An Act Regarding the Chain of Custody in Crematories

Sec. 1. 32 MRSA §1405,  as amended by PL 2007, c. 225, §1, is further amended by adding after the 2nd paragraph a new paragraph to read:

Upon cremation of the body of a deceased person, the crematory shall prepare a certificate of cremation signed and dated by the person in charge of the cremation indicating the date of cremation and certifying the identity of the human remains by including the deceased person's full name, date and place of death, sex, race, date of birth and age and indicating whether the deceased person was a veteran. The crematory shall provide the certificate of cremation to the funeral director or other authorized person as defined in Title 22, section 2846.

Sec. 2. 32 MRSA §1405, last ¶,  as amended by PL 2007, c. 225, §1, is further amended to read:

Human remains may not be removed, transported or shipped to a crematory unless encased in a casket or other suitable container. Following cremation, the crematory shall label the container containing the cremated remains with the name of the person who was cremated.

summary

This bill requires crematories to prepare a certificate of cremation in order to certify the identity of the body that was cremated. The bill requires crematories to label the container containing the cremated remains with the name of the deceased person.