HB319: Funeral services; prerequisites for cremation.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 54.1-2818.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 54.1-2818.1. Prerequisites for cremation.
No dead human body shall be cremated without (i) permission of the medical
examiner as required by § 32.1-284 and either (ii) visual
identification of the deceased by the next-of-kin or his representative, who
may be any person designated to make arrangements for the decedent's burial or
the disposition of his remains pursuant to § 54.1-2825 or an agent named in an
advance directive pursuant to § 54.1-2984 or
(iii) a twenty-four-hour waiting period between the time of death and the
cremation. When visual
identification is not feasible, other positive identification of the deceased
may be used as a prerequisite for cremation.
2. That the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this act to be effective within 280 days of its enactment.