mark the spot — and that includes potted plants, dried flower arrangements or any plant with seeds because doing so could introduce non-native or invasive species.

The park service won’t treat the area as sacred or as a burial ground or cemetery. So once you have scattered the ashes, park uses resume without regard to the presence of the cremains.

Scattering from the air

Florida doesn’t prohibit the scattering of ashes by air, but the Federal Aviation Administration has guidelines prohibiting the dropping of anything from a plane that could injure people below. Ashes are fine but not the hard objects that may contain them. So the licensed pilot who takes on the task can’t drop the urn, for instance. Just the ashes.

Ashes gone astray

Taking ashes into your own hands can lead to some embarrassing moments.

Take the case of a gentleman who ran onto the Lincoln Financial Field during halftime at a 2005 Philadelphia Eagles game. The man released “his mother’s ashes into the wind to encouraging roars of the crowd,” Seven Ponds reported in a 2019 blog post. Not everyone cheered. The man was immediately arrested and charged with “defiant trespassing” — a $100 penalty and 50 hours of community service.

“Running onto a field is typically never tolerated, especially when large crowds and an unknown substance is involved,” Seven Ponds noted.

In 2016, two Cubs fans scattered some of their dad’s ashes from the stands via a plastic bag on Wrigley Field when Chicago clinched the National League pennant. A YouTube video looks cheerful without incident. On the video, though, a poster commented: “I did this as well only the wind was against us. The guy behind us looked like a powdered donut and wanted to kick my a--.”

In 2013, Advanced Local AL.Com reported that cremated remains were discovered near the 40-yard line along the Auburn sideline inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, two days after Auburn’s Iron Bowl victory.

“It happens a lot more than you think,” a turf specialist at Auburn University told AL. “People want their final resting place to be Jordan-Hare Stadium.” Bone fragments were found amid the ashes. The deposits were cleaned off the field by a turf crew.

“It could have been Grandma or it could have been Grandma’s dog,” the professor said.

And finally, the Metropolitan Opera in New York had to shut down during the middle of a “William Tell” performance and cancel another when an “unknown substance,” was found in the orchestra pit in 2016, according to Seven Ponds. An audience member came to that performance “specifically to pour out the cremated ashes of his former mentor.”