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Funeral director licensing · Georgia

Funeral director licensing in Georgia

Georgia has no funeral director license without embalming: you must first become a licensed Georgia embalmer, which takes a funeral service degree, a 3,120-hour apprenticeship in which you assist with 50 embalmings, and the National Board Science exam, and then add 50 funerals, the Arts exam and the Georgia law exam.

Sources

Georgia

Embalming required

The usual route to the license · License: Funeral director (requires a Georgia embalmer license first)

Education

Graduation from an ABFSE-accredited (or Board-approved) funeral service college, for the embalmer license

Source for education
Required experience

3,120-hour apprenticeship over at least 18 months; assist with 50 embalmings and 50 funerals18 mo or more

Sources for required experience
Exams

National Board Science and Arts exams plus the Georgia jurisprudence exam

Source for exams
Embalming

Georgia embalmer license first: college, assisting with 50 embalmings, Science exam

Sources for embalming

What it takes, step by step

School. Graduation from a college of funeral service accredited by the ABFSE (the American Board of Funeral Service Education, which accredits funeral service and mortuary science programs; ABFSE accredited programs) (or another college the Board approves) is required, because it is part of the embalmer license every funeral director must hold. There is no funeral-directing-only route.

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  1. Be at least 18, of good moral character, with a high school diploma or GED.

    Sources for step 1

  2. Register with the Board as a funeral service apprentice, under a Board-approved supervisor (one person licensed as both funeral director and embalmer, or a pair of one each) at a Board-approved funeral home that has averaged at least 30 funerals and at least 30 embalmings a year over the past 5 years.

    Sources for step 2

  3. Serve 3,120 apprentice hours over at least 18 months, on top of the time spent in college. While enrolled in college, at most 4 hours a day count. Reports every 6 months list the embalmings and funerals you assisted with.

    Sources for step 3

  4. Graduate from an ABFSE-accredited college of funeral service, or another college the Board approves.

    Sources for step 4

  5. Get the Georgia embalmer license: proof of the 3,120 hours, a sworn statement that you assisted in embalming at least 50 bodies, and a pass on the National Board Funeral Service Science exam (the NBE, the national licensing exam set by The Conference (the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards), in two sections, Arts and Sciences; The Conference, National Board Exam).

    Sources for step 5

  6. Then apply for the funeral director license: your Georgia embalmer license, a sworn statement that you assisted with at least 50 funerals as an apprentice, passes on both the National Board Science and Arts exams, and the Georgia jurisprudence (law) exam.

    Sources for step 6

Does a funeral home need an embalmer?

In effect, yes. Every funeral home must be licensed under a funeral director in full and continuous charge, and every Georgia funeral director must already hold a Georgia embalmer license. The Board's inspection rule also sets the equipment every embalming room must have, including embalming instruments and fluid; the rules read do not themselves say every funeral home must have an embalming room.

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Licensed in another state?

The Board may license a funeral director from another state, territory, country or DC without the national exam if you pass the Georgia law exam and either meet Georgia's own requirements or hold a license from a place whose requirements are substantially equal. Otherwise, an employer can attest that you actively practised as a licensed embalmer and funeral director for the 3 years just before you apply, filed within 6 months of leaving that state. A license that was itself granted by endorsement cannot be the basis.

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Good to know

Check with the board

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

Georgia State Board of Funeral Service (Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards)

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 Georgia’s law requires.

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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.