AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE CREMATION OF BODIES OF CERTAIN DECEASED PERSONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
Section 43M of chapter 114 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the third sentence the following 3 sentences:- Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a funeral establishment in possession of the cremated remains of a human body which is not claimed by a next-of-kin or duly authorized representative within 12 months after the date of cremation may have the remains interred or placed in a common grave, niche, or crypt in a cemetery, or scattered in an area of the cemetery designated for that purpose; provided, however, that if the deceased is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces the deceased shall be interred at a veterans’ cemetery. Each cemetery and funeral establishment shall maintain permanent records of such disposition. There shall be no liability for a funeral establishment, cemetery or crematory, or any employee or agent thereof that disposes of unclaimed cremated remains in accordance with this section.
Approved August 20, 2008.