H. B. 4083
(By Delegate Fragale)
[Introduced Janaury 26, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend chapter forty-seven of the code of West Virginia,
one-thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article fourteen-a,
relating to creation of a preneed cremation agreement; and
establishing requirements associated with the preneed
cremation agreement.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter forty-seven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article fourteen-a, to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 14A. PRENEED CREMATION ARRANGEMENTS.
§47-14A-1. Preneed cremation arrangements.
(a) An individual, or anyone who has legal authority to act
on behalf of an individual, may authorize, on a preneed basis,
his or her own cremation and the final disposition of his or her cremated remains by executing, as the authorizing agent, a
cremation authorization form. A copy of this form shall be
provided to the individual. The individual has the right to
transfer or cancel the authorization at any time prior to death
by destroying the executed cremation authorization form and
providing written notice to the person designated to conduct the
cremation in the preneed authorization form.
(b)Any cremation authorization form that is executed by an
individual as his or her own authorizing agent on a preneed basis
shall contain the following disclosure, which shall be completed
by the authorizing agent:
"( ) I do not wish to allow any of my survivors the option
of canceling my cremation and selecting alternative arrangements,
regardless of whether my survivors deem a change to be
appropriate.
( ) I wish to allow only the survivors whom I have
designated below the option of canceling my cremation and
selecting alternative arrangements, if they deem a change to be
appropriate: ___________"
(c) At the time of the death of an individual who has
executed, as the authorizing agent, a cremation authorization
form, any person in possession of the form and any person charged
with making arrangements for the final disposition of the
decedent who has knowledge of the existence of an executed form,
shall use his or her best efforts to ensure that the decedent is cremated and that the final disposition of the cremated remains
is in accordance with the instructions contained on the cremation
authorization form.
The person authorized to conduct the cremation is required
to cremate the human remains and dispose of the cremated remains
according to the instructions contained in the cremation
authorization form, and may do so without any liability, if the
person:
(1) Is in possession of a completed cremation authorization
form that was executed on a preneed basis;
(2) Is in possession of the designated human remains;
(3) Has not, after the date of death, been requested, in
writing, to cancel the cremation by a survivor designated on the
form as having the authority to cancel the cremation; and
(4) Has received payment for the cremation of the human
remains and the final disposition of the cremated remains or is
otherwise assured of payment.
(d) All preneed cremation agreements shall specify the
final disposition of the cremated remains. In the event that no
different or inconsistent instructions are provided to the person
conducting the cremation by the authorizing agent at the time of
death, the person conducting the cremation is authorized to
release or dispose of the cremated remains as indicated in the
preneed agreement, unless to do so would be unlawful. Upon
compliance with the terms of the preneed agreement, the person conducting the cremation is discharged from any legal obligation
concerning the cremated remains.
(e) This section does not apply to any cremation
authorization form or preneed agreement executed prior to the
effective date of this section. However, any person who has made
prior agreements may, with the written approval of the
authorizing agent or individual who executed the preneed
agreement, designate that the cremation authorization form or
preneed agreement is subject to this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize a preneed
cremation agreement and provide that it be executed upon the
individual's death.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.