PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS [7000. - 7355.]
Part 1 enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.
§§ 7000–7355 · 132 sections
CHAPTER 1. Definitions §§ 7000–7025 · 41 sections
- § 7000 The definitions in this chapter apply to this division, Division 8 (commencing with Section 8100) and Division 102 (commencing with Section 102100) of this…
- § 7001 “Human remains” or “remains” means the body of a deceased person, regardless of its stage of decomposition, and includes cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human…
- § 7002 “Cremated remains” means the ashes and bone fragments of a human body that are left after cremation in a crematory, and includes ashes from the cremation…
- § 7002.5 (a) “Hydrolyzed human remains” means bone fragments of a human body that are left after hydrolysis in a hydrolysis facility. “Hydrolyzed human remains” does…
- § 7002.7 (a) “Reduction facility” means a structure, room, or other space in a building or real property where natural, organic reduction of a human body occurs. (b)…
- § 7003 (a) “Cemetery” means either of the following: (1) Any of the following that is used or intended to be used and dedicated for cemetery purposes: (A) A burial…
- § 7004 “Burial park” means a tract of land for the burial of human remains in the ground, used or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes.
- § 7005 Except in Part 5 (commencing with Section 9501) of Division 8, “mausoleum” means a structure or building for the entombment of human remains in crypts or…
- § 7006 “Crematory” means a building or structure containing one or more furnaces for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons to cremated remains.
- § 7006.1 (a) “Hydrolysis facility” means a building or structure containing one or more chambers for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons by alkaline hydrolysis.…
- § 7006.3 “Cremation chamber” means the enclosed space within which the cremation of human remains is performed.
- § 7006.4 (a) “Hydrolysis chamber” means the enclosed space within which the hydrolysis of human remains is performed and any other attached, nonenclosed, mechanical…
- § 7006.5 “Cremation container” means a combustible, closed container resistant to leakage of bodily fluids into which the body of a deceased person is placed prior to…
- § 7006.6 (a) “Hydrolysis container” means a hydrolyzable body wrapping into which the body of a deceased person is placed prior to insertion into a hydrolysis chamber.…
- § 7006.7 “Cremated remains container” means a receptacle in which cremated remains are placed after cremation.
- § 7006.8 (a) “Hydrolyzed human remains container” means a receptacle in which hydrolyzed human remains are placed after hydrolysis. (b) This section shall become…
- § 7007 Except in Part 5 (commencing with Section 9501) of Division 8, “columbarium” means a structure, room, or other space in a building or structure containing…
- § 7008 “Crematory and columbarium” means a building or structure containing both a crematory and columbarium.
- § 7009 “Interment” means the disposition of human remains by entombment or burial in a cemetery or, in the case of cremated remains, by inurnment, placement or burial…
- § 7010 “Cremation” means the process by which the following three steps are taken: (a) The reduction of the body of a deceased human to its essential elements by…
- § 7010.1 (a) “Hydrolysis” means the process by which the following two steps are taken: (1) The reduction of the body of a deceased person to its essential organic…
- § 7010.3 (a) “Processing” means the removal of foreign objects, pursuant to Section 7051, and the reduction of the particle size of cremated remains or hydrolyzed human…
- § 7010.5 “Residue” means human ashes, bone fragments, prostheses, and disintegrated material from the chamber itself, imbedded in cracks and uneven spaces of a…
- § 7010.7 (a) “Scattering” means the authorized dispersal of cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains at sea, in other areas of the state, or commingling in a…
- § 7010.8 (a) “Integrate into the soil” means the authorized addition and mixing of reduced human remains with existing soil in a defined area within a dedicated…
- § 7011 (a) “Inurnment” means placing cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains in a cremated remains container or hydrolyzed human remains container suitable for…
- § 7011.2 (a) “Placement” means the placing of a container holding cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains in a crypt, vault, or niche. (b) This section shall…
- § 7012 “Entombment” means the process of placing human remains in a crypt or vault.
- § 7013 “Burial” means the process of placing human remains in a grave.
- § 7014 “Grave” means a space of earth in a burial park, used, or intended to be used, for the disposition of human remains.
- § 7015 (a) “Crypt” or “vault” means a space in a mausoleum of sufficient size, used or intended to be used, to entomb human remains that have been neither cremated…
- § 7016 (a) “Niche” means a space in a columbarium used, or intended to be used, for the placement of cremated human remains or hydrolyzed human remains. (b) This…
- § 7017 (a) “Hydrolysate” means the resultant liquid from the hydrolysis of human remains, which liquid is a sterile, benign, micronutrient-rich solution consisting of…
- § 7018 “Cemetery authority” includes cemetery association, corporation sole, limited liability company, or other person owning or controlling cemetery lands or…
- § 7019 “Cemetery corporation,” “cemetery association,” or “cemetery corporation or association,” means any corporation now or hereafter organized which is or may be…
- § 7020 “Cemetery business,” “cemetery businesses,” and “cemetery purposes” are used interchangeably and mean any and all business and purposes requisite to, necessary…
- § 7021 “Directors” or “governing body” means the board of directors, board of trustees, or other policymaking body of a cemetery association.
- § 7022 “Lot,” “plot,” or “interment plot” means space in a cemetery, used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains. Such terms include and apply to…
- § 7023 “Plot owner,” “owner,” or “lot proprietor,” means any person in whose name an interment plot stands of record as owner, in the office of a cemetery authority.
- § 7024 “Permit for Disposition of Human Remains” includes “burial permit” and is a permit, issued pursuant to law, for the interment, disinterment, removal,…
- § 7025 “Disposition” means the interment, integration into soil, or scattering of human remains within California, or the shipment outside of California, for lawful…
CHAPTER 2. General Provisions §§ 7050.5–7055 · 16 sections
- § 7050.5 (a) Every person who knowingly mutilates or disinters, wantonly disturbs, or willfully removes any human remains in or from any location other than a dedicated…
- § 7051 (a) A person who removes part of any human remains from a place where it has been interred, or from a place where it is deposited while awaiting interment,…
- § 7051.5 A person who removes or possesses dental gold or silver, jewelry, or mementos from human remains without specific written permission of the person or persons…
- § 7052 (a) A person who willfully mutilates, disinters, removes from the place of interment, or commits an act of sexual penetration on, or has sexual contact with,…
- § 7052.5 Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7052, cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains may be removed from the place of interment for disposition as…
- § 7053 Every person who arrests, attaches, detains, or claims to detain any human remains for any debt or demand, or upon any pretended lien or charge, or fails to…
- § 7054 (a) (1) Except as authorized pursuant to the sections referred to in subdivision (b), a person who deposits or disposes of human remains in any place, except…
- § 7054.1 Cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains shall not be removed from the place of cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis, and there shall not be a charge for…
- § 7054.3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a recognizable dead human fetus of less than 20 weeks uterogestation not disposed of by interment shall be disposed…
- § 7054.4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, recognizable anatomical parts, human tissues, anatomical human remains, or infectious waste following conclusion of…
- § 7054.5 (a) Reduced human remains may be disposed of by integration into the topsoil by the person having the right to control the disposition of the remains pursuant… see note
- § 7054.6 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains may be removed in a durable container from the place of cremation,…
- § 7054.7 (a) Except with the express written permission of the person entitled to control the disposition of the remains, no person shall: (1) Cremate the remains of…
- § 7054.8 (a) Except with the express written permission of the person entitled to control the disposition of the remains, no person shall do any of the following: (1)…
- § 7054.9 (a) Except with the express written permission of the person entitled to control the disposition of the reduced human remains, a person shall not do any of the… see note
- § 7055 (a) A person, who for themselves or for another person, inters, cremates, or hydrolyzes a body or permits the same to be done, or removes any remains, other…
CHAPTER 3. Custody, and Duty of Interment §§ 7100–7117.1 · 20 sections
- § 7100 (a) The right to control the disposition of the remains of a deceased person, the location and conditions of interment, and arrangements for funeral goods and…
- § 7100.1 (a) A decedent, prior to death, may direct, in writing, the disposition of his or her remains and specify funeral goods and services to be provided. Unless…
- § 7101 When any decedent leaves an estate in this state, the reasonable cost of interment and an interment plot of sufficient size to constitute a family plot and…
- § 7102 When a person is charged by law with the duty of interment he is entitled to the custody of the remains for the purpose of interment or, with respect to…
- § 7103 (a) Every person, upon whom the duty of interment is imposed by law, who omits to perform that duty within a reasonable time is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b)…
- § 7104 (a) When no provision is made by the decedent, or where the estate is insufficient to provide for interment and the duty of interment does not devolve upon any…
- § 7104.1 If, within 30 days after the coroner notifies or diligently attempts to notify the person responsible for the interment of a decedent’s remains which are in…
- § 7105 (a) If the person or persons listed in paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 7100 who would otherwise have the right…
- § 7106 A cemetery authority may seek an order providing for the interment of the remains of one or more decedents. Where a proceeding is commenced involving the…
- § 7107 Notice of the time and place of the hearing on the petition shall be given as the court may direct. Upon the hearing the court shall make its order providing…
- § 7108 If the coroner is directed to make such interment he shall make it in the manner provided by law for the interment of the indigent dead.
- § 7109 The court shall allow costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff against all defendants, other than the coroner.
- § 7110 Any person signing any authorization for the interment or cremation of any remains warrants the truthfulness of any fact set forth in the authorization, the…
- § 7111 A cemetery authority or crematory may make an interment or cremation of any remains upon the receipt of a written authorization of a person representing…
- § 7112 No action shall lie against any cemetery authority relating to the cremated remains of any person which have been left in its possession for a period of one…
- § 7113 A cemetery authority or licensed funeral director or a licensed hospital or its authorized personnel may permit or assist, and a physician may perform, an…
- § 7114 Any person who performs, permits or assists at, an autopsy on a dead body without having first obtained (a) the authorization of the deceased in writing,…
- § 7116 (a) Cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains may be scattered in an area where no local prohibition exists, provided that the cremated remains or…
- § 7117 (a) Cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains may be taken by boat from any harbor in this state, or by air, and scattered at sea. Cremated remains or…
- § 7117.1 (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 7117, cremated remains may be transferred from a durable container into a scattering urn no more than seven days…
CHAPTER 3.5. Uniform Anatomical Gift Act §§ 7150–7151.40 · 26 sections
- § 7150 This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.
- § 7150.10 (a) As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Adult” means an individual who is at least 18 years of age. (2) “Agent”…
- § 7150.15 Subject to Section 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a donor’s body or part may be made during the life of the donor for the purpose of transplantation, therapy,…
- § 7150.20 (a) A donor may make an anatomical gift through any of the following: (1) By authorizing a statement or symbol indicating that the donor has made an anatomical…
- § 7150.25 (a) Subject to Section 7150.35, a donor or other person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.15 may amend or revoke an anatomical gift by…
- § 7150.30 (a) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual’s body or part by any of the following: (1) A record signed by either of the…
- § 7150.35 (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (g) and subject to subdivision (f), in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the donor, a person…
- § 7150.40 (a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), and unless barred by Section 7150.30 or 7150.35, an anatomical gift of a decedent’s body or part for the purpose of…
- § 7150.45 (a) A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under Section 7150.40 may make an anatomical gift by a document of gift signed by the person making the gift…
- § 7150.50 (a) An anatomical gift may be made to any of the following persons named in the document of gift: (1) A hospital, accredited medical school, dental school,…
- § 7150.55 (a) All of the following persons shall make a reasonable search of an individual who the person reasonably believes is dead or near death for a document of…
- § 7150.60 (a) A document of gift need not be delivered during the donor’s lifetime to be effective. (b) Upon or after an individual’s death, a person in possession of a…
- § 7150.65 (a) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a reasonable search of the records of the…
- § 7150.70 Each hospital in this state shall enter into agreements or affiliations with procurement organizations for coordination of procurement and use of anatomical…
- § 7150.75 (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), a person that, for valuable consideration, knowingly purchases or sells a part for transplantation or…
- § 7150.80 (a) A person that acts in accordance with this chapter or with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state, or attempts in good faith to do so, is not…
- § 7150.85 (a) A document of gift is valid if executed in accordance with any of the following: (1) This chapter. (2) The laws of the state or country where it was…
- § 7150.90 (a) The California organ procurement organizations designated pursuant to Section 273 and following of Title 42 of the United States Code, are hereby…
- § 7151.10 (a) As used in this section the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Advance health care directive” means a power of attorney for health care or a…
- § 7151.15 (a) A county coroner shall cooperate with procurement organizations to maximize the opportunity to recover anatomical gifts for the purpose of transplantation,…
- § 7151.20 (a) On request from a qualified procurement organization, the county coroner may permit the removal of organs that constitute an anatomical gift from a…
- § 7151.25 In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration shall be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among…
- § 7151.30 This act modifies, limits, and supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001 et seq.), but does not modify,…
- § 7151.35 (a) No hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement organization, or other person shall determine the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based upon a…
- § 7151.36 (a) A hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement organization, or other person shall not determine the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based solely…
- § 7151.40 (a) If there has been an anatomical gift, a technician may remove any donated parts and an enucleator may remove any donated eyes or parts of eyes, after…
CHAPTER 3.55. Organ and Tissue Donation Information and Procedures §§ 7158–7158.3 · 4 sections
- § 7158 (a) The Controller shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, an organ donor information brochure for insertion in all payroll warrants issued by the Controller…
- § 7158.1 (a) As a part of its ongoing audit and review process, the Licensing and Certification Division of the State Department of Health Services shall audit for the…
- § 7158.2 Every health care service plan contract that is issued, amended, delivered, or renewed on or after July 1, 1999, shall provide, upon enrollment and annually…
- § 7158.3 (a) The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this section: (1) “Cosmetic surgery” means surgery that is performed to alter or reshape normal…
CHAPTER 3.56. Altruistic Living Donor Registry Act §§ 7152–7152.2 · 3 sections
- § 7152 This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Altruistic Living Donor Registry Act of 2010.
- § 7152.1 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) More than 20,000 Californians are currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, and…
- § 7152.2 (a) The California organ procurement organizations designated pursuant to Section 273 and following of Title 42 of the United States Code, are hereby…
CHAPTER 3.6. Organ Transplants § 7160 · 1 section
- § 7160 (a) The State Department of Health Services shall consult with the Legislature on or before December 31, 1991, to evaluate and make recommendations to improve…
CHAPTER 3.7. Death §§ 7180–7184.5 · 6 sections
ARTICLE 1. Uniform Determination of Death Act § 7180 · 1 section
- § 7180 (a) An individual who has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions…
ARTICLE 2. Confirmation of Death §§ 7181–7184.5 · 5 sections
- § 7181 When an individual is pronounced dead by determining that the individual has sustained an irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain,…
- § 7182 When a part of the donor is used for direct transplantation pursuant to the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 7150)) and the…
- § 7183 Complete patient medical records required of a health facility pursuant to regulations adopted by the department in accordance with Section 1275 shall be kept,…
- § 7184 (a) Each general acute care hospital shall develop a protocol for identifying potential organ and tissue donors. The protocol shall require that any deceased…
- § 7184.5 (a) In conjunction with entering into any agreement with any coroner or medical examiner for release and removal of organs from bodies within that official’s…
CHAPTER 4. Disposal of Unclaimed Dead §§ 7200–7208 · 9 sections
- § 7200 Every head of a public institution, city or county undertaker, or state, county, or city officer having charge or control of remains to be interred at public…
- § 7201 The person in charge of a public institution in which the decedent was an inmate shall transmit upon request, to the state department or to any person…
- § 7202 The unclaimed dead retained by the State department for scientific or educational purposes shall be embalmed and disposed of in accordance with the…
- § 7203 The bodies of the unclaimed dead retained by the State department shall be used solely for the purpose of instruction and study in the promotion of medical,…
- § 7204 All persons receiving unclaimed dead for educational purposes shall bear all reasonable expense incurred in the preservation and transportation of the dead and…
- § 7205 It is unlawful for any person, unless specifically authorized by law, to hold a post mortem examination of any unclaimed dead without the express permission of…
- § 7206 Any person authorized by law to perform post mortem examinations shall permit, with the consent of relatives, or in the absence of such relatives, with the…
- § 7207 Whenever, through the failure of any person to notify the State department, or promptly to deliver the body of a deceased indigent as required by the State…
- § 7208 Every person who unlawfully disposes, uses, or sells the body of an unclaimed dead person, or who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a…
CHAPTER 5. Embalming and Transportation §§ 7300–7355 · 6 sections
ARTICLE 1. Embalming §§ 7300–7304 · 5 sections
- § 7300 No person shall embalm the body of any person who has died from an unknown cause, except with the permission of the coroner.
- § 7301 No embalmer shall embalm a dead human body when he has information reasonably indicating crime in connection with the death until permission of the coroner has…
- § 7302 Every funeral director and embalmer shall immediately report to the local health officer every contagious case on which the funeral director or embalmer may be…
- § 7303 No embalmer shall embalm a dead human body when he has information reasonably indicating the death has occurred while the deceased was driving or riding in a…
- § 7304 No embalmer shall embalm a dead body without obtaining written or oral permission of a person who has the right to control the disposition of the remains…
ARTICLE 2. Transportation § 7355 · 1 section
- § 7355 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the bodies of persons who have died from any cause shall not be received for transportation by a common carrier…