CREMATION PERMITS - 2024 Fee (eff: 1/1/2024) is $293

By law, all bodies to be cremated must be reported to the Medical Examiner’s Office. No cremation may be carried out, by law, until at least 48 hours have elapsed after the pronounced time of death. All cremations require a signed cremation permit from the Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s Office (WCMEO) before proceeding.

Once you have decided to have your loved one's body cremated, your funeral director will notify our office of your wishes. If an examination has not already been performed by our office, one of our death investigators will coordinate with the funeral home to perform an external examination of the body. Cremation examinations are one of our many functions and are performed on ALL cremations, whether or not the death falls under the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner’s office. Following the cremation examination and review of the signed death certificate, a cremation permit is issued to the funeral home. Our fee for this service is charged to the funeral home.

Funeral directors wishing to receive a cremation permit from our office are required to submit the request form found here: Cremation Request Form. Requests must be filled out completely and then faxed to our office for processing.