144C.5 - FINAL DISPOSITION OF REMAINS -- RIGHT TO CONTROL.
144C.5 FINAL DISPOSITION OF REMAINS -- RIGHT TO
CONTROL.
1. The right to control final disposition of a decedent's remains
or to make arrangements for the ceremony after a decedent's death
vests in and devolves upon the following persons who are competent
adults at the time of the decedent's death, in the following order:
a. A designee, or alternate designee, acting pursuant to the
decedent's declaration.
b. The surviving spouse of the decedent, if not legally
separated from the decedent, whose whereabouts is reasonably
ascertainable.
c. A surviving child of the decedent, or, if there is more
than one, a majority of the surviving children whose whereabouts are
reasonably ascertainable.
d. The surviving parents of the decedent whose whereabouts
are reasonably ascertainable.
e. A surviving grandchild of the decedent, or, if there is
more than one, a majority of the surviving grandchildren whose
whereabouts are reasonably ascertainable.
f. A surviving sibling of the decedent, or, if there is more
than one, a majority of the surviving siblings whose whereabouts are
reasonably ascertainable.
g. A surviving grandparent of the decedent, or, if there is
more than one, a majority of the surviving grandparents whose
whereabouts are reasonably ascertainable.
h. A person in the next degree of kinship to the decedent in
the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent under
the rules of inheritance for intestate succession or, if there is
more than one, a majority of such surviving persons whose whereabouts
are reasonably ascertainable.
i. A person who represents that the person knows the identity
of the decedent and who signs an affidavit warranting the identity of
the decedent and assuming the right to control final disposition of
the decedent's remains and the responsibility to pay any expense
attendant to such final disposition. A person who warrants the
identity of the decedent pursuant to this paragraph is liable for all
damages that result, directly or indirectly, from that warrant.
j. The county medical examiner, if responsible for the
decedent's remains.
2. A third party may rely upon the directives of a person who
represents that the person is a member of a class of persons
described in subsection 1, paragraph "c", "e", "f",
"g", or "h", and who signs an affidavit stating that all
other members of the class, whose whereabouts are reasonably
ascertainable, have been notified of the decedent's death and the
person has received the assent of a majority of those members of that
class of persons to control final disposition of the decedent's
remains and to make arrangements for the performance of a ceremony
for the decedent.
3. A third party may await a court order before proceeding with
final disposition of a decedent's remains or arrangements for the
performance of a ceremony for a decedent if the third party is aware
of a dispute among persons who are members of the same class of
persons described in subsection 1, or of a dispute between persons
who are authorized under subsection 1 and the executor named in a
decedent's will or a personal representative appointed by the court.
Section History: Recent Form
2008 Acts, ch 1051, §10, 22
Referred to in § 142.1, 144.34, 144.56, 144C.2, 144C.8, 331.802,
331.804, 331.805, 523I.309 Footnotes
Section applies to all deaths occurring on or after July 1, 2008,
except that subsection 1, paragraph a, applies only to a designee or
alternate designee designated in a declaration that is executed on or
after July 1, 2008; 2008 Acts, ch 1051, §22