Interment, burial and entombment

The norm for interment is ground burial or bodies may be buried in niches, vaults and chapels, or cremated.
Interment and entombment are burial systems provided by the Mortuary Police Regulations and commonly used in our country.
Interment and entombment (which includes cremation) are regulated by specific technical and health rules for safeguarding public health and preventing environmental contamination. For family burials it is first necessary to obtain a clearance from the deed-holder of the gravesite or, in case of the latter’s death, from all those entitled to burial in the family tomb.

Interment or ground burial
Interment is a burial practice according to which the coffin (wooden coffin without hermetically-sealed zinc casing) is buried underground. National legislation provides that Cemetery Managers may not exhume the remains and relocate them to another gravesite until 10 years after burial.

Entombment
Entombment is a burial practice according to which the coffin (wooden coffin with hermetically-sealed zinc casing) is buried inside a concrete tomb which may be above (columbarium) or below ground (such as underground funeral niches and/or family burial chambers).
National legislation provides that Cemetery Managers may not exhume the remains and relocate them to another gravesite until 20 years after burial (this rule can vary according to local burial laws in different municipalities).
Entombment in family burial sites may only be carried out by private companies licensed to operate in the cemetery. Besides the coffin, ossuaries or funerary urns may be stored, if there is enough space, and if the ashes or bones belong to relatives or kin within 6 degrees of relation from the deceased or the deed-holder.