Above Ground Burial Options: Mausoleums, Columbariums, and Humanist Funerals

When most people think about burial, they picture a grave in a cemetery. But above ground burial has a long history and a growing list of modern options — from elegant private mausoleums to community columbariums designed for cremated remains. For families planning ahead, understanding what is available removes the pressure of making these decisions during grief.

What Are Above Ground Burial Options?

Above ground burial refers to any interment that does not involve placing a casket in the ground. The main categories are:

1. Mausoleums

A mausoleum is a freestanding structure — essentially a small building — that houses one or more bodies in individual chambers called crypts. Mausoleums can be:

Community or public mausoleums: Found in most large cemeteries, these are multi-chamber buildings where individual crypts are purchased. Your parent's casket (or cremated remains) is placed in a sealed crypt, usually indoors or in a semi-open corridor. Costs vary widely by location, but community crypt spaces typically range from $4,000 to $15,000 or more depending on the cemetery and whether the crypt is at eye level (the most sought-after and most expensive) or higher up.

Private mausoleums: A structure built for a single family on a private cemetery lot. These are significantly more expensive — often $50,000 to well over $200,000 — and are typically reserved for wealthy families or those with strong religious or cultural traditions around family burial.

Benefits: Above ground interment is seen by many families as more accessible for visiting, protected from the elements, and consistent with certain religious traditions. Some families prefer it because the body is kept whole in an enclosed, dignified space.

Drawbacks: Cost is the primary barrier. Maintenance fees for community mausoleum spaces can also add up over time.

2. Columbariums

A columbarium is a structure with small compartments (niches) specifically designed to hold cremated remains (ashes). Think of it as the cremation equivalent of a mausoleum crypt — a permanent, above-ground resting place for urns.

Columbariums are found in cemeteries, churches, and increasingly in dedicated memorial gardens. Some are outdoors with open-air niches; others are climate-controlled indoor structures. Niche costs are typically lower than full mausoleum crypts — ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on location and whether you want a glass-front niche (so the urn is visible) or a sealed granite niche.

For families who have chosen cremation but still want a permanent, accessible place to visit, a columbarium niche is often the most practical and dignified option.

3. Garden Walls and Scattering Gardens

Some cemeteries offer memorial walls or plaques without physical interment of remains. Ashes may be scattered in a dedicated scattering garden (with a plaque marking the name and dates), or families may keep cremated remains at home. While this does not involve a permanent structure, it falls into the category of non-ground burial options.

4. Above Ground Burial Vaults (Green Burial Context)

In some jurisdictions, above-ground burial vaults made of natural materials allow for decomposition without embalming — sometimes on private land or in dedicated conservation cemeteries. This overlaps with the natural burial movement and is worth knowing about if your parent has environmental preferences around their burial.

What Is a Humanist Funeral?

A humanist funeral is a non-religious memorial service led by a trained humanist celebrant. It is designed for families who do not follow a religion, or for those who want a ceremony that reflects the person's actual life and values rather than a theological framework.

Humanist funerals are growing in popularity, particularly in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, where they are officially recognized and where non-religious funerals have overtaken religious ones in many regions. In the US, humanist and secular celebrants are increasingly available through organizations like the American Humanist Association and the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.

What Happens at a Humanist Funeral?

A humanist funeral typically includes:

• A welcome and introduction from the celebrant
• Personal tributes — stories, memories, and a biographical account of the person's life written with input from the family
• Readings: poetry, literature, or passages that held meaning for the deceased
• Music: entirely chosen by the family, with no requirement for hymns
• Moments for personal reflection
• A committal — the formal farewell, which may happen at a graveside, crematorium, or other setting

There is no liturgy, no prayer, no religious doctrine. The entire ceremony is shaped around the person who died. Many families — even those with some religious affiliation — find humanist funerals more personally meaningful than a generic religious service.

How Much Does a Humanist Funeral Cost?

Humanist celebrant fees typically range from $500 to $1,500 in the US, and £400 to £900 in the UK, separate from the costs of the venue, burial, or cremation. They are generally less expensive than full funeral home packages, particularly if the family is coordinating other elements independently.

Why These Decisions Belong in the Plan Now

The single biggest source of overspending and conflict in funeral planning is decisions made under time pressure. When a parent dies without having expressed a preference for burial type, ceremony style, or memorial location, the family defaults to urgency — and funeral homes know it. The national median cost of a funeral with burial in the US is over $9,000. Mausoleum upgrades, premium cremation urns, and premium niche locations add to that.

When your parent makes these choices in advance — documented in writing — the family is freed from guessing. They can honor the preference without second-guessing or guilt-spending.

Questions to Ask Your Parent Now

If you are beginning end-of-life conversations, these are useful specific questions about burial and memorial preferences:

• Do you prefer burial or cremation?
• If burial: would you like to be in the ground, or in a mausoleum or crypt above ground?
• If cremation: should remains be kept, scattered, or placed in a permanent columbarium niche?
• Do you want a religious service, a non-religious/humanist ceremony, or something else entirely?
• Are there specific readings, songs, or traditions you want included?
• Is there anything you specifically do not want?

Getting these answers in writing, along with the rest of your parent's end-of-life wishes, is the purpose of a comprehensive planning document.

The Workbook That Covers All of It

Burial preferences are just one section of what your family needs to document before a crisis. The End-of-Life Planning Workbook provides guided worksheets for funeral and memorial preferences, advance healthcare directives, legal documents, financial overviews, and family coordination — all in one organized resource. It covers planning for families in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

If your parent has specific wishes about how they want to be remembered and where they want to rest, the time to write those down is now.

Get the End-of-Life Planning Workbook