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2024 SESSION
24104737DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 54.1-2800 and 54.1-2825 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 54.1-2807.03 as follows:
§ 54.1-2800. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Advertisement" means any information disseminated or placed before the public.
"At-need" means at the time of death or while death is imminent.
"Board" means the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.
"Cremate" means to reduce a dead human body to ashes and bone fragments by the action of fire.
"Cremator" means a person or establishment that owns or operates a crematory or crematorium or cremates dead human bodies.
"Crematory" or "crematorium" means a facility containing a furnace for cremation of dead human bodies.
"Embalmer" means any person engaged in the practice of embalming.
"Embalming" means the process of chemically treating the dead human body by arterial injection and cavity treatment or, when necessary, hypodermic tissue injection to reduce the presence and growth of microorganisms to temporarily retard organic decomposition.
"Funeral directing" means the for-profit profession of directing or supervising funerals, preparing human dead for burial by means other than embalming, or making arrangements for funeral services or the financing of funeral services.
"Funeral director" means any person engaged in the practice of funeral directing.
"Funeral service establishment" means any main establishment, branch, or chapel that is permanently affixed to the real estate and for which a certificate of occupancy has been issued by the local building official where any part of the profession of funeral directing, the practice of funeral services, or the act of embalming is performed.
"Funeral service intern" means a person who is preparing to be licensed for the practice of funeral services under the direct supervision of a practitioner licensed by the Board.
"Funeral service licensee" means a person who is licensed in the practice of funeral services.
"In-person communication" means face-to-face communication and telephonic communication.
"Next of kin" means any of the following persons, listed in priority order,
regardless of the relationship to the decedent: any person designated to make
arrangements for the disposition of the decedent's remains upon his death
pursuant to § 54.1-2825, the legal spouse, child aged age 18 years
or older and the guardian of any minor child,
parent of a decedent aged age 18 years
or older, custodial parent or noncustodial parent of a decedent younger than 18
years of age, siblings over 18 years of age,
guardian of minor child, guardian of minor siblings,
maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, maternal siblings over 18 years
of age and paternal siblings over 18 years of age, or any other relative in the
descending order of blood relationship.
"Practice of funeral services" means engaging in the care and disposition of the human dead, the preparation of the human dead for the funeral service, burial or cremation, the making of arrangements for the funeral service or for the financing of the funeral service and the selling or making of financial arrangements for the sale of funeral supplies to the public.
"Preneed" means at any time other than at-need.
"Preneed funeral contract" means any agreement where payment is made by the consumer prior to the receipt of services or supplies contracted for, which evidences arrangements prior to death for (i) the providing of funeral services or (ii) the sale of funeral supplies.
"Preneed funeral planning" means the making of arrangements prior to death for (i) the providing of funeral services or (ii) the sale of funeral supplies.
"Solicitation" means initiating contact with consumers with the intent of influencing their selection of a funeral plan or funeral service provider.
§ 54.1-2807.03. Proof of priority next of kin status.
A funeral service licensee may require that a person claiming priority next of kin status, in accordance with the definition of next of kin in § 54.1-2800, execute a document affirming that such person is the priority next of kin and that he is unaware of any other person of higher priority who may qualify as next of kin. Upon execution of this form, the funeral service licensee is exempt from any liability for allowing such person to proceed with funeral planning for the decedent.
§ 54.1-2825. Person to make arrangements for funeral and disposition of remains.
A. Any person may designate in a signed and notarized writing, which has been accepted in writing by the person so designated, an individual who shall make arrangements and be otherwise responsible for his funeral and the disposition of his remains, including cremation, interment, entombment, or memorialization, or some combination thereof, upon his death. Such designee shall have priority over all persons otherwise entitled to make such arrangements, provided that a copy of the signed and notarized writing is provided to the funeral service establishment and to the cemetery, if any, no later than 48 business hours after the funeral service establishment has received the remains. A copy of the decedent's will is sufficient to meet this requirement. Nothing in this section shall preclude any next of kin from paying any costs associated with any funeral or disposition of any remains, provided that such payment is made with the concurrence of any person designated to make arrangements.
B. In cases in which a person has designated in a U.S. Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data (DD Form 93) or any successor form an individual to make arrangements for his funeral and disposition of his remains, and such person dies while serving in any branch of the United States Armed Forces as defined in 10 U.S.C. § 1481, such designee shall be responsible for making such arrangements.