WEST virginia legislature
2016 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 4380
By Delegates Ellington, Summers, Rohrbach and Stansbury
[Originating in Committee on Finance,
February 24, 2016]
A BILL to amend and reenact §9-5-9 and §9-5-18 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to liability of spouses or relatives for certain expenses of an indigent person; requiring spouse to be liable for funeral expenses of an indigent person; eliminating liability of certain persons for support of an indigent person; defining terms; limiting liability of certain persons for funeral expenses of an indigent person; reducing the maximum amount the department of health and human resources may pay for funeral expenses for indigent persons; authorizing department to require certain financial information; requiring certain sworn statements regarding ability to pay for funeral services for an indigent person; limiting the total number of indigent funeral services that may be paid for by the department of health and human resources per year; and requiring cremation under certain circumstances.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That § 9-5-9 and § 9-5-18 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
§9-5-9. Liability of relatives for support.
(a) The relatives of an indigent person, who are of
sufficient ability, shall be liable to support such person in the manner
required by the Department of welfare and to pay for the expenses of
burial when he dies any funeral services provided for the indigent
person and paid for by the department, in the following order:
(1) The spouse.
(1) (2) The children.
(2) (3) The father.
(3) (4) The brothers and sisters.
(4) (5) The mother.
(b) The commissioner department may proceed
by motion in the circuit court of the county in which the indigent person may
be, against one or more of the relatives liable.
(c) If a relative so liable does not reside in this state
and has no estate or debts due him or her within the state by means of
which the liability can be enforced against him or her, the other
relatives shall be liable as provided by this section, but a relative shall
not be compelled to receive the indigent person in his own home.
If it appears that a
relative liable for the support funeral expenses of an indigent person is
unable wholly to support him, but is able to contribute toward his support, the
court may assess upon the relative the proportion which he shall be required to
contribute either to the past expense incurred by the Department of welfare or
to the future support. The court may assess the residue upon the relatives in
the order of their liability.
Payment with interest
and costs may be enforced by execution.
(d) The liability of the relative of an indigent person for funeral service expenses created by this section is limited to the amount paid by the department pursuant to the provisions of section eighteen of this article.
(e) For purposes of this section, “spouse” means the person to whom the decedent was legally married or not legally separated at the time of the decedent’s death and who survived the decedent.
§9-5-18. Funeral service
expenses for indigent persons; filing of affidavit and other financial
information to certify indigency; penalties for false swearing; payment by division
department.
(a) The Department of
Health and Human Resources shall may pay no more than $1,000
for reasonable funeral service expenses for indigent persons. in an
amount not to exceed $1,250
(b) For purposes of this
section, Prior to paying for funeral services, the department shall
determine the indigency of a deceased person, is determined by the
filing of and whether or not the deceased’s estate or any of his or her
relatives who are liable for the funeral service expenses pursuant to section
nine of this article is financially able to pay, alone or in conjunction, for
the funeral service expenses. The department shall require that an
affidavit be filed with the department, in a form provided by and
determined in accordance with the income guidelines as set forth by the
department, as well as any other supporting financial information the
department may require, including, but not limited to, bank statements and
income tax information of the deceased person and the relatives of the deceased
person who are liable for the funeral service expenses pursuant to section nine
of this article. The affidavit must be: (1) Signed by the heir or heirs-at-law
which states relatives liable for the funeral service expenses and
state that the estate of the deceased person is pecuniarily unable to pay
the costs associated with a funeral, funeral service expenses and
that the sole or combined assets of the relatives liable for the funeral
service expenses are not sufficient to pay for the funeral service expenses;
or (2) signed by the county coroner or the county health officer, the attending
physician or other person signing the death certificate or the state medical
examiner stating that the deceased person has no heirs or that heirs have not
been located after a reasonable search and that the deceased person had no
estate or the estate is pecuniarily unable to pay the costs associated with a
funeral.
(c) Payment shall be made by the department to the person or persons who have furnished the services and supplies for the indigent persons funeral service expenses or to the persons who have advanced payment for same, as the department may determine, pursuant to appropriations for expenditures made by the Legislature for such purpose: Provided, That, the department may not pay for more than two thousand indigent funeral services in any fiscal year.
(d) For purposes of this
section, reasonable “funeral service expenses” means expenses for cremation
services provided by a funeral director for the disposition of human remains:
Provided, That, funeral service expense may also include an alternative
funeral service if the department determines that cremation would have been
objectionable to the decedent because of his or her religion or is otherwise
prohibited by federal or state law or regulation.
(e) For purposes of this section, “alternate funeral expenses” means expenses for services provided by a funeral director for the disposition of human remains other than by cremation.
(e) (f) Any person who knowingly swears falsely in
an affidavit required by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in the
county or regional jail for a period of not more than six months, or both.