Laws Governing Kentucky Funeral Homes
This page contains information on the laws regarding funerals in Kentucky. It is not a complete list, but only a partial listing. For specific questions, please contact the Kentucky Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.
Laws Regarding Death Certificates
Section 1. KRS 213.076 is amended to read as follows:
(1) A certificate of death or a provisional certificate of death for each death which occurs in the Commonwealth shall be filed with the cabinet or as otherwise directed by the state registrar prior to final disposition, and it shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. The funeral director, or person acting as such, who first takes custody of a dead body shall be responsible for filing the certificate of death. The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall obtain the required personal and statistical particulars from the person best qualified to supply them over the signature and address of the informant. The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall within five (5) days of the death, present the certificate to the attending physician, if any, or to the health officer or coroner as directed by the state registrar, for the medical certificate of the cause of death and other particulars necessary to complete the record as required by this chapter.
(a) It shall be unlawful for an institution to release a dead human body until the funeral director, or person acting as such, has completed and filed with the local registrar or person in charge of the institution, a provisional certificate of death. If death occurs outside an institution, the provisional certificate shall be filed with the local registrar by the funeral director, or person acting as such, prior to final disposition of the dead body. A copy of the provisional certificate of death signed by the person with whom it was filed, shall constitute authority for the possession, transportation, and, except for cremation, final disposition of the body.
(b) All persons having in their possession a completed provisional certificate of death shall file the certificate at not more than weekly intervals with the local registrar.
(c) If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in the Commonwealth, the certificate of death shall be completed and filed in accordance with this section. The place where the body is found shall be shown as the place of death. If the date of death is unknown, it shall be determined by approximation subject to amendment upon completion of any postmortem examination required to be performed.
(d) If death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is first removed from the conveyance in the Commonwealth, the death shall be registered in Kentucky, and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of death. If a death occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space, and the body is first removed from the conveyance in the Commonwealth, the death shall be registered in Kentucky, but the certificate shall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined.
(2) If any certificate of death is incomplete or unsatisfactory, the state registrar shall call attention to the defects in the certificate and require the person responsible for the entry to complete or correct it. The state registrar may also require additional information about the circumstances and medical conditions surrounding a death in order to properly code and classify the underlying cause.
(3) The medical certification shall be completed, signed, and returned to the funeral director within five (5) working days after presentation to the physician, dentist, or chiropractor in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when inquiry is required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475. In such cases, and if the cause of death is unknown or under investigation, the cause of death shall be shown as such on the certificate. A supplemental report providing the medical information omitted from the original certificate shall be filed by the certifier with the State Registrar within five (5) days after receiving results of the inquiry as required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475. The supplemental report shall be made a part of the existing death certificate. Such report shall be considered an amendment, and the death certificate shall be marked "Amended" [the coroner shall complete and sign the certificate within five (5) days after receiving results of the inquiry as required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475].. In the absence of the physician, dentist, or chiropractor, or with such person's approval, the certificate may be completed and signed by his associate physician, dentist, or chiropractor, or the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred, or the physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent, or a physician employed by the local health department, if the individual has access to the medical history of the case and death is due to natural causes.
Cremation Guidelines
Following are some of Kentuckys
regulations concerning crematoriums:
Before
a crematorium may open, the owner must
obtain a license through the Attorney
General.
The operator of the crematorium
must have at least 48 hours of relevant
training and be registered with the Attorney
General.
The crematorium must keep information
on those who are cremated, including their name,
date the body was received, date the cremation
was
performed, name of person authorizing cremation,
and name of person performing cremation.
This information must be kept on file for 10
years.
Only one body may be cremated at a time.
The body may not be removed from the
cremation container once it is delivered to the crematorium.
A body may not be cremated if it has
hazardous implants such as a pacemaker, or any
toxic or explosive-type sealed implants. The
person
authorizing the cremation must notify the crematorium of
such devices, and they must be removed
before cremation.
To avoid mixing of remains:
o identifying
information is placed on the container
before cremation;
o during
cremation, this information is placed on the
chamber; and
o after
cremation, the information is placed on the
urn or temporary container.
Once a body has been cremated,
o the
ashes are to be put in a specified container;
o the
cremation area is then thoroughly cleaned;
and then
o the
ashes are delivered as requested.
Once a body has been cremated and the
ashes delivered to the family, the family
may do with them what they please. This
includes scattering them
on private property with owner permission,
scattering them in approved public places,
or keeping them in the urn or container.
In the
event that
there is a
conflict
between
the
decedent's
prearrangement
and the
demands of
the next
class of
authorizing
agent in
the order
set forth
in KRS
367.97501(1)
regarding
cremation,
the
crematory
shall not
accept for
cremation
those
human
remains
without an
order
deciding
the issues
entered by
the
District
Court of
the county
of the
decedent's
residence
or the
county
where the
funeral
home or
the
crematory
authority
is
located.
This order
may be
issued by
the court
after a
petition
for
resolution
has been
initiated
by any
natural
person
listed in
KRS
367.97501(1)
or the
crematory
authority.
Unless
extraordinary
circumstances
exist, the
court
shall give
due
deference
to the
desires of
the
deceased
as
expressed
in the
prearrangement.
Laws, Rules and Regulations of Kentucky Funeral Directors (partial)
316.170 Kentucky Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors -- Membership --
Qualifications -- Meetings. (1) The board
shall consist of five (5) members who shall be residents of the Commonwealth
of Kentucky. Four (4) members shall be Kentucky-licensed embalmers
and Kentucky-licensed funeral directors actively practicing embalming and
funeral directing in a Kentucky funeral establishment and shall have a minimum
of ten (10) years' consecutive experience in the practice of embalming and
funeral directing in Kentucky immediately preceding their appointment. One (1)
member shall be a citizen at large who is not
associated with or financially interested in
the practice or business regulated.
(2) The Governor shall make all appointments to the board.
The four (4) embalmer and funeral director
members shall be appointed from a list of three (3) names submitted by
the Funeral Directors Association of Kentucky and from a list of three (3) names
submitted by the Kentucky Association of Morticians,
Inc., for each position to be filled.
(3)
The term of each member shall be four (4) years. Each member shall serve until a
successor is appointed and qualified.
(4) Vacancies on the board
shall be filled in the same manner for the unexpired terms.
(5) Each board member shall
receive one hundred dollars ($100) for each day of service actually
given in carrying out the board's duties and shall be reimbursed for necessary
traveling expenses and other necessary expenses incurred in attending board
meetings and carrying out the board's duties.
(6) The board shall elect
annually a president from its members.
(7) The board shall meet as often as necessary to discharge
its duties, but not less than once a year.
(8) Three (3) members shall
constitute a quorum.
Effective:
July 15, 1996History:
Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 149, sec. 9, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended
316.030 Embalmer's license - Qualifications - Funeral director's license - Qualifications - Apprenticeship
(1) No person shall
engage in, or attempt to engage in, embalming or funeral directing in the
Commonwealth of Kentucky unless the person is licensed under the provisions of
this chapter.
(2) One (1) member of every firm, and one (1) officer and one
(1) stockholder of every corporation, that engages in embalming and funeral
directing in Kentucky, shall be a Kentucky - licensed embalmer and a Kentucky -
licensed funeral director.
(3) The board shall issue an embalmer's license to an
applicant who:
(a) Is at least eighteen (18) years
of age;
(b) Is of good moral character;
(c) Has graduated from high school or
possesses a High School Equivalency Diploma;
(d) Has received an associate degree
in funeral services from a college or university accredited by the American
Board of Funeral Service Education;
(e) Has served an apprenticeship of
one (1) year in a Kentucky funeral establishment under the supervision of a
Kentucky - licensed embalmer.
(f) Has taken an active part
during the apprenticeship in assisting with the embalming of at least
twenty-five (25) dead human bodies under the direct supervision of a
Kentucky-licensed embalmer,
(g) Has paid to the board an
examination fee of seventy-five dollars ($75); and
(h) Has passed an examination
prepared or approved by the board.
(4) The board shall issue a funeral
director's license to an applicant who:
(a) Is at least eighteen (18) years
of age;
(b) Is of good moral character;
(c) Has graduated from high school or
possesses a High School Equivalency Diploma;
(d) Has served an
apprenticeship of three (3) consecutive years in a Kentucky funeral
establishment under the supervision of a Kentucky-licensed funeral
director. An associate degree in funeral services from a college or
university accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education shall
substitute for two (2) years of apprenticeship. The completion of thirty
(30) semester credit hours or the equivalent from an accredited college or
university shall substitute for one (1) year of the apprenticeship. At no time
shall more than two (2) years of the apprenticeship be substituted.
(e) Has taken an active part
during the apprenticeship in assisting with the management of at least
twenty-five (25) funerals under the direct supervision of a Kentucky-licensed
funeral director.
(f) Has paid to the board an
examination fee of seventy-five dollars ($75); and
(g) Has passed an examination
prepared or approved by the board.
(5) An applicant may serve
embalming and funeral directing apprenticeships concurrently.
(6) At the beginning of an
apprenticeship, an applicant for an embalmer's or a funeral director's license
shall:
(a) Appear before the board;
(b) Pay to the board a
registration fee of thirty dollars ($30); and
(c) File with the board the
sworn statement of the supervising Kentucky-licensed embalmer or the
Kentucky-licensed funeral director averring that the applicant will work
full-time under supervision in the funeral establishment and will receive a
regular salary.
(7) An applicant shall work full-time
in the funeral establishment during the apprenticeship and shall receive a
regular salary.
(8) An applicant shall file
with the board semiannually during the apprenticeship sworn statements by the
applicant and the supervising Kentucky-licensed embalmer or Kentucky-licensed
funeral director setting out the number of hours worked, the number of
embalmings or funerals in which the applicant has assisted, and the salary
received.
(9) A Kentucky-licensed
embalmer or a Kentucky-licensed funeral director shall not supervise more than
five (5) applicants serving apprenticeships at any one (1) time.
Necessity and function:316.030(3)(h),
(4)(g) require an applicant for an embalmer's license or a funeral director's
license to pass examinations prepared or approved by the board. The
function of this administrative regulation is to establish the procedure,
content, and time of examinations.
Section 1. Content of Examination.
(1) The examination for a license to practice embalming and the examination for
a license to practice funeral directing shall be written examinations
administered by one (1) or more members of the board.
(2) The subjects to be covered in the
examination for embalmer's license shall be as follows:
(a) Embalming;
(b) Anatomy;
(c) Microbiology;
(d) Pathology;
(e) Chemistry;
(f) Restorative art;
(g) Mortuary administration and law;
(h) Accounting;
(i) Sociology; and
(j) Psychology.
(3) The subjects to be covered in the
examination for funeral director's license shall be as follows:
(a) Mortuary administration;
(b) Ethics;
(c) Accounting;
(d) Sociology
(e) Business law
(f) Primary psychology;
(g) Transportation rules;
(h) Hygiene, sanitation, and
disinfection; and
(i) Requirements of KRS Chapter 316
and the administrative regulations promulgated pursuant to KRS Chapter 316.
Herman Meyer & Son, PO Box 4052, Louisville, Kentucky 40204 | 502.458.9569 | info@meyerfuneral.com