Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 239 CMR - BOARD OF REGISTRATION IN EMBALMING AND FUNERAL DIRECTING › Title 239 CMR 3.00 - Registration Requirements; Standards of Business and Professional Practice › Section 3.11 - Conduct of Funerals

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1) All
			 funerals conducted by a Licensed Funeral Establishment shall be conducted under
			 the direct supervision of a Type 3 or Type 6.
(2)
Removal, Viewing,
			 Identification and Embalming Procedures
.
(a) When a Licensed Funeral Establishment is
			 called upon to remove a body and accept responsibility for it, said body shall
			 be held at said Licensed Funeral Establishment, or at such other location as
			 the Medical Examiner may direct, until such time as the body can be buried or
			 cremated in accordance with applicable state or local laws.
(b) A Licensed Funeral Establishment which
			 has accepted responsibility for the care of any dead human body may properly
			 require that said body be viewed and identified by the next of kin or duly
			 authorized legal representative of the deceased at said Licensed Funeral
			 Establishment prior to any cremation, burial, medical school donation or
			 anatomical gift donation, if said body has not previously been viewed and
			 identified by said next of kin or duly authorized legal representative
			 elsewhere.
(c)
Required
			 Forms
. Licensed Funeral Establishments must develop and utilize
			 written disclosure/authorization forms to be obtained by Type 3s and Type 6s as
			 follows:
1. A Licensed Funeral Establishment
			 shall obtain written permission to embalm, or a written acknowledgment of the
			 decision not to embalm, from the next of kin or the duly authorized legal
			 representative of the deceased, for each dead human body which is placed under
			 its care and for which it has accepted responsibility.
2. Where a dead human body is under the care
			 of a Licensed Funeral Establishment which has accepted responsibility for it,
			 and said body is to be cremated, said Licensed Funeral Establishment shall also
			 obtain written authorization for cremation of said body from the medical
			 examiner or similarly authorized person, in addition to the normally-required
			 physician certifications, prior to cremation of said body.
(d) All arrangements for a funeral, including
			 obtaining any required permissions or authorizations, must be made by Type 3s
			 or Type 6s, provided, however, that Apprentice Embalmers and Funeral Home
			 Assistants may obtain removal and embalming authorization forms.
(e) For purposes of 239 CMR 3.11(2)(a)
			 through (d) all identifications, authorizations and permissions shall be
			 obtained first from the decedent's next of kin, in the order of priority
			 specified under
			 239 CMR
			 3.09(1)(c). If none of the
			 next of kin are available, said identifications, authorizations or permissions
			 may then be obtained from the duly authorized legal representative of the
			 deceased, the individual designated as the health care proxy for the deceased
			 pursuant to M.G.L. c. 201D, or the individual possessing a power of attorney
			 for health care executed by the decedent.