Reviewed by Carlos Vargas, Texas Licensed Funeral Director (TFSC #119648) ·
A transfer inside the United States has two ends
When someone dies in the Dallas–Fort Worth area and will be buried in another state, no consulate is involved and no document needs an apostille. The work is divided between two funeral homes: one here, which takes the person into its care and prepares the journey, and one in the destination city, which meets them and carries out the burial or service.
Families often call only one of the two and assume the other will appear. Choose both early, and give each the other’s name and telephone number. When the two ends do not talk to each other, a transfer can stall even when the paperwork is ready.
The Texas permit that lets the journey begin
The Texas DSHS Death Registration Handbook, January 2026 edition, states that when a body is to be removed from the state, transported by common carrier within Texas, or cremated, the funeral director must obtain a Burial-Transit Permit from the local registrar where the death certificate is or will be filed, or electronically from the state registrar. An airline is a common carrier, so the permit is needed for a flight even between two Texas cities.
The same handbook says local registrars must make provision to issue Burial-Transit Permits after hours, on weekends and on holidays, because funeral homes may need one to ship a person at those times. It also notes that the system cannot print the permit automatically until a medical certifier has been designated and has listed the manner of death as natural. When a medical examiner or justice of the peace is involved, ask the funeral director what that changes.
If your relative is coming to Texas from another state, the direction reverses. A permit issued under the law of the place where the death occurred authorizes transport here. The guide to receiving a loved one in DFW covers that case.
What an airline asks for
Each airline publishes its own conditions. As one example, Alaska Air Cargo’s human-remains page says customers must work with a funeral home or medical institution that is authorized to ship and familiar with the process. It requires that the person be accompanied by a death certificate signed by a physician or health officer, or by a burial removal or transit permit as required by law, and be secured in a tightly closed, leak-proof container.
Another airline may word its rules differently, serve different airports or refuse certain routes. Ask the funeral director which carrier will be used, which airport the person will arrive at, and who at the receiving funeral home will collect them and when. The container and weight planner helps you keep the measurements a carrier asks for in one place.
How the two funeral homes charge
The Federal Trade Commission’s guide to complying with the Funeral Rule requires every funeral home to list, among sixteen items on its General Price List, a price for forwarding remains to another funeral home and a price for receiving remains from another funeral home. Each must be a single price that describes the services it covers and includes the funeral home’s basic services fee and any facilities or equipment fees.
That gives you two figures to ask for: the forwarding price from the funeral home here and the receiving price from the one at the destination. Ask each for its General Price List and read what the item includes. Then ask what is not included, such as the airline’s charge, the shipping container, a casket, certified copies or cemetery costs. Our own General Price List shows our forwarding item and the air tray or combination unit.
By road or by air
For a nearby state a funeral home may drive; for a distant one the person often travels as air cargo. Neither is automatically cheaper or faster. Ask how long each would take from the day the permit is ready, whether a relative may travel on the same flight, and what happens if a flight is cancelled. If the family prefers cremation here and burial of the ashes elsewhere, the rules are different and simpler; see shipping cremated remains.
| Task | Who handles it |
|---|---|
| Taking the person into care and filing the death certificate | The funeral home here |
| Burial-Transit Permit | The funeral home here, from the local registrar |
| Booking the carrier and preparing the container | The funeral home here |
| Meeting the flight or vehicle | The receiving funeral home |
| Burial, service and cemetery arrangements | The receiving funeral home and the family |
| Certified copies of the death certificate | Ordered in Texas; ask how many each office at the destination will want |
Questions families ask
- Do we need a consulate or an apostille to move someone to another state?
- No. Those belong to international transfers. Inside the United States the key Texas document is the Burial-Transit Permit, which the funeral director obtains.
- Can we book the flight ourselves?
- Airlines set their own rules. Alaska Air Cargo, for example, says customers must work with a funeral home or medical institution authorized to ship. Ask the funeral director which carrier will be used.
- Will we pay two funeral homes?
- Usually there are two sets of charges. Federal rules require every funeral home to list a forwarding price and a receiving price, so ask both for their General Price List before you agree.
