In the hours after a death, families often discover that grief comes with logistics. Some of those logistics are expected—phone calls, paperwork, letting relatives know. Others can feel surprisingly practical: How do we move them? What if we want to keep care in the family for a while? What if a funeral home is hours away, or a family-led plan is part of a home funeral?
If your state allows family-directed care and you’re exploring a private vehicle option, the choice between a minivan and an SUV can shape everything that follows: how safely you can load, how level the person can lie, whether straps can actually secure the stretcher, and how much physical strain the process puts on the people doing the lifting. This guide is written to help you think clearly about minivan vs SUV for body transport with dignity and safety at the center—not fear, and not bravado.
Before we get into vehicle pros and cons, it helps to name the reality: moving a body is heavy, emotionally and physically. It’s also not always legally straightforward. The National Home Funeral Alliance notes that home funerals typically involve filing the death certificate, obtaining transport and burial permits, and transporting the deceased to the place of disposition, and they emphasize that home funerals are legal in every state and province, though requirements can differ by state. If you want a practical grounding on what happens first, Funeral.com’s guide on what to do when someone dies at home can help you orient to the immediate steps and who to call when you’re unsure.
Start with the non-negotiables: legality, timing, and who can transport
Families often ask, “Is it legal to do this ourselves?” The honest answer is: sometimes yes, sometimes no, and “yes” may still come with paperwork. The National Home Funeral Alliance’s state-by-state guide is a useful starting point for understanding what your state requires. The Funeral Consumers Alliance also describes states that restrict caring for your own dead, including where a funeral director must be involved for filing or transport.
Even when family transport is permitted, you may still need a burial-transit or disposition permit. Funeral.com’s article on transporting human remains across state lines explains how permit names vary (burial transit, disposition, removal), but the purpose is similar: authorization to transport and proceed with burial or cremation.
Timing matters too. Embalming is widely assumed to be “required,” but the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School explains that federal law does not require embalming or refrigeration, while state and local governments may require preservation in some circumstances. In plain terms: if your plan involves holding the body longer, traveling farther, or crossing jurisdictions, ask early what is required versus what is recommended. When in doubt, a local funeral director, hospice nurse, or a home funeral guide can clarify the local rules without taking the entire plan out of your hands.
What matters most in a vehicle: flat space, securement, and safe height
When people picture a “funeral removal vehicle,” they often imagine a hearse or a van with a mechanical cot. But family-led transport is usually more humble: a personal vehicle, a stretcher or cot (or a transfer board), and careful planning. The goal is transporting deceased safely in a way that protects the person and protects you.
Three variables tend to decide whether a vehicle will work:
- Length and flatness of the cargo area for a stretcher, cot, or shrouded transfer.
- Loading height (lower is safer for backs and shoulders).
- Tie-down options so the person can be covered and secured without shifting.
If you’re trying to match mortuary cot vehicle fit to a real car in your driveway, avoid guessing. Measure. Open the rear hatch and measure the flat length from the inside edge of the hatch to the point where a cot would stop (often the back of the front seats). Then measure the narrowest width between wheel wells, and measure the cargo opening height. Finally, pay attention to whether the floor is truly flat or slopes—because a slight slope becomes meaningful when you’re trying to keep someone level.
Why many families choose a minivan
A minivan’s quiet advantage: a genuinely flat floor
For many families, the minivan is the most practical home funeral transport vehicle because it’s built to swallow awkward cargo without drama. With seats stowed or removed, many minivans offer a long, low, flat loading surface. That “low and flat” combination matters more than most people realize. A flat floor reduces rolling and shifting, and a lower height reduces the amount of lifting required to load.
In real-life terms, a minivan often makes it easier to protect dignity. You can keep the person fully covered, bring the cot or transfer device in straight from the rear, and minimize awkward angles. You also tend to have more working room around the opening, which helps if you’re coordinating a team lift or communicating step-by-step.
Straps and anchor points: the overlooked detail
Families sometimes focus on cargo length and forget about securement. When a vehicle stops quickly or turns sharply, unsecured weight can shift. That’s true for furniture, and it’s true here. Look for tie-down points in the cargo area—metal loops, seat anchors, or built-in anchors—so you can use straps to keep the cot stable. This is part of basic body transport requirements in practice: not just “get them there,” but “get them there safely and respectfully.”
If you want a broader overview of the logistics families often face, Funeral.com’s guide on how to transport human remains offers a helpful big-picture map of options and documents.
Why an SUV can still be the right choice
When you need clearance, traction, or weather confidence
An SUV can be a solid choice when weather, terrain, or distance is part of the situation. If you’re driving rural roads, dealing with snow, or navigating steep driveways, an SUV may feel more stable and more capable. In those cases, the question isn’t “Is an SUV bad?” It’s “Which SUV configuration actually works for a level, secure load?”
The biggest SUV drawback is often height. Higher loading surfaces can mean more strain and more risk during lifting. If you choose an SUV, think through how you will load without forcing one person to bear too much weight at an unsafe angle.
The flatness test: folded seats aren’t always flat seats
Some SUVs fold flat. Some fold “almost flat,” leaving a slope or a ridge that you won’t notice until you try to slide a cot in and it catches. Before you commit, do the practical test: fold seats exactly how you would on the day, then lay something rigid across the floor (a board, a folded table, even a straight edge) to see if the surface is truly level. This matters for cargo length for stretcher planning, but it also matters for stability.
If you find that the SUV floor isn’t flat, you may still be able to make it workable with a rigid transfer board under the cot wheels, or by using a lower-profile transport method. But be honest about your capacity. The vehicle should reduce risk, not create it.
Loading height and back safety: protect the living, too
Grief can make people rush. But this is exactly the moment to slow down and plan the lift. The OSHA Technical Manual explains that improper lifting and loads that are too heavy can lead to acute back injuries, and that musculoskeletal strain can build over time. The CDC’s NIOSH ergonomics guidance describes tools used to evaluate lifting risk in workplaces—useful as a reminder that “just one lift” can still be too much if the posture is wrong or the load is awkward.
In practical terms, the safest lift is the one you don’t do. If you can use a wheeled cot, a ramp, or a transfer device, do it. If you have to lift, treat it like a coordinated team task. Many university and workplace safety guides emphasize the same core principles: keep the load close, bend at knees and hips, avoid twisting, and move your feet to turn. For example, Penn State’s ergonomics handout emphasizes staying close to the object and not holding weight away from your body.
This is where minivans often win in the minivan vs SUV comparison: the lower loading height can reduce the most dangerous part of the process—lifting up and in. If an SUV is significantly higher, consider whether you can safely use a ramp, or whether a professional removal is the kinder choice for everyone’s bodies and nerves.
What families often use: simple equipment that protects dignity
Even in family-led situations, you don’t have to improvise with only what you have in a closet. Families often work with a home funeral guide or a cooperative funeral home that can provide or recommend supplies. A “professional” setup can be as simple as a sturdy cot, absorbent pads, and straps—nothing elaborate, just enough to support transporting deceased safely.
Common items families consider include:
- A wheeled cot or stretcher with straps (or a rigid transfer board if a cot isn’t available).
- Absorbent pads and a clean sheet or shroud for coverage and leak protection.
- A zippered pouch or body bag if recommended locally, especially for longer transport or warm conditions.
- Gloves, sanitizer, and a plan for safe hand hygiene.
- Straps rated for securement, attached to vehicle anchor points, to reduce shifting during turns and stops.
If your planning includes professional support for paperwork, refrigeration, or transport, you can still stay family-led in spirit. Funeral.com’s guide on home funerals and family-led care explains how families often blend hands-on care with targeted professional help.
First call removal logistics: when “we can” isn’t the same as “we should”
Many families first learn the phrase “first call” when they’re already exhausted. In the industry, “first call removal” generally refers to the initial transfer of the body from the place of death (home, hospital, nursing facility) into professional care. Families exploring first call removal logistics sometimes feel torn: they want to be present and involved, but they also don’t want to risk injury or a traumatic experience.
If you’re unsure, it can help to separate goals. You might decide that the first call removal is handled by professionals, but everything after—washing, vigil time, home-based visitation, a family-led ceremony—is guided by the people who loved them. That can still be deeply personal, and it can also be safer.
If the death is under investigation, if the medical examiner must be involved, or if the person died unexpectedly without hospice support, the safest and most lawful option is often to let authorities and professionals guide the immediate transport. Funeral.com’s article on what documents families actually need after a death can help you understand why transport and disposition permits become important quickly.
Minivan vs SUV decision-making: a calm way to choose
If you’re trying to decide in a stressed moment, here’s a steadier framework: choose the vehicle that reduces lifting height, offers the flattest secure surface, and has reliable anchor points. In many cases, that points to a minivan. In some cases—rural terrain, winter conditions, long distances—an SUV may still be the better tool, as long as you can load safely and keep the surface stable.
If you’re planning ahead, you can make this far easier on your future self. Keep a small “transport plan” document with measurements of your vehicle’s cargo length and opening height, the contact information for a cooperative funeral home, and a list of who can help lift. This is not morbid—it’s funeral planning in the most practical sense: reducing stress for the people who will be grieving.
If your broader plan includes cremation, burial, or a memorial service later, you can also build those choices into the document so transport isn’t the only decision someone has to make under pressure. Funeral.com’s resource on how to preplan a funeral can help you put the bigger picture on paper without locking your family into details that may change.
A final word about dignity
Families worry about doing something “wrong.” But dignity is not a brand of vehicle. Dignity is the tone you set: moving slowly, covering the person, securing the cot so it won’t shift, communicating clearly, and knowing when to ask for help. Whether you choose a minivan or an SUV, the goal is the same: a safe, respectful transfer that protects the people who are already carrying so much.
And if you read all of this and feel your shoulders tighten, that’s information too. Sometimes the most loving choice is to let professionals handle the transport and keep your energy for the vigil, the ceremony, the stories, and the long days afterward. There is no single “right” way—only the way that fits your family, your body, your laws, and your love.
