2023 Iowa Code › Title XIII - COMMERCE › Chapter 523I - IOWA CEMETERY ACT › Section 523I.309 - Interment, relocation, or disinterment of remains.

523I.309 Interment, relocation, or disinterment of remains.
1. A person authorized to control the deceased person’s remains under section 144C.5 shall have the right to control the interment, relocation, or disinterment of a decedent’s remains within or from a cemetery.
2. A person who represents that the person knows the identity of a decedent and, in order to procure the interment, relocation, or disinterment of the decedent’s remains, signs an order or statement, other than a death certificate, that warrants the identity of the decedent is liable for all damages that result, directly or indirectly, from that representation.
3. In the event of a dispute concerning the right to control the interment, relocation, or disinterment of a decedent’s remains, the dispute may be resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction. A cemetery or entity maintaining a columbarium shall not be liable for refusing to accept the decedent’s remains, relocate or disinter, inter or otherwise dispose of the decedent’s remains, until the cemetery or entity maintaining a columbarium receives a court order or other suitable confirmation that the dispute has been resolved or settled.
4. a. If good cause exists to relocate or disinter remains interred in a cemetery, the remains may be removed from the cemetery pursuant to a disinterment permit as required under section 144.34, with the written consent of the cemetery, the current interment rights owner, and the person entitled to control the interment, relocation, or disinterment of the decedent’s remains under section 144C.5.
b. If the consent required pursuant to paragraph “a” is not refused but cannot otherwise be obtained, the remains may be relocated or disinterred by permission of the district court of the county in which the cemetery is located upon a finding by the court that clear and convincing evidence of good cause exists to relocate or disinter the remains. Before the date of application to the court for permission to relocate or disinter remains under this subsection, notice must be given to the cemetery in which the remains are interred, each person whose consent is required for relocation or disinterment of the remains under paragraph “a”, and any other person that the court requires to be served.
c. For the purposes of this subsection, personal notice must be given not later than the eleventh day before the date of hearing on an application to the court for permission to relocate or disinter the remains, or notice by certified mail or restricted certified mail must be given not later than the sixteenth day before the date of hearing.
d. This subsection does not apply to the removal of remains from one interment space to another interment space in the same cemetery to correct an error, or relocation of the remains by the cemetery from an interment space for which the purchase price is past due and unpaid, to another suitable interment space.
5. A person who removes remains from a cemetery shall keep a record of the removal, and provide a copy to the cemetery, that includes all of the following:
a. The date the remains are removed.
b. The name of the decedent and age at death if those facts can be conveniently obtained.
c. The place to which the remains are removed.
d. The name of the cemetery and the location of the interment space from which the remains are removed.
6. A cemetery shall disinter and relocate remains interred in the cemetery for the purpose of correcting an error made by the cemetery after obtaining a disinterment permit as required by section 144.34, unless the interested parties have a written agreement directing otherwise. The cemetery shall bear the costs of the disinterment and relocation. The cemetery shall provide written notice describing the error to the commissioner and to the person who has the right to control the interment, relocation, or disinterment of the remains erroneously interred, by restricted certified mail at the person’s last known address and sixty days prior to the disinterment. The notice shall include the location where the disinterment will occur and the location of the new interment space. A cemetery is not civilly or criminally liable for an erroneously made interment that is corrected in compliance with this subsection unless the error was the result of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
7. Relocations and disinterments of human remains shall be done in compliance with sections 144.32 and 144.34. Relocations of human remains held in a columbarium shall be in compliance with the laws regulating the entity maintaining the columbarium.
2005 Acts, ch 128, §31; 2006 Acts, ch 1117, §121; 2008 Acts, ch 1051, §21, 22; 2021 Acts, ch 181, §48