Permits a chief fiscal officer of a county or a public administrator, when having the right to control the disposition of the remains of a decedent and acting reasonably and in good faith, to select cremation or natural organic reduction as the method of final disposition of such decedent under certain circumstances.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7894
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 11, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the selection of
the method of disposition of remains of a decedent by a chief fiscal
officer of a county or a public administrator
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 4201 of the
2 public health law, as amended by chapter 76 of the laws of 2006, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (c) The person in control of disposition, pursuant to this section,
5 shall faithfully carry out the directions of the decedent to the extent
6 lawful and practicable, including consideration of the financial capaci-
7 ty of the decedent's estate and other resources made available for
8 disposition of the remains. The person in control of disposition shall
9 also dispose of the decedent in a manner appropriate to the moral and
10 individual beliefs and wishes of the decedent provided that such beliefs
11 and wishes do not conflict with the directions of the decedent. The
12 person in control of disposition may seek to recover any costs related
13 to the disposition from the fiduciary of the decedent's estate in
14 accordance with section eighteen hundred eleven of the surrogate's court
15 procedure act. Notwithstanding the provisions of this paragraph, a
16 chief fiscal officer of a county or a public administrator, when having
17 the right to control the disposition of the remains of such decedent
18 pursuant to this section and acting reasonably and in good faith, may,
19 without civil liability, select cremation or natural organic reduction
20 as the method of disposition for such decedent. Such selection may be
21 where the financial resources of such decedent are limited and such
22 disposition is selected within the reasonable belief that the method is
23 consistent with the religious practices of the decedent, provided howev-
24 er, that (i) no person having higher priority under this subdivision has
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10813-01-5
A. 7894 2
1 claimed the remains of the decedent within thirty days of the death or
2 within ninety days if established by a county at its option, or (ii)
3 such person having priority is known and has relinquished their right to
4 control the decedent's final disposition.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
