Licensure, Registration, and Scope of Practice for Funeral Directors, Embalmers, and Apprentices
Maryland does not issue one generic funeral credential. The licensure chapter separates the mortician, who may embalm as well as arrange and direct, from the funeral director, who arranges, directs, and supervises but does not embalm. Apprentices are registered, not licensed, and establishments are licensed separately. Exams test who may perform which act and who may supervise whom.
Entry requirements
- Minimum age, high school diploma or equivalent, good moral character, and fingerprint criminal background check.
- Graduation from an ABFSE-accredited mortuary science program for the mortician route, plus a Board-approved apprenticeship.
- National board examination plus a Maryland jurisprudence examination on Title 7 and COMAR 10.29.
- Apprenticeship credit runs only from the date the Board approves the registration; work performed before approval is generally lost.
Scope and supervision rules
- An apprentice may perform services only under direct supervision of a Maryland-licensed mortician who is present in the establishment.
- A licensee may not delegate embalming to unlicensed personnel and may not practice in an unlicensed establishment.
- Licenses are personal, non-transferable, renewable with continuing education, and contingent on truthful reporting.
Worked example
An apprentice registered in June, but the owner logged 200 embalming hours in May under signatures dated that month. The Board credits none of the May hours and cites the owner for a supervision violation. Reasoning: supervision must be contemporaneous with the registered apprenticeship, not reconstructed afterward.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming out-of-state licenses transfer automatically, confusing funeral director scope with mortician scope, and believing a licensed health professional such as a nurse may embalm without a Maryland mortician license.