H. B. 2849
(By Delegates Warner and Pettit)
[Introduced March 28, 1997;
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, by adding thereto a
new article, designated article fourteen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. PRENEED CREMATION ARRANGEMENTS.
§47-14A-1. Preneed cremation arrangements.
(a) Any person, or anyone who has legal authority to act on
behalf of a person, on a preneed basis, may authorize 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 on a preneed basis. A copy of this form shall
be provided to the person. Any person shall have the right to
transfer or cancel this 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 being 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) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section, at the
time of the death of a person who has executed, as the authorizing agent, a cremation authorization form on a preneed basis, any
person in possession of an executed 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
their 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. If
the person authorized to conduct the cremation (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, and (3) has received payment for the cremation of the
human remains and the final disposition of the cremated remains or
is otherwise assured of payment, then the person authorized to
conduct the cremation shall be required to cremate the human
remains and dispose of the cremated remains according to the
instructions contained on the cremation authorization form, and may
do so without any liability.
(ed) 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 shall be authorized to
release or dispose of the cremated remains as indicated in the
preneed agreement. Upon compliance with the terms of the preneed
agreement, the person conducting the cremation shall be discharged
from any legal obligation concerning the cremated remains.
(fe) This section shall not apply to any cremation authorization
form or preneed contract executed prior to the effective date of
this Act. However, any persons who have made prior agreements with the written approval of the authorizing agent or person who
executed the pre-needpreneed contract, may designate that the cremation
authorization form or pre-needpreneed contract shall be subject to this
Act.
Note: The purpose of this bill is to authorize a pre-needpreneed cremation
agreement and provide that it be executed upon the person's death.
Article 14A is new; therefore strike-throughs and underscoring
are omitted.