Published
A family burial ground is permitted here. The deed comes first.
Idaho allows it, and Fremont County has written down how
It is a question that comes up on inherited ground and on long-held family acreage, and people are usually surprised the answer is yes. Fremont County has an appendix devoted to family burial grounds, and it opens by explaining why.
“Because there are citizens of Fremont County who desire to maintain the remains of their loved ones on their own property and not in a public cemetery, it is also a public benefit, use and purpose to provide a method to maintain, improve, and beautify private family burial grounds.”
— Fremont County Development Code, 2011 Edition (Ordinance 2011-04), Appendix G, section 1.01, Purpose. Consolidated through Ordinance 2026-03. Retrieved 1 September 2026
The framing matters. The county is not tolerating this as an exception; it describes providing a method as a public benefit, use and purpose, echoing the State of Idaho's declaration that maintaining and beautifying cemeteries is one of the first considerations of a civilized people.
What a family burial ground may consist of
The composition provision is broader than the phrase suggests, and it is worth knowing the options before assuming only one is available.
| Form | What it is for |
|---|---|
| A burial plot | Earth interments |
| A mausoleum | Vault or crypt interments |
| A columbarium | Interments of cremated remains, which is the form needing least ground and least survey work |
| Any combination | The appendix expressly allows one or more of the above together |
It may occupy a lot or a portion of one. And the use is closed rather than open-ended: no family burial ground is to be used for any purpose other than as a repository for human remains, for religious observances, or for contemplation and reflection.
One distinction the appendix draws explicitly: family burial grounds are not deemed to be equivalent to rural cemeteries as defined in Idaho Code Title 27, Chapter 2. That is the county's own characterisation, and anyone whose plans are ambitious enough to approach the scale of a cemetery should read that statute or take advice on it rather than rely on a summary inside a county appendix.
The recording requirement is the whole of it
If there is one thing to take from Appendix G, it is that this is fundamentally a title matter rather than a construction matter. The obligations are about the deed.
- The burial ground must be laid out and described specifically, by metes and bounds or otherwise.
- The description must give appropriate notice to lien holders, successors in title, and the public at large.
- It goes on the deed of record for any lot containing a family burial ground.
- The owner must record that deed prior to any interment of human remains.
The sequencing in that last point is the critical one and the easiest to get wrong. The deed is recorded first, and the interment follows. Not the other way round, and not at some convenient later date. A family dealing with a death is not in a state to attend to a metes and bounds description, which is precisely why this is a thing to do in advance of ever needing it.
The reference to lien holders is worth pausing on too. A mortgage lender has an interest in the parcel, and a permanent, unremovable, use-restricted area within it is something that interest touches. Raising it with a lender before recording is more comfortable than after.
What a properly prepared record contains, so that neither an executor nor a future owner has to reconstruct it:
- The metes and bounds description of the ground, or an equivalent specific description sufficient to identify it on the ground rather than only on paper.
- The recording details of the deed carrying that description, and its date.
- Which form the ground takes — plot, mausoleum, columbarium, or a combination.
- Correspondence with any lien holder who was notified before recording.
- A site plan showing it in relation to the rest of the parcel, its buildings, its access and any well or drainfield.
- A note of the restricted permitted uses, so a later owner does not assume the ground is available for anything else.
- Whether the parcel has ever been divided since recording, since a description tied to the original lot needs checking against the current one.
- A written record of the disclosure made to any buyer, which is a separate duty from the deed itself and is discharged by telling rather than by filing.
Selling land that contains one
The disclosure obligation is short and absolute: if a lot or parcel containing family burial grounds is sold, the seller of the property must disclose to the buyer the existence of the family burial grounds.
Two things follow, and they run in both directions.
For a seller: this is a positive duty, separate from and additional to whatever the deed already records. The deed giving notice to the public at large does not discharge a duty to tell the buyer. Both exist.
For a buyer: ask the question directly on any long-held rural parcel in this county. A family burial ground is permanent, its permitted uses are narrowly defined, and it is not something that can be relocated to suit a future building plan. On corridor acreage where the whole point is choosing where the house goes, that is a material constraint, and it belongs on the same list as everything else that varies lot to lot.
How to go about it
- Decide the form first — burial plot, mausoleum, columbarium, or a combination — because the area to be described depends on it.
- Have the area surveyed and described specifically, by metes and bounds or otherwise, rather than approximately.
- Talk to any lien holder before recording, since the description is required to give them notice and a lender is better told than surprised.
- Record the deed carrying that description before any interment takes place. This is the step with a sequence attached and the one that cannot be repaired afterwards.
- Keep the recorded description with the property papers, so that a future owner or executor is not reconstructing it.
- Site it deliberately in relation to the rest of the parcel, remembering the use is restricted permanently to a repository for remains, religious observance, and contemplation and reflection.
- If the intent is anything approaching the scale or character of a cemetery, take advice on Idaho Code Title 27 Chapter 2, which the appendix expressly distinguishes this from.
The practical summary: this is permitted, the county is unusually warm about it, and the entire mechanism is a description recorded on a deed before rather than after. It is a half-day of survey and recording work done calmly in advance, or it is an impossible problem attended to at the worst possible time. Like the rest of the county's land rules, it rewards being read before it is needed rather than after — the same argument that applies to checking well and septic before you build.
Common questions
Can I be buried on my own land in Fremont County?
The county's code provides a method for private family burial grounds, describing it as a public benefit, use and purpose. It is permitted, subject to the appendix's composition, recording and disclosure requirements.
What can a family burial ground consist of?
A lot or portion of one containing a burial plot for earth interments, a mausoleum for vault or crypt interments, or a columbarium for cremated remains — or any combination of one or more of those.
What can the ground be used for?
No family burial ground is to be used for any purpose other than as a repository for human remains, for religious observances, or for contemplation and reflection. The permitted uses are closed rather than open-ended.
Does it have to be recorded?
Yes. It must be laid out and described specifically, by metes and bounds or otherwise, so as to give appropriate notice to lien holders, successors in title and the public at large, on the deed of record for the lot containing it.
When does the deed have to be recorded?
Before any interment of human remains takes place. The owner records the deed first and the interment follows — a sequence that cannot be corrected afterwards and is far easier to attend to in advance.
Do I have to tell a buyer about it?
Yes. If a lot or parcel containing family burial grounds is sold, the seller must disclose to the buyer the existence of the family burial grounds. That duty is separate from and additional to what the deed records.
Should a buyer ask about this?
On any long-held rural parcel it is worth asking directly. A family burial ground is permanent, narrowly restricted in use, and cannot be relocated to suit a later building plan, so it is a material constraint on where a house can go.
Is a family burial ground the same as a cemetery?
No. The appendix states family burial grounds are not deemed to be equivalent to rural cemeteries as defined in Idaho Code Title 27 Chapter 2. Anyone planning something approaching that scale should take advice on the statute itself.
Does a mortgage lender need to know?
The description is required to give appropriate notice to lien holders, so a lender's interest is directly touched. Raising it before recording is more comfortable than having it discovered afterwards.