Disposition of Remains Decision Authority in Ohio

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Decedent’s declaration and representative

Ohio Rev. Code § 2108.70(B) permits a sound-minded adult to assign one or more rights over disposition, funeral arrangements, and final-disposition purchases to an adult representative or group, with a named successor if desired. Section 2108.72(A)(7) gives space to record preferences, including religious observances; the declaration says the representative’s decisions bind others under § 2108.72(A)(3). The representative’s right vests at death (§ 2108.71). Under § 2108.73, the declarant signs and dates before a notary or two unrelated adult witnesses; a DD Form 93 follows its own witness requirement. § 2108.80 allows revocation by a later signed and dated document with the same notary or witness route.

Family order and equal-rank choices

If no effective declaration holder remains, § 2108.81(B) ranks the surviving spouse, surviving child or children, parent or parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, descendants of grandparents, guardian at death, and a willing person after a written good-faith search attestation; a responsible public officer appears for an indigent person. Section 2108.81(C)(1) gives a parent who was the residential parent and legal custodian when the decedent reached adulthood precedence over the other parent, subject to the section’s disqualification exception. Under § 2108.79(A)–(B), an equal-rank group or class decides by majority, using the majority of people located after reasonable search if some cannot be found. The probate court decides if no majority is reached (§ 2108.79(C)).

Loss of authority and express bars

Under § 2108.75(A)(4), the right is lost if the holder fails to exercise it within 48 hours after death notification or, with no notification, within 72 hours after death or discovery of remains in the stated circumstance. Sections 2108.75(A)(5)–(7) also disqualify a person who cannot be located with reasonable effort, meets the other statutory bars, or refuses liability for disposition costs. § 2108.88 permits refusal or resignation. Under § 2108.77(A)–(B), the specified homicide or death-related domestic-violence charges disqualify a person; dismissal or acquittal restores the right. § 2108.77(C)–(D) also covers a pending action to terminate the marriage and a probate-court finding of spousal estrangement. A former spouse named in the declaration ordinarily loses the representative role under § 2108.76(A), with the later witnessed or notarized designation exception in subsection (B).

Courts and provider reliance

Under § 2108.82(A), the probate court in the county of residence may assign the right of disposition on its own motion or another person’s motion. § 2108.83 protects a provider that pauses during a dispute until a court order or qualifying written direction arrives. § 2108.86 protects good-faith reliance on the declaration or the instructions of a person reasonably believed to hold the right.

What trips people up

Under § 2108.75(B), an owner, employee, or agent of a funeral home, cemetery, or crematory providing services to the declarant cannot serve as the declarant’s representative or successor unless related by blood, marriage, or adoption.

Statutes and sources

• 126th General Assembly H.B. 426, enrolled — baseline declaration, majority, dispute and reliance provisions.
• 128th General Assembly H.B. 449, enrolled — current declaration content and execution.
• 134th General Assembly S.B. 224, enrolled and S.B. 202, enrolled — current disqualification, family order, and court-assignment language.