Life Is
Temporary Someone has diedSomeone died

Home · Funeral careers · By state · Delaware

Funeral director licensing · Delaware

Funeral director licensing in Delaware

Delaware has one funeral director license, and its definition includes embalming: you need a 60-credit mortuary-science associate degree, the national and Delaware law exams, and a one-year internship with at least 25 embalming reports, 25 arrangements and 25 funeral services.

Sources

Delaware

Embalming required

The usual route to the license · License: Funeral director (the only practitioner license; it includes embalming)

Education

60-credit associate degree in mortuary science (ABFSE school), or a 30-credit certificate plus credits to 60

Sources for education
Required experience

1-year Delaware internship: 25 embalmings, 25 arrangements, 25 funeral services; one extension allowed1 yr or more

Sources for required experience
Exams

National Conference exam plus the Delaware state law exam (70% minimum)

Sources for exams
Embalming

25 embalming reports during the 1-year internship

Source for embalming

What it takes, step by step

School. High school plus an associate degree in mortuary science (60 credit hours) from an ABFSE (the American Board of Funeral Service Education, which accredits funeral service and mortuary science programs; ABFSE accredited programs)-accredited school, or a mortuary-science certificate of at least 30 semester hours topped up to 60 hours. There is no funeral-directing-only route, because the only license includes embalming.

Sources

  1. Finish high school and earn a 60-credit associate degree (or the allowed equivalent) in mortuary science from an ABFSE-accredited school; you must have it before you can apply for the internship (supervised work in a funeral home; some states use this word for the apprenticeship).

    Sources for step 1

  2. Pass the national standardized exam recognized by The Conference (it may be taken before or during the internship).

    Sources for step 2

  3. Register as an intern and complete one year in a licensed Delaware funeral establishment under a licensed Delaware funeral director, with at least 25 embalming reports, 25 arrangements, 25 funeral services and 4 quarterly work reports, backed by the sponsor's notarized statement. One one-year extension is allowed.

    Sources for step 3

  4. Pass the Delaware state law exam (70% minimum under the regulation).

    Sources for step 4

Does a funeral home need an embalmer?

Yes, in effect. Each funeral establishment must have a licensed person in charge full time (except establishments already operating before 6 September 1972), and the only practitioner license is the funeral director license, which includes embalming. Multi-location firms must keep an embalming area at one or more Delaware locations.

Sources

Licensed in another state?

The Board licenses applicants in good standing from a state with substantially similar standards who pass the Delaware law exam. If your state's standards are not substantially similar, you need 3 of the past 5 years of practice, and if that state licenses funeral directors and embalmers separately you must hold both licenses. A limited license (removals, returning bodies, death certificates and disposition paperwork only) is available to funeral directors licensed in states that give Delaware directors the same privilege.

Sources

Good to know

  • An embalming room assistant may work in the embalming and dressing rooms but may not embalm; it is a staff role, not a license to direct funerals.

    Sources

  • Correction to the 22 Oct note: the rule that an applicant from a state with separate licenses must hold both applies only to the 3-of-5-years route for states whose standards are not substantially similar, not to every reciprocity applicant.

    Sources

Check with the board

Rules change. Confirm the current licensing requirements with the board before you enroll.

Delaware Board of Funeral Services (Division of Professional Regulation)

Many Muslims would rather not embalm. Whether a Muslim may embalm someone who is not Muslim is a question for a qualified scholar. This page only shows what Delaware’s law requires.

Next

General information, not legal advice. We read the law behind each point on 23 October 2026, and each point links to the text it comes from. All our sources.