New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Chapter 36 - STATE BOARD OF MORTUARY SCIENCE
Subchapter 8 - GENERAL RULES OF PRACTICE
Section 13:36-8.11 - Multiple burials

Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 13:36-8.11

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024

(a) No licensed practitioner of mortuary science shall place the remains, or any part of the remains, of more than one deceased person, stillborn infant, or fetus in a coffin, casket, or other container for the purpose of interment or cremation, or cause the remains, or any part of the remains, of more than one deceased person, stillborn infant, or fetus, to be interred or cremated together unless specific, written authorization to do so has been signed by a person charged with the duties of interment, as set forth in (b) below, for each decedent, or by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the only persons who may authorize a licensee to perform a multiple burial are limited to the following:

1. The decedent or a person appointed by the decedent in a will to control the funeral and disposition of the decedent's remains or as provided in 45:27-22;

2. A relative or relatives of the decedent in the order of:
i. Surviving spouse of the decedent, the surviving domestic partner, as defined in 26:8A-3 or the surviving civil union partner, consistent with 37:1-28;

ii. A majority of surviving children of the decedent or the surviving child if one;

iii. The surviving parent or parents of the decedent;

iv. A majority of the brothers and sisters of the decedent if no child or parent is living; or

v. Other next of kin according to the degree of consanguinity.

3. City or county welfare director in cases involving the indigent.

4. Chief medical examiner in cases involving unidentified or unclaimed bodies.

5. A court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) The written authorization to be obtained by the funeral director shall include the name and address, and signature of the person authorizing the multiple burial, the names, ages, and addresses of the decedents, the dates, places, and times of their death, the names and addresses of the hospitals or institutions from which the bodies were obtained, the name and address of the cemetery or crematory where the remains are to be interred or cremated, and the location of the grave in which any interment is to be made.

(d) Each written authorization shall bear a number corresponding to the funeral record number and a signed copy shall be retained for at least seven years thereafter, as required pursuant to 13:36-1.8.

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