Mortuary Law ch1

Question 1

Empowers the state legislature to enact laws for the protection of the general welfare, health and safety

Answer 1

Police powers

Question 2

Interprets the law and applies it to the facts of the case is deciding

Answer 2

Court

Question 3

In many states it is the_______________that has the authority to settle controversies concerning dead bodies

Answer 3

Probate court

Question 4

Consists of maxims, principles, and judicial decisions that have been passed down from hundreds of years of jurisprudence. Much of it has its roots in English and early colonial law, also fills up “gaps” in our legal system.

Answer 4

Common-law

Question 5

Many aspects of funeral law are impacted by the

Answer 5

Common law

Question 6

Dead body

Answer 6

The body of a human being deprived of life but not yet entirely disintegrated

Question 7

The term “court” is synonymous with the term

Answer 7

Dead body

Question 8

For a body to be legally dead or a corpse it must meet three conditions

Answer 8

It must be the body of a human being, it must be without life, and it must not be entirely disintegrated

Question 9

When life ceases, which takes place when the heart stops beating and respiration ends

Answer 9

The definition of death stated by courts in 1950

Question 10

For legal and medical purposes, and individual who has sustained irreversible cessation of all functioning of the brain, including the brainstem

Answer 10

Definition of death by courts in 1979

Question 11

The remains of the cremated body, a disintegrated corpse or the bones of the skeleton do not constitute as a

Answer 11

Dead body

Question 12

In early English law, it was established that the dead body was with in the exclusive control of the

Answer 12

Church

Question 13

Survivors have _____-___________ rights in the dead body

Answer 13

Quasi-property

Question 14

Most often referred to as a “bundle of rights”

Answer 14

Property

Question 15

Include the right to possess, to use, to exclude, to profit, and to dispose

Answer 15

The ‘bundle of rights’ which have been associated with property

Question 16

The most common method of disposition

Answer 16

Inground burial

Question 17

If the body is at the home of the next of kin

Answer 17

Actual possession

Question 18

If the body is at a hospital or mortuary

Answer 18

Constructive possession

Question 19

The right to arrange the disposition is an __________ right

Answer 19

Exclusive

Question 20

Agreement between a funeral director and another competent party of legal age where by the consumer purchases and the funeral director agrees to furnish merchandise and services

Answer 20

Funeral contract

Question 21

The funeral contract may be______or________

Answer 21

Oral or written

Question 22

The written contract is

Answer 22

• legally more sound
• explicit as to method of payment
• easier to prove in the case of default by the purchaser
• Proof of a valid contract

Question 23

Provisions which are typically included in a standard funeral contract

Answer 23

• itemization
• cash transaction
• late payment charge or penalty charge
• Collection fees
• estate liability
• joint and several (individual) liability
• disclaimer of warranties

Question 24

In____states, there is a mechanism that allows an individual to appoint an agent or representative to make all funeral and disposition instructions

Answer 24

34

Question 25

An effective right of disposition statute needs to include several key components to address conflicts and uncertainties including

Answer 25

• missing relatives
• majority control
• waiver of uncooperative relatives
• homicide cases

Question 26

Approximately _____ of the states have a disqualification provision tied to homicide

Answer 26

1/3

Question 27

Three primary protections that funeral homes want to include any right of disposition statute

Answer 27

1) right to rely
2) The ability to recover costs
3) comprehensive immunity provisions

Question 28

Involves provisions in the law which grants the funeral home the ability to rely upon the representations of a family member

Answer 28

The right to rely

Question 29

States with comprehensive protections for funeral homes authorize the funeral home to recover Embalming and refrigeration costs which may be incurred as a result of the delay caused by a family dispute

Answer 29

Ability to recover costs

Question 30

Protects a funeral home from criminal, civil, or disciplinary claims if they believe in good faith upon representations of family members that may lead approved to be untrue.

Answer 30

Comprehensive immunity provisions

Question 31

The sources of the funeral director’s duties are

Answer 31

• statutory laws of the state
• requirements of the funeral contract
• The common law

Question 32

Permits that the funeral director is required to obtain for the proper disposition of the dead

Answer 32

1) death certificate
2) burial permit
3) transit permit

Question 33

The body must be refrigerated or embalmed ______hours from the time of death

Answer 33

48

Question 34

Possible contractual breaches by the funeral director of the funeral contract

Answer 34

• negligent embalming
• negligent funeral directing
• safeguarding the body
• privacy
• defective merchandise
• transportation
• aftercare

Question 35

If embalming falls short of standard care the funeral director will be liable for the damages of

Answer 35

Negligent embalming

Question 36

The failure of the funeral director to perform the many duties involved in directing the funeral service

Answer 36

Negligent funeral directing

Question 37

Grief counseling, support groups, or other grief facilitation activities sponsored by the funeral home

Answer 37

Aftercare

Question 38

When there is a violation of funeral director’s duties with resulting damages a _______ has been committed

Answer 38

Tort

Question 39

Two duties recognized by the law which impact directly on the funeral director

Answer 39

1) the duty not to interfere with the right of burial
2) the duty of exercising reasonable care to keep the funeral home premises or other places under control of the funeral director in a reasonably safe condition

Question 40

The refusal to release the body by a funeral director who has prepared it for burial until he has been paid for his services

Answer 40

Wrongfully withholding the body

Question 41

Cases where a funeral home misidentified the body and incorrectly interred the wrong one

Answer 41

Loss of the body

Question 42

Embalming done without permission or unauthorized autopsies is considered a tort of

Answer 42

Mutilation of the body

Question 43

The rules and principles that society has established for the handling and disposition of the dead

Answer 43

Funeral law