CHAPTER 55. AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERMENT, ENTOMBMENT, OR INURNMENT
IC 23-14-55
Chapter 55. Authorization for Interment, Entombment, or
Inurnment
IC 23-14-55-1
Warranty and liability of individual signing authorization
Sec. 1. An individual who signs an authorization for the
interment, entombment, or inurnment of any human remains:
(1) is considered to warrant the truthfulness of:
(A) any fact set forth in the authorization;
(B) the identity of the person for whose remains interment,
entombment, or inurnment is sought; and
(C) the individual's authority to order the interment,
entombment, or inurnment; and
(2) is personally and individually liable to pay damages in
compensation for harm that:
(A) is caused by; or
(B) results from;
the signing of the authorization for interment, entombment, or
inurnment.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.29.
IC 23-14-55-2
Authority and liability of cemetery owner upon receipt of written
authorization; persons prohibited from being an authorized agent
Sec. 2. (a) Except as provided in subsection (d), the owner of a
cemetery is authorized to inter, entomb, or inurn the body or
cremated remains of a deceased human upon the receipt of a written
authorization of an individual who professes either of the following:
(1) To be (in the priority listed) one (1) of the following:
(A) An individual granted the authority to serve in a funeral
planning declaration executed by the decedent under
IC 29-2-19, or the person named in a United States
Department of Defense form "Record of Emergency Data"
(DD Form 93) or a successor form adopted by the United
States Department of Defense, if the decedent died while
serving in any branch of the United States Armed Forces (as
defined in 10 U.S.C. 1481) and completed the form.
(B) An individual granted the authority in a health care
power of attorney executed by the decedent under
IC 30-5-5-16.
(C) The individual who was the spouse of the decedent at the
time of the decedent's death.
(D) The decedent's surviving adult child. If more than one
(1) adult child is surviving, any adult child who confirms in
writing that the other adult children have been notified,
unless the owner of the cemetery receives a written objection
to the disposition from another adult child.
(E) The decedent's surviving parent. If the decedent is
survived by both parents, either parent unless the cemetery
owner receives a written objection to the disposition from
the other parent.
(F) The individual in the next degree of kinship under
IC 29-1-2-1 to inherit the estate of the decedent. If more than
one (1) individual of the same degree of kinship is surviving,
any person of that degree unless the cemetery owner receives
a written objection to the disposition from one (1) or more
persons of the same degree of kinship.
(2) To have acquired by court order the right to control the
disposition of the deceased human body or cremated remains.
The owner of a cemetery may accept the authorization of an
individual only if all other individuals of the same priority or a
higher priority (according to the priority listing in this subsection)
are deceased, are barred from authorizing the disposition of the
deceased human body or cremated remains under subsection (d), or
are physically or mentally incapacitated from exercising the
authorization, and the incapacity is certified to by a qualified medical
doctor.
(b) A cemetery owner is not liable in any action for making an
interment, entombment, or inurnment under a written authorization
described in subsection (a) unless the cemetery owner had actual
notice that the representation made under subsection (a) by the
individual who issued the written authorization was untrue.
(c) An action may not be brought against the owner of a cemetery
relating to the remains of a human that have been left in the
possession of the cemetery owner without permanent interment,
entombment, or inurnment for a period of three (3) years, unless the
cemetery owner has entered into a written contract for the care of the
remains.
(d) If:
(1) the death of the decedent appears to have been the result of:
(A) murder (IC 35-42-1-1);
(B) voluntary manslaughter (IC 35-42-1-3); or
(C) another criminal act, if the death does not result from the
operation of a vehicle; and
(2) the coroner, in consultation with the law enforcement
agency investigating the death of the decedent, determines that
there is a reasonable suspicion that a person described in
subsection (a) committed the offense;
the person referred to in subdivision (2) may not authorize the
disposition of the decedent's body or cremated remains.
(e) The coroner, in consultation with the law enforcement agency
investigating the death of the decedent, shall inform the cemetery
owner of the determination referred to in subsection (d)(2).
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.29. Amended by P.L.102-2007,
SEC.2; P.L.3-2008, SEC.170; P.L.143-2009, SEC.6; P.L.101-2010,
SEC.2.