                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISPOSITION OF CREMAINS (§ 54.1-2808.1)

Except as otherwise provided in § 54.1-2808.2, a funeral director may dispose
of the cremains of an individual by interment, entombment, inurnment, or by
scattering of the cremains, if after 120 days from the date of cremation, the
contracting agent has not claimed the cremains or instructed the funeral
director as to final disposition. The funeral director shall keep a permanent
record of all cremains which identifies the method and site of final
disposition. The costs and all reasonable expenses incurred in disposing of the
cremains shall be borne by the contracting agent. Upon the disposition of the
cremains, the funeral director shall not be liable for the cremains or for the
method of final disposition. Except as otherwise provided in § 54.1-2808.2, any
funeral director in possession of unclaimed cremains prior to July 1, 1993, may
dispose of such cremains in accordance with the provisions of this section.
However, no funeral director shall, without written permission of the
contracting agent, dispose of cremains in a manner or a location in which the
cremains of the deceased are commingled, except in the scattering of cremains at
sea, by air, or in an area used exclusively for such purpose, or place,
temporarily, the cremains of persons in the same container or urn.
		For the purposes of this section and § 54.1-2808.2, &#8220;contracting
agent&#8221; means any person, organization, association, institution, or group
of persons who contracts with a funeral director or funeral establishment for
funeral services.

HISTORY: 1993, c. 531; 2012, cc. 24, 120; 2015, c. 138.