How to Find Out Where a Person Has Been Cremated in Tennessee

Locate where someone was cremated in Tennessee using Internet resources or vital records.

More than 15 percent of families in Tennessee choose cremation over burial, according to the Cremation Society of Tennessee. All cremations must be recorded, so it is possible to find out where this was done.

Instructions

1. Determine where the person died. Begin at a general site like Death Indexes (http://www.deathindexes.com) or Death Records.net. (http://www.deathrecords.net), which compile information about deaths in the U.S. by state.

2. Click on "Tennessee'' for a list of death indexes and records from across the state drawn from a variety of sources, including newspaper obituaries, cemetery sites, funeral homes, government records and genealogical data. These are arranged by county. If you know the correct county, click on that. Otherwise, begin at the top and search each record using the person's last name.

3. Order death records by mail or online from the Vital Records division of the Tennessee Department of Public Health. You must provide a government-issued form of identification to request records, and there is a fee of $7 (as of May 2011) per copy. Records are available for the last 50 years. In Nashville, visit the department in person between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.at

   Central Services Building, 1st Floor, 421 5th Avenue North (615-741-1763).

4. Find older death records through the Tennessee State Library, which maintains indexes from the early 20th century (with a few back to 1848).

5. Search obituaries online maintained through the Cremation Society of Tennessee. You can search by last and first name, date of birth or death, city, state, or date of memorial. Records are posted only with the immediate family's permission, so if your person is not listed, contact the Society by phone (toll-free at 877-794-3030; otherwise 615-302-4842) or visit in person at 3011 Harrah Drive, Suite O,Spring Hill. The Society also maintains a Facebook page: www.facebook/cremationsocietyoftn.

6. Call funeral homes or mortuaries directly. A master list of such institutions in Tennessee can be found at iMortuary.com (http://www.imortuary.com). This site also allows a search of cemeteries in the state.

Tips & Warnings

• Some organizations, particularly private mortuaries, may not provide you with information about a person unless you can prove that you are an immediate family member.

References

• Online Tennessee Death Records & Indexes; A Genealogy Records Guide
• Tennessee Department of Public Health; Vital Records: Request a Copy
• Tennessee Department of State; State Library & Archives; Finding Birth and Death Records in Tennessee
• Death Records.net; Tennessee Death Records
• Cremation Society of Tennessee; Obituaries
• iMortuary Funeral Home Directory; Tennessee Funeral Homes