CODE OF VIRGINIA

OTHER PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES (§ 54.1-2807)

A. A person licensed for the practice of funeral service shall not (i) remove or
embalm a body when he has information indicating the death was such that an
investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is required pursuant
to § 32.1-283 or 32.1-285.1 or (ii) cremate or bury at sea a body until he has
obtained permission of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as required by
§ 32.1-309.3.

B. Except as provided in § 32.1-301 and Chapter 8.1 (§ 32.1-309.1 et seq.) of
Title 32.1, funeral service establishments shall not accept a dead human body
from any public officer, except the Chief Medical Examiner, an Assistant Chief
Medical Examiner, or a medical examiner appointed pursuant to § 32.1-282, or
from any public or private facility or person having a professional relationship
with the decedent without having first inquired about the desires of the next of
kin and the persons liable for the funeral expenses of the decedent. The
authority and directions of any next of kin shall govern the disposal of the
body, subject to the provisions of § 54.1-2807.01 or 54.1-2825.Any funeral
service establishment violating this subsection shall not charge for any service
delivered without the directions of the next of kin. However, in cases of
accidental or violent death, the funeral service establishment may charge and be
reimbursed for the removal of bodies and rendering necessary professional
services until the next of kin or the persons liable for the funeral expenses
have been notified.

C. No company, corporation, or association engaged in the business of paying or
providing for the payment of the expenses for the care of the remains of
deceased certificate holders or members or engaged in providing life insurance
when the contract might or could give rise to an obligation to care for the
remains of the insured shall contract to pay or pay any benefits to any licensee
of the Board or other individual in a manner which could restrict the freedom of
choice of the representative or next of kin of a decedent in procuring necessary
and proper services and supplies for the care of the remains of the decedent.

D. No person licensed for the practice of funeral service or preneed funeral
planning or any of his agents shall interfere with the freedom of choice of the
general public in the choice of persons or establishments for the care of human
remains or of preneed funeral planning or preneed funeral contracts.

E. This section shall not be construed to apply to the authority of any
administrator, executor, trustee, or other person having a fiduciary
relationship with the decedent.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 54-260.50, 54-260.59; 1956, c. 220; 1972, c. 797, §
54-260.74; 1979, c. 720; 1981, c. 258; 1986, c. 91; 1988, c. 765; 1989, c. 684;
1993, c. 965; 2005, c. 905; 2010, c. 383; 2014, cc. 228, 583.