Permits the use of cremation or natural organic reduction as the method of disposition for certain decedents

• Democratic1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Gustavo Rivera says this is needed

The State's landmark Final Disposition Law was enacted in 2006-07 to allow a person to designate someone of their choosing to act as their legal agent to ensure that their funeral/burial wishes are carried out after their death. The law also provided a hierarchy in listing which persons, in descending order of priority, had the right to control the disposition of a decedent in cases when an agent was not named. As coun- ties are legally charged with ensuring the dignified final disposition of individuals who pass away without any financial resources, chief fiscal officers/public administrators are listed, so they may serve as the person in control of the final disposition for these individuals. However, the steady and continued rise in cremation as a chosen form of final disposition has resulted in heightened concern among these county officials as to whether current law affords them adequate legal protection when acting in their official capacity to order or authorize a cremation, given the irreversibility of cremation as a final disposi- tion process. This legislation, if enacted, would provide this needed extra level of legal protection, and in so doing, give these local officials the neces- sary degree of comfort and confidence when authorizing cremation or the new process of natural organic reduction as part of their official duties. The bill also provides that either of these forms of final disposition may only be authorized if they are consistent with the reli- gious practices of the decedent, and 1) no person having priority above the local official has claimed the decedent 90 days after death, or 2) a person having priority is known but has given up his or her right to control the disposition. Enactment of this bill would not only provide the necessary level of legal protection to county officials as part of their official duties, but would also ensure that a person's final disposition is carried through in a seamless and dignified manner.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.