Disposition of Remains Decision Authority in Louisiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The decedent’s instructions and designee

Under La. R.S. § 8:655(A), specific interment directions or a designation in a notarial testament or written notarized declaration precede the fallback order. The most recently dated testament or declaration controls when several exist (§ 8:655(C)). The separate cremation rule puts a person carrying out the decedent’s specific cremation directions first, followed by the named designee (§ 37:876(A)(1)–(2)). An express instruction against cremation bars an authorizing agent from proceeding (§ 37:876(E)). A narrow military emergency-data form can control in the circumstances stated in §§ 8:655(B) and 37:876(F).

Family priority and cremation form

For interment, § 8:655(A)(2)–(7) ranks a spouse with no pending divorce petition, a majority of surviving adult children, a majority of adult grandchildren, surviving parents, a majority of adult siblings, then a majority of adults in the next degrees of kinship. Section 37:876(A)(3)–(8) gives a closely related order for a cremation authorizing agent. The agent signing the separate cremation authorization form must have the signature witnessed by a funeral director, notarized, or executed before two witnesses who sign (§ 37:877(B)(1)(a)(xi)).

Refusal and court judgment

An authorized person’s oral or written refusal allows the coroner to release the remains to an interested person willing to claim and dispose of them (§ 9:1551(A)(1)); that person may then act under §§ 8:655(D) and 37:876(B). Once coroner jurisdiction over abandoned or unclaimed remains is established, § 9:1551(E) terminates the listed control rights. If required authorization cannot be obtained and no decedent directions settle the matter, § 8:655(E) requires a final district-court judgment; § 37:876(C) has the parallel cremation rule.

What trips people up

A homicide warrant or judicial probable-cause determination for the offenses identified in §§ 8:655(F) and 37:876(H) bars a person from control. A divorce petition pending before death excludes the spouse from the relevant statutory priority (§§ 8:655(A)(2), 37:876(A)(3)).

For a qualifying military emergency-data form, §§ 8:655(B)(2) and 37:876(F)(2) protect specified provider reliance. A signed cremation form copy may be transmitted and relied upon without liability under § 37:877(C), while § 37:877(D) permits a funeral director or crematory to refuse cremation.

Common questions

Do two adult children suffice if there are three? Both §§ 8:655(A)(3) and 37:876(A)(4) use a majority of surviving adult children, so the count depends on who survives and qualifies.

Can a family member override a notarized no-cremation instruction? Section 37:876(E) says no one may serve as cremation authorizing agent when the decedent left that instruction in a notarial testament or notarized declaration.

Statutes and sources

• La. R.S. § 8:655(A)–(F), § 37:876(A)–(H), § 37:877(B)(1)(a)(xi), § 37:877(C)–(D), and § 9:1551(A),(D)–(E): current official Legislature text, quoted with source URLs and access dates above.