Update: U.S. Postal Service Changes Policies on Shipping Cremated Remains

Information provided by NFDA

Posted: January 5, 2014; Updated January 9, 2014

Effective December 26, 2013, the United States Postal Service (USPS) revised its policy pertaining to the shipment of cremated remains. Cremated remains may no longer be sent domestically or internationally via Registered Mail Service. Priority Mail Express is the only option for sending cremated remains via the USPS. NFDA is working with the USPS to obtain additional details about this change in policy. NFDA will share those details with you as soon as they are available.

Update – January 9, 2013

The notice from the USPS for the Domestic Mail Manual is listed below.

From the United States Postal Service announcement:

Effective December 26, 2013, the Postal Service is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 601.12 to require mailers to use only Priority Mail Express service when shipping cremated remains. The Postal Service will no longer authorize cremated remains to be sent using Registered Mail service. Although these revisions will not be published in the DMM until January 26, 2014, these standards are effective immediately.

12.9.3 Cremated Remains [revision as follows:]

***Mailpieces sent to domestic addresses must be sent using Priority Mail Express service.

In some states, the law requires that cremated remains be sent via Registered Mail. It is unclear how the new USPS policy will be applied in those states.

As you know, Registered Mail includes additional tracking; this enables you to track the package and helps ensure that cremated remains arrive safely.

Given the new policy requiring the use of Priority Mail Express service, NFDA recommends that you specifically request and pay for tracking and require a signature on delivery to help ensure that cremated remains are delivered to the correct individual in a timely manner.
NFDA continues its attempts to obtain additional details from the USPS on this policy change. That information will be shared with you as soon as it is available.

Information provided by NFDA.

Shipping Cremated Remains Via U.S. Mail

Beginning August 26, 2013 the United States Postal Service (USPS) will begin placing a special sticker on any cremated remains being mailed domestically or internationally. According to the USPS, the label will not be required but it is highly recommended to increase visibility during USPS processing and transportation.

Currently cremated remains are not identifiable in the mail stream. Today, if a package containing cremated remains cannot be located while in the Postal Service's possession, it can be upsetting to families. The new Label 139, Cremated Remains, will allow USPS to identify these packages during processing and transportation and ensure they are handled with care.

The label will only be applied by a USPS employee when a postal customer indicates the package contains cremated remains. The Cremated Remains label will soon be available for customers through the Postal Store at usps.com, enabling you to apply it prior to taking it to the post office. (As of August 27, 2013, the labels were not yet available in the online Postal Store; contunue to check the store, or consult your local post office branch, for its availability.)
If you have any questions, please contact your local post office.