Sources of Funeral Service Law State Laws and Regulations Case Law Common Law Federal Law
Dead Body (Corpse) 1) Human 2) deprived of life 3) not entirely disintegrated “remains of a cremated body, a disintegrated corpse or the bones of a skeleton do not constitute a dead body in the eyes of the law” State v. Glass
Legal Status of a Dead Body 1) No Property Theory 2) Property Theory 3) Quasi-property Theory Necessity of Disposition
Burial Permits Required for any method of disposition New Jersey: 26:6-5.1 Pennsylvania: 13.184 Delaware: Section 3
Methods of Disposition Earth Burial (Interment, Inhumement): New Jersey: 26:6-36 Entombment: embalming requirements New Jersey: 8:9-1.1 Pennsylvania: 13.201(6) Cremation: “technically” not a method New Jersey: 26:7-18.1 Pennsylvania: 13.212 Delaware: Section 3 and 3121
Methods of Disposition (cont’d) Burial at Sea Donation to Medical Science (Delivery for Dissection): UAGA Preservation