Mortuary law is the area of law that regulates the handling of human remains after death. Mortuary law includes state and local requirements for who can transport a body, perform funerals, conduct autopsies, and bury a body. Mortuary law also covers the standards for handling bodies, who maintains custody of a body, and who has the right to decide how to put a body to rest.
In mortuary law, actual custody of the body is the physical possession or control of a human body. Actual custody is distinct from the legal authority to decide how the body will be disposed of, such as burial, cremation, or donation for medical research.
Autopsy, borrowed from the Greek term autopsia – meaning “the act of seeing with one’s own eyes” – means the detailed medical examination and/or dissection of a dead body to determine the cause of death or for any scientific and medical purpose.
Autopsy rights generally refer to the authority of the deceased (through prior directives) and their next of kin to determine whether, and to what extent, an autopsy may be performed.
Battle & Sons Funeral Home v. Chambers, 63 Ohio Misc. 2d 441 (Ohio Mun. Ct. 1993), is a case in Ohio on what expenses are considered “necessary” for burial and the responsibility of the spouse to pay.
Burial refers to placing a deceased body in the ground or a designated burial site following the regulations of a local
Burial insurance, also called funeral or final expense insurance, is a type of life insurance purchased to cover the cost of burial, cremation, or other end-of-life expenses.
A burial permit is a required document to be acquired before a body can be buried or cremated. The requirements differ slightly depending on the form of disposition, but the person responsible for burial or cremation cannot proceed without receiving a burial permit. A burial permit can be obtained after a death certificate has been issued and any other state and local requirements have been followed. Typically, a funeral director obtains a burial permit.
Burial policy is an insurance policy used to cover the costs of funeral or cremation expenses for a person who has died. Burial insurance is paid out directly to the beneficiary who may need the money to cover funeral or cremation expenses, medical bills, or debts of the policy holder.
Burial transit permit (also referred to as a removal permit) is a requirement under state law for the deceased to be transferred to the place of burial or disposition. A burial transit permit may be a separate document from a burial permit, which is the permit that allows for a body to be buried, or the permit may include both transit and burial together.
Cause of death is the series of events leading to the injury or disease that triggers an individual's fatal end. See: WHO
