As used in NRS
451.010 to 451.470 , inclusive, unless the context otherwise
requires, “human remains” or “remains” means the body of a deceased
person, and includes the body in any stage of decomposition and the
cremated remains of a body.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 254; A 1969, 161; 2003, 1881 )
DETERMINATION OF DEATH (UNIFORM ACT)
1. For legal and medical purposes, a person is dead if he has
sustained an irreversible cessation of:
(a) Circulatory and respiratory functions; or
(b) All functions of his entire brain, including his brain stem.
2. A determination of death made under this section must be made
in accordance with accepted medical standards.
3. This section may be cited as the Uniform Determination of Death
Act and must be applied and construed to carry out its general purpose
which is to make uniform among the states which enact it the law
regarding the determination of death.
(Added to NRS by 1979, 226; A 1985, 130)
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
1. The right to dissect the dead body of a human being is limited
to cases:
(a) Specially provided by statute or by the direction or will of
the deceased.
(b) Where a coroner is authorized under NRS 259.050 or an ordinance enacted pursuant to NRS
244.163 to hold an inquest upon the
body, and then only as he may authorize dissection.
(c) Where the husband, wife or next of kin charged by law with the
duty of burial authorize dissection for the purpose of ascertaining the
cause of death, and then only to the extent so authorized.
(d) Where authorized by the provisions of NRS 451.350 to 451.470 ,
inclusive.
(e) Where authorized by the provisions of NRS 451.500 to 451.590 ,
inclusive.
2. Every person who makes, causes or procures to be made any
dissection of the body of a human being, except as provided in subsection
1, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
[1911 C&P § 208; RL § 6473; NCL § 10156]—(NRS A 1963, 198, 534;
1969, 161; 1989, 432)
Any person who uses, or makes available for the use of another,
the remains of an aborted embryo or fetus for any commercial purpose
shall be fined not less than $250 nor more than $5,000.
(Added to NRS by 1985, 1902)
1. Except in cases of dissection provided for in NRS 451.010
, and where a dead body shall rightfully
be carried through or removed from the State for the purpose of burial
elsewhere, every dead body of a human being lying within this state, and
the remains of any dissected body after dissection, shall be decently
buried or cremated within a reasonable time after death.
2. The residue resulting from the cremation of the body of a
deceased person may be transported in this state in any manner, without
any permit therefor, and may be disposed of in any manner desired, or
directed by the decedent, by the person charged by law with the duty of
burying the body.
[1911 C&P § 208; RL § 6473; NCL § 10156]—(NRS A 1969, 716)
The husband or wife of
a minor child or the parent of an unmarried or otherwise unemancipated
minor child shall be primarily responsible for the decent burial or
cremation of his or her spouse or such child within a reasonable time
after death.
(Added to NRS by 1971, 131)
1. The following persons, in the following order of priority, may
order the burial of human remains of a deceased person:
(a) A person designated as the person with authority to order the
burial of the human remains of the decedent in a legally valid document
or in an affidavit executed in accordance with subsection 5;
(b) The spouse of the decedent;
(c) An adult son or daughter of the decedent;
(d) Either parent of the decedent;
(e) An adult brother or sister of the decedent;
(f) A grandparent of the decedent;
(g) A guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of death;
and
(h) A person who held the primary domicile of the decedent in joint
tenancy with the decedent at the time of death.
2. If the deceased person was an indigent or other person for whom
the final disposition of the decedent’s remains is a responsibility of a
county or the State, the appropriate public officer may order the burial
of the remains and provide for the respectful disposition of the remains.
3. If the deceased person donated his body for scientific research
or, before his death, a medical facility was made responsible for his
final disposition, a representative of the scientific institution or
medical facility may order the burial of his remains.
4. A living person may order the burial of human remains removed
from his body or the burial of his body after his death. In the latter
case, any person acting pursuant to his instructions is an authorized
agent.
5. A person 18 years of age or older wishing to authorize another
person to order the burial of his human remains in the event of his death
may execute an affidavit before a notary public in substantially the
following form:
State of Nevada }
}ss
County of...........................}
(Date) ..................................
I, ..................................., (person authorizing another
person to order the burial of his human remains in the event of his
death) do hereby designate ................................... (person
who is being authorized to order the burial of the human remains of a
person in the event of his death) to order the burial of my human remains
upon my death.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ........
day of the month of ......... of the year .......
...........................................................................
.
(Notary Public)
(Added to NRS by 2003, 1880 )
If the governing body of any county, city or town within the
State of Nevada must arrange for and order the decent burial of any
person dying within such county, city or town, leaving a husband or wife
or parent in whose custody such person remained at the time he or she
died, which husband or wife or parent is not indigent and not otherwise
eligible for assistance as a poor person and expenses for a decent burial
have been paid out of public funds pursuant to such an order, the county,
city or town must be reimbursed for its expenses of burial of the dead
body of such person by the husband, wife or parent charged by law with
the duty of burial.
(Added to NRS by 1971, 131; A 1983, 139)
1. A person who removes the dead body of a human being, or any
part thereof, from a grave, vault or other place where it has been buried
or deposited awaiting burial or cremation, without authority of law, with
the intent to sell it, or for the purpose of securing a reward for its
return, or for dissection, or from malice or wantonness, is guilty of a
category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130 .
2. A person who purchases or receives, except for burial or
cremation, any such dead body, or any part thereof, knowing that it has
been removed contrary to the provisions of subsection 1, is guilty of a
category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130 .
3. A person who opens a grave or other place of interment,
temporary or otherwise, or a building where such a dead body is deposited
while awaiting burial or cremation, without authority of law, with the
intent to remove the body or any part thereof, for the purpose of selling
or demanding money for it, for dissection, from malice or wantonness, or
with the intent to sell or remove the coffin or any part thereof or
anything attached thereto, or any vestment or other article interred or
intended to be interred with the body, is guilty of a category D felony
and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130 .
[1911 C&P § 210; RL § 6475; NCL § 10158]—(NRS A 1967, 581; 1979,
1470; 1989, 576; 1995, 1279)
1. Every person who shall arrest or attach the dead body of a
human being upon a debt or demand, or shall detain or claim to detain it
for any debt or demand or upon any pretended lien or charge, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
2. Every person who, without authority of law, shall obstruct or
detain a person engaged in carrying or accompanying the dead body of a
human being to a place of burial or cremation shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.
[1911 C&P § 211; RL § 6476; NCL § 10159]
1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 451.050 , the local health officer may issue a permit
for the disinterment or removal of human remains. The permit must
indicate the name of the cemetery, mausoleum, columbarium or other place
of burial where the remains will be interred, inurned or buried.
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, a person in
charge of a cemetery, mausoleum, columbarium or other place of burial
shall not disinter or remove or permit disinterment or removal of human
remains unless he has received a copy of such a permit.
3. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty
of a misdemeanor.
4. A county coroner is not required to obtain a permit from the
local health officer for the disinterment, removal or transportation of
human remains while carrying out his duties as the county coroner.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 254; A 1989, 381)
1. Any person, company, association or corporation in this State
who shall exhume or disinter, or who shall cause to be exhumed or
disinterred, any human remains, or any part of such remains, which have
been buried in the ground in this State, for the purpose of transporting
the same to any other state or foreign country, except under the
conditions provided in subsection 2, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
2. The boards of county commissioners of the several counties in
which human remains are buried or interred, as provided in subsection 1,
are authorized to grant and to issue written permits for the disinterment
and removal of any such human remains referred to in subsection 1,
whenever in their judgment the public health will not be endangered by
such disinterment and removal; but no such permit shall be granted or
issued under any circumstances or at any time where the person or persons
buried or interred have died from or with any contagious or loathsome
disease.
[1911 C&P § 287; RL § 6552; NCL § 10235] + [1911 C&P § 288; RL §
6553; NCL § 10236]—(NRS A 1967, 582)
1. Any transportation company or common carrier transporting or
carrying, or accepting through its agents or employees for transportation
or carriage, the body of any deceased person, without an accompanying
permit issued in accordance with law, shall be punished by a fine of not
more than $250. If the death occurred outside of the State and the body
is accompanied by a burial, removal or transit permit issued in
accordance with the law or board of health regulations in force where the
death occurred, such burial, removal or transit permit may be held to
authorize the transportation or carriage of the body into or through the
State.
2. Any railroad, transportation or express company which receives
for transportation and shipment any dead human body, unless the body has
been prepared by a regularly licensed embalmer of the State of Nevada,
with the removal permit, his name and the number of his embalmer’s
license attached thereon, and unless the body shall reach its destination
within the boundaries of this state and within 30 hours from time of
death, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.
[Part 10:28:1909; A 1917, 66; 1919 RL § 4454; NCL § 2674] + [Part
21:199:1911; RL § 2972; NCL § 5255]—(NRS A 1967, 582; 1979, 1470)
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 2 and 3, no
crematory, funeral home, cemetery or other place that accepts human
remains for disposition may require the remains to be embalmed or
otherwise prepared before their disposition by cremation, interment or
otherwise, or before their removal from or into any registration district.
2. The State Board of Health may require embalming or other
preparations if necessary to protect the public.
3. If embalming is not required by the State Board of Health
pursuant to subsection 2, the Nevada State Funeral Board may authorize
the embalming of a body if it determines that it is necessary to preserve
the body and the crematory, funeral home, cemetery or other place that
accepts human remains for disposition:
(a) Has held the body for at least 72 hours;
(b) Is unable to notify a member of the family or other authorized
person to obtain approval to embalm the body; and
(c) Has no reason to believe that the family or other authorized
person does not wish to have the body embalmed.
4. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Added to NRS by 1973, 192; A 1977, 361; 1993, 2606; 1997, 2580;
2003, 1279 )
1. The board of county commissioners of a county whose population
is less than 50,000 may adopt an ordinance allowing one or more natural
persons to designate as a family cemetery an area of land owned by any of
those persons for the interment in that area without charge of any member
of the family of any of them or any other person.
2. Before the first interment in a family cemetery designated in
accordance with an ordinance adopted pursuant to subsection 1, a member
of the family or a representative of the family shall notify the Health
Division of the Department of Health and Human Services of the
designation of the family cemetery and its specific location on the land
owned by the family.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 988 )
REMOVAL OF HUMAN REMAINS BY CEMETERY AUTHORITY
As used in NRS 451.069
to 451.330 , inclusive, “cemetery authority” means any
natural person, partnership, association, corporation or public entity,
including the Nevada System of Higher Education or any cemetery district,
owning or leasing the land or other property of a cemetery or operating a
cemetery as a business in this State.
(Added to NRS by 1979, 1561; A 1993, 405; 2001, 988 )
A cemetery authority may order the disinterment and removal of
all human remains interred in all or any part of any cemetery if the
cemetery authority or a governmental authority determines that the
further maintenance of all or any part of the cemetery as a burial place
for the human dead is not in accordance with the health, safety, comfort
or welfare of the public or if the cemetery authority determines that
financial provision must be made for future care of gravesites within a
specified area.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 459; A 1979, 1561; 2001, 989 )
1. The cemetery authority may prescribe reasonable regulations
governing the manner of making disinterments and removals and providing
for reinterment in a portion of the existing cemetery or in any other
cemetery or for deposit of the remains in any memorial mausoleum or
columbarium or for providing appropriate future care.
2. The cemetery authority must prescribe a reasonable time of not
less than 1 year after which the cemetery authority may proceed to remove
the remains and reinter them in another cemetery or deposit them in a
memorial mausoleum or columbarium.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 459; A 1979, 1561; 2001, 989 )
1. Notice of a determination to remove the human remains from all
or any part of any cemetery must be given by publication in a newspaper
of general circulation published in the city, or the county if the
cemetery is in an unincorporated area, in which the cemetery or the
portion from which removals are to be made is situated. Publication must
be at least once a week for 4 consecutive weeks.
2. The notice must specify the period after which the cemetery
authority may remove the remains.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 460; A 2001, 989 )
Copies of
the notice shall, within 10 days after the first publication, be posted
in at least three conspicuous places in the cemetery or the portion from
which removals are to be made.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 460)
1. A copy of the notice must be mailed to every person who owns,
holds, or has the right of interment in, any plot in the cemetery or part
affected, whose name appears upon the records of the cemetery or upon the
real property assessment roll of the county in which the cemetery is
located. The notice must be addressed to the last known post office
address of the plot owner as it appears from the records of the cemetery
or county assessor, and if the owner’s address does not appear or is not
known, then to him in the city in which the cemetery is situated.
2. The notice must also be mailed to each known living heir at law
of any person whose remains are interred in the cemetery, if his address
is known.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 460; A 1979, 1562)
At any time before the date fixed for the removal of remains by the
cemetery authority, any relative or friend of any person whose remains
are interred in the cemetery from which removals are to be made may give
the cemetery authority written notice that he desires to be present when
the remains are disinterred or are reinterred.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 460)
The notice to the cemetery authority shall specify:
1. The name of the person whose remains are to be disinterred.
2. As accurately as possible, the plot where the remains are
interred.
3. The date of interment.
4. An address at which the required notices may be given by the
cemetery authority.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 461)
The notice may be delivered, or forwarded by
registered or certified mail, to the office or principal place of
business of the cemetery authority proposing to make removals.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 461; A 1969, 95)
After receipt of such notice before the date fixed
for the removal of the remains by the cemetery authority, it shall give
written notice to the person requesting it of the time when the remains
shall be disinterred. This notice shall be given by delivery, or by mail,
to the person requesting it at least 10 days prior to the date specified
for the disinterment of the remains.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 461)
Whenever a request of notice is given by a relative or friend,
the cemetery authority shall not disinter the remains referred to until
the notice of the time of disinterment is given the relative or friend,
as provided in NRS 451.150 to 451.180
, inclusive.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 461)
After the completion of
notice and after the expiration of the period specified in the notice,
the cemetery authority may cause the removal of all human remains
interred in the cemetery or portion from which the remains have been
ordered removed, and may reinter such remains in other cemeteries in this
state where interments are permitted, without further notice to any
person claiming any interest in the cemetery, or portion affected, or in
the remains interred therein.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 462; A 2001, 989 )
The remains of each person
reinterred shall be placed in a separate and suitable receptacle and
decently and respectfully interred under rules and regulations adopted by
the cemetery authority making the removal.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 462)
Whenever human remains have been ordered removed
under the provisions of NRS 451.069 to
451.330 , inclusive, and the cemetery
authority has made and published notice of the determination to remove
such remains, the portions of the cemetery in which no interments have
been made, and those portions from which all human remains have been
removed, may be sold, mortgaged or otherwise encumbered as security for
any loan or loans made to the cemetery authority.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 462; A 1979, 1562; 2001, 989 )
No order of any
court shall be required prior to the making of any such sale, mortgage or
other encumbrance of such lands; but any sale of such cemetery lands made
by any cemetery corporation or association controlled by a governing body
shall be fairly conducted and the price paid shall be fair and reasonable
and all such sales shall be confirmed, as to the fairness and
reasonableness of the price paid, by the district court of the county in
which the lands are situated.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 462)
Petitions for confirmation of sales shall be made to the district court
of the county in which such lands are situated, and the clerk of the
court shall fix a day for and give notice of hearing by publication on
three dates of publication prior to the hearing, and if the newspaper is
published oftener than once a week there shall be at least 10 days from
the first to last dates of publication (both first and last days
included).
(Added to NRS by 1961, 462; A 1977, 274)
If, before
receiving notice of any determination made by a governmental authority
pursuant to NRS 451.070 , any cemetery
authority has in good faith entered into any agreement to sell or has
granted any option to buy all or any portion of its cemetery lands for a
price reasonable at the time the agreement to sell was made, or the
option granted, the district court shall confirm the sale at the price
stipulated in the agreement to sell or the option to buy.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 462; A 1979, 1562; 2001, 990 )
1. After the removal of all human remains interred in any part of
the whole of the cemetery lands, the cemetery authority may file for
record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the
lands are situated a written declaration reciting that all human remains
have been removed from the lands described in the declaration.
2. The declaration shall be acknowledged in the manner of the
acknowledgment of deeds to real property by the president and secretary,
or other corresponding officers of the cemetery authority, or by the
person owning or controlling the cemetery lands, and thereafter any deed,
mortgage or other conveyance of any part of such lands is conclusive
evidence in favor of any grantee or mortgagee named in it, and his
successor or assigns, of the fact of the complete removal of all human
remains therefrom.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 463)
After all remains have been removed from a cemetery in accordance with
the provisions of NRS 451.069 to
451.330 , inclusive, the dedication may
be removed from all or any part of such cemetery lands by an order and
decree of the district court of the county in which the property is
situated, in a proceeding brought for that purpose and upon notice of
hearing and proof satisfactory to the court:
1. That all bodies have been removed, or that no interments were
made; and
2. That the property is no longer used or required for interment.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 463; A 1979, 1563; 2001, 990 )
REMOVAL OF HUMAN REMAINS INTERRED IN RELIGIOUS CEMETERY
1. The heirs, relatives or friends of any decedent whose remains
have been interred in any cemetery owned, governed or controlled by any
religious corporation or by any church or religious society of any
denomination or by any corporation sole administering temporalities of
any religious denomination, society or church, or owned, governed or
controlled by any person or persons as trustee or trustees for any
religious denomination, society or church shall not disinter, remove,
reinter or dispose of any such remains except in accordance with the
rules, regulations and discipline of such religious denomination, society
or church.
2. The officers, representatives or agents of the church or
religious society shall be the sole judge of the requirements of the
rules, regulations and discipline of such religious denomination, society
or church.
(Added to NRS by 1961, 463)
ANATOMICAL DISSECTION
As used in NRS 451.350 to 451.470 ,
inclusive, “Committee” means the Committee on Anatomical Dissection
established by the Nevada System of Higher Education.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 531; A 1969, 161; 1993, 405)
1. The Nevada System of Higher Education may establish a Committee
on Anatomical Dissection consisting of:
(a) One member who is a physician licensed to practice medicine
pursuant to the provisions of chapter 630 of
NRS, appointed by the Nevada State Medical Association.
(b) One member who is an osteopathic physician licensed to practice
osteopathic medicine pursuant to the provisions of chapter 633 of NRS, appointed by the Nevada Osteopathic Medical
Association.
(c) One member who is a dentist licensed to practice dentistry
pursuant to the provisions of chapter 631 of
NRS, appointed by the Nevada Dental Association.
(d) One member who is a pathologist, appointed by the Nevada
Society of Pathologists.
(e) One member appointed by the President of the University of
Nevada, Reno, from the faculty of the University of Nevada, Reno.
(f) One member appointed by the President of the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas, from the faculty of the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas.
(g) One member appointed by the President of the Touro University
College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nevada, or its successor, from the
faculty of the Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nevada.
(h) The State Health Officer, or his designee.
(i) One member appointed by the Nevada Funeral Service Association.
2. The Committee shall elect:
(a) The member appointed by the President of the University of
Nevada, Reno, or the member appointed by the President of the University
of Nevada, Las Vegas, to serve as Chairman of the Committee; and
(b) A Secretary from among its members.
3. The Chairman and Secretary shall hold office for a term of 1
year.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 531; A 1969, 1442; 1993, 405; 2005, 601
)
1. The Committee shall meet:
(a) At least twice annually and at other times specified by a call
of the Chairman of the Committee or a majority of its members; and
(b) At places specified by the Chairman.
2. The Committee shall keep full and complete minutes and an audio
recording or transcript of each meeting of the Committee and a complete
record of all dead human bodies received and distributed by it and of the
persons to whom the bodies may be distributed. The minutes, audio
recordings, transcripts and records must be open at all times for
inspection by each member of the Committee and by the district attorney
of any county within the State.
3. The Secretary of the Committee is responsible for keeping the
minutes of each meeting of the Committee and preparing and maintaining a
complete file of the minutes, audio recordings, transcripts and records
of the Committee.
4. The Committee shall prepare and approve an annual budget for
the Committee.
5. A report of the activities of the Committee must be made before
September 1 of each even-numbered year covering the biennium ending June
30 of such year to:
(a) The Presidents of the Nevada System of Higher Education;
(b) The State Board of Health;
(c) The Governor; and
(d) The Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmittal
to the appropriate committee or committees of the Legislature.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 531; A 1969, 1443, 1458; 1993, 405; 2005,
602 , 1414 )
The members of
the Committee shall serve without salary.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532)
The Committee shall adopt
such regulations as it may deem necessary for the performance of its
duties, including, without limitation, regulations concerning the persons
and entities that are eligible to receive dead bodies pursuant to NRS
451.450 .
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532; A 1983, 1444; 2005, 602 )
1. All public officers, agents or employees of every county, city
or town, every person in charge of any prison, morgue, hospital, funeral
parlor or mortuary, and all other persons coming into possession, charge
or control of any dead human body which is unclaimed or which is required
to be buried at public expense are hereby required to notify immediately
the Committee or its designee.
2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 451.420 , every person required to notify the Committee
or its designee of his possession, charge or control of a dead human body
pursuant to subsection 1 shall, upon the request of the Committee and
without fee, deliver such a dead body to the Committee, or to such agent,
institution or person as the Committee may designate.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532; A 2003, 385 ; 2005, 602 )
Each dead human body received by the Committee shall be
retained in a receiving vault for a period of not less than 30 days
before allowing its use for medical science. If at any time more bodies
are made available to the Committee than can be used for medical science
under its jurisdiction, or a body shall be deemed by the Committee to be
unfit for anatomical purposes, the Committee may notify, in writing, the
board of county commissioners of the county where the death occurred.
Upon receiving such notification, the board of county commissioners shall
direct a person to take charge of such body and cause it to be buried or
cremated in accordance with the existing rules, laws and practices for
disposing of unclaimed bodies within such county.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532; A 2005, 603 )
1. Notice of death must be given to the Committee in all cases of
unclaimed indigent persons.
2. If any relative, by blood or marriage, claims the body for
burial at the expense of the relative, the body must not be delivered to
the Committee, but must be surrendered to the claimant for interment.
3. No such body may be delivered to the Committee if any friend of
the deceased, any representative of a fraternal society of which the
deceased was a member, any representative of a veterans’ organization
recognized by the Executive Director for Veterans’ Services, or any
representative of any charitable or religious organization claims the
body for burial at its expense.
4. If the deceased person was an honorably discharged member of
the Armed Forces of the United States or the State, the body must not be
delivered to the Committee, but must be buried in accordance with the
provisions of the existing laws. If a veterans’ organization claims the
body of a deceased veteran pursuant to subsection 3, the veterans’
organization must provide a military funeral.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532; A 2003, 385 )
Any dead human body which has been
delivered to the Committee may be claimed by any friend of the deceased,
any representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a
member, a veterans’ organization recognized by the Executive Director for
Veterans’ Services, or any representative of any charitable or religious
organization. Upon receipt of such a claim, the body must be surrendered
to the claimant by the Committee after the payment to the Committee of
the expenses incurred in obtaining and handling the body. If a veterans’
organization claims the body of a deceased veteran pursuant to this
section, the veterans’ organization must provide a military funeral.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532; A 2003, 386 )
1. The Committee is prohibited from entering into any contract,
oral or written, whereby any sum of money shall be paid to any living
person in exchange for which the body of such person shall be delivered
to the Committee when such living person dies.
2. If any person executes a will leaving his body to the Committee
for the advancement of medical science and such person dies within the
geographical limits of the State, the Committee is hereby empowered to
accept and receive such body.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 532)
1. The Committee or its duly authorized agent shall take and
receive the bodies delivered to it pursuant to the provisions of NRS
451.350 to 451.470 , inclusive, and shall distribute such bodies
proportionately and equitably, among schools, teaching hospitals in which
there is a resident training program that requires cadaveric material for
study, and such other person or entity as the Committee may determine to
be eligible to receive such bodies.
2. The Committee shall charge and collect:
(a) From a university, state college, community college or medical
school within the Nevada System of Higher Education and any other medical
school in this State to which the Committee distributes a dead human body
in accordance with subsection 1, a fee in an amount not to exceed the
expenses of the Committee to obtain, handle and distribute the body
delivered to it pursuant to the provisions of NRS 451.350 to 451.470 ,
inclusive; and
(b) From any other person or entity to which the Committee
distributes a dead human body in accordance with subsection 1:
(1) A fee in an amount not to exceed the expenses of the
Committee to obtain, handle and distribute the body delivered to it
pursuant to the provisions of NRS 451.350 to 451.470 ,
inclusive; and
(2) An additional fee of $200 for each body distributed to
the person or entity which must be used by the Committee to carry out the
provisions of NRS 451.350 to 451.470
, inclusive.
3. A person or entity may not receive a dead body for the
promotion of medical science unless the Committee has determined that the
person or entity is eligible to receive the dead body. A person or entity
who receives a dead body in violation of this subsection is guilty of a
gross misdemeanor.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 533; A 1969, 161; 2005, 603 )
The Committee shall
not distribute a body delivered to it pursuant to the provisions of NRS
451.350 to 451.470 , inclusive, to a university, school, college,
teaching hospital or entity pursuant to NRS 451.450 until the university, school, college,
teaching hospital or entity submits a bond, in a form approved by the
Attorney General, to the Committee. Such bond must be in the penal sum of
$1,000 conditioned that all such bodies received by such university,
school, college, teaching hospital or entity must be used for no other
purpose than the promotion of medical science within this State.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 533; A 2005, 603 )
At any time any body,
or part of any body accepted by the Committee, has been used and deemed
of no further value to medical or dental science, the person having
charge of such body or parts of such body shall dispose of the remains by
cremation or as otherwise specified under prior mutually agreed special
conditions of acceptance.
(Added to NRS by 1963, 533; A 1969, 161; 2005, 604 )
ANATOMICAL GIFTS (UNIFORM ACT)
NRS 451.500 to 451.590 ,
inclusive, may be cited as the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1977, 449; 1979, 351; 1989, 433)
NRS 451.500 to 451.590 ,
inclusive, apply to a document of gift, revocation or refusal to make an
anatomical gift signed by the donor or a person authorized to make or
object to making an anatomical gift before, on or after October 1, 1989.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 432)
NRS
451.500 to 451.590 , inclusive, must be applied and construed to
effectuate their general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to
the subject of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act among states enacting it.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 433)
Unless the context otherwise requires,
as used in NRS 451.500 to 451.590
, inclusive, the words and terms defined
in NRS 451.513 to 451.553 , inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them
in those sections.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1987, 316; 1989, 433; 1991, 482)
“Anatomical gift” means a
donation of all or part of a human body to take effect upon or after
death.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 431)
“Decedent” means a deceased
person and includes a stillborn infant or fetus.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 433)
“Document of gift” means
a card, statement, will or other writing used to make an anatomical gift.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 431; A 1991, 482, 2172; 2003, 828 )
“Donor” means a person who makes an
anatomical gift of all or part of his body.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 433)
“Enucleator” means a person who
is authorized by NRS 451.583 to
enucleate an eye of a dead person.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 431)
“Hospital” means a facility
licensed, accredited or approved as a hospital under the laws of the
State of Nevada or a facility operated as a hospital by the United States
Government, the State or a subdivision of the State.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 433)
“Identification card”
means an identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles
pursuant to chapter 483 of NRS.
(Added to NRS by 1991, 482; A 2001, 2624 )
“Part” means an organ, tissue, eye,
bone, artery, blood, fluid or other portion of a human body.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 433)
“Person” includes a government, a
governmental agency and a political subdivision of a government.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1985, 517)
“Physician” means a person
licensed or otherwise authorized to practice medicine and surgery or
osteopathy and surgery under the laws of any state.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1977, 962; 1985, 499; 1989, 433)
“Procurement
organization” means a person licensed, accredited or approved under the
laws of the State of Nevada for procurement, distribution or storage of
human bodies or parts.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 431)
“State” means a state, territory or
possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 433)
“Technician” means a person
who, under the supervision of a licensed physician, removes or processes
a part.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 431)
1. Any person may:
(a) Make an anatomical gift for any of the purposes stated in
subsection 1 of NRS 451.560 ;
(b) Limit an anatomical gift to one or more of those purposes; or
(c) Refuse to make an anatomical gift.
2. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsection
3, an anatomical gift may be made only by a document of gift signed by
the donor. If the donor:
(a) Cannot sign, the document of gift must be signed by another
person and by two witnesses, all of whom have signed at the direction and
in the presence of the donor and of each other and state that it has been
so signed.
(b) Is less than 18 years of age, the document of gift must also be
signed by two witnesses, one of whom is a parent or guardian of the donor
and consents to the donation, at the direction and in the presence of the
donor and of each other and state that it has been so signed.
3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, if the donor is
less than 12 years of age, the document of gift must be signed by a
parent or guardian of the donor, on behalf of the donor, and two
witnesses at the direction and in the presence of the parent or guardian
and of each other and state that it has been so signed. The document is
not required to be signed by the donor.
4. A symbol or other indication that a document of gift has been
executed by or on behalf of a donor may be imprinted on the donor’s
driver’s license or identification card if the document of gift complies
with subsection 2. Revocation, suspension, expiration or cancellation of
the license or card does not invalidate the anatomical gift.
5. A document of gift may authorize a particular physician to
carry out the appropriate procedures. In the absence of such
authorization or if the designated physician is not available, the donee
or other person authorized to accept the anatomical gift may employ or
authorize any physician, technician or enucleator to carry out the
appropriate procedures.
6. An anatomical gift by will takes effect upon the death of the
testator, whether or not the will is probated. If, after death, the will
is declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the validity of the
anatomical gift is unaffected.
7. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 8 and 9, a donor
may amend or revoke an anatomical gift, not made by will, only by:
(a) A signed statement;
(b) An oral statement made in the presence of two persons;
(c) Any form of communication during a terminal illness or injury
addressed to a physician; or
(d) The delivery of a signed statement to a specified donee to whom
a document of gift had been delivered.
8. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 9, a donor who is
less than 18 years of age may, with the consent of his parent or
guardian, amend or revoke an anatomical gift, not made by will, by:
(a) A signed statement;
(b) An oral statement made in the presence of two persons;
(c) Any form of communication during a terminal illness or injury
addressed to a physician; or
(d) The delivery of a signed statement to a specified donee to whom
a document of gift had been delivered.
9. A donor who is less than 12 years of age may not amend or
revoke an anatomical gift. The parent or guardian who made the gift on
behalf of the donor may amend or revoke an anatomical gift, not made by
will, only by:
(a) A signed statement;
(b) An oral statement made in the presence of two persons;
(c) Any form of communication during a terminal illness or injury
addressed to a physician; or
(d) The delivery of a signed statement to a specified donee to whom
a document of gift had been delivered.
10. The donor of an anatomical gift made by will may amend or
revoke the gift in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of
wills in chapter 133 of NRS or as provided in
subsection 7, 8 or 9.
11. An anatomical gift that is not revoked by the donor before
death is irrevocable. The intent of a donor to make an anatomical gift,
as evidenced by a document of gift, may not be revoked by any member of
the classes of persons set forth in subsection 1 of NRS 451.557 .
12. An anatomical gift that is not revoked by the donor before
death does not require the consent or concurrence of any person after the
donor’s death. A hospital, physician, coroner, local health officer,
enucleator, technician or other person who:
(a) Is aware that a symbol or other indication that a document of
gift has been executed by or on behalf of a donor is imprinted on the
donor’s driver’s license or identification card; or
(b) Acts in accordance with the provisions of NRS 451.500 to 451.590 ,
inclusive, or with any other laws of the State of Nevada relating to
anatomical gifts,
Ê shall not request or require the consent or concurrence of any person
after the donor’s death to carry out the anatomical gift.
13. A person may refuse to make an anatomical gift of his body or
part by:
(a) A writing signed in the same manner as a document of gift;
(b) A statement imprinted on his driver’s license or identification
card; or
(c) Any other writing used to identify him as refusing to make an
anatomical gift.
Ê During a terminal illness or injury, the refusal may be an oral
statement or other form of communication.
14. In the absence of contrary indications by the donor, an
anatomical gift of a part is neither a refusal to give other parts nor a
limitation on an anatomical gift under NRS 451.557 .
15. In the absence of contrary indications by the donor, a
revocation or amendment of an anatomical gift is not a refusal to make
another anatomical gift. If the donor intends a revocation to be a
refusal to make an anatomical gift, he shall make the refusal pursuant to
subsection 13.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 158; A 1989, 434; 1991, 162, 483, 497, 2172;
1993, 600; 1999, 3512 ; 2003, 828 )
1. Any member of the following classes of persons, in the order of
the priority listed, may make an anatomical gift of all or a part of the
decedent’s body for an authorized purpose, unless the decedent, at the
time of death, has made an unrevoked refusal to make that anatomical gift:
(a) A person designated as the person with authority to make an
anatomical gift of all or part of the body of the decedent in a legally
valid document or in an affidavit executed in accordance with subsection
6;
(b) The spouse of the decedent;
(c) An adult son or daughter of the decedent;
(d) Either parent of the decedent;
(e) An adult brother or sister of the decedent;
(f) A grandparent of the decedent;
(g) A guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of death;
and
(h) A person who held the primary domicile of the decedent in joint
tenancy with the decedent at the time of death.
Ê The legal procedure for authorization must be defined and established
by the Committee on Anatomical Dissection established by the Nevada
System of Higher Education.
2. An anatomical gift may not be made by a person listed in
subsection 1 if:
(a) A person in a prior class is available at the time of death to
make an anatomical gift;
(b) The person proposing to make an anatomical gift knows of a
refusal or contrary indications by the decedent; or
(c) The person proposing to make an anatomical gift knows of an
objection to making an anatomical gift by a member of the person’s class
or a prior class.
3. An anatomical gift by a person authorized under subsection 1
must be made by:
(a) A document of gift signed by him; or
(b) His telegraphic, recorded telephonic or other recorded message,
or other form of communication from him that is contemporaneously reduced
to writing and signed by the recipient.
4. An anatomical gift by a person authorized under subsection 1
may be revoked by any member of the same or a prior class if, before
procedures have begun for the removal of a part from the body of the
decedent, the physician, technician or enucleator removing the part knows
of the revocation.
5. A failure to make an anatomical gift under subsection 1 is not
an objection to the making of an anatomical gift.
6. A person 18 years of age or older wishing to authorize another
person to make an anatomical gift of all or part of his body in the event
of his death may execute an affidavit before a notary public in
substantially the following form:
State of Nevada }
}ss
County of...........................}
(Date) ...................................
I, ..................................., (person authorizing another
person to make an anatomical gift of his body in the event of his death)
do hereby designate ................................... (person who is
being authorized to make an anatomical gift of the body of another person
in the event of his death) to make an anatomical gift of all or part of
my body in the event of my death for authorized purposes and in
accordance with the procedure for authorization defined and established
by the Committee on Anatomical Dissection established by the Nevada
System of Higher Education.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ........
day of the month of ......... of the year .......
...........................................................................
..
(Notary Public)
(Added to NRS by 1989, 431; A 1993, 406; 2003, 1881 )
1. The following persons may become donees of anatomical gifts for
the purposes stated:
(a) A hospital, physician, dentist or procurement organization, for
transplantation, therapy, medical or dental education, research or
advancement of medical or dental science;
(b) An accredited medical or dental school, college or university,
for education, research or advancement of medical or dental science; or
(c) A designated person, for transplantation or therapy needed by
that person.
2. An anatomical gift may be made to a designated donee or without
designating a donee. If a donee is not designated or if the donee is not
available or rejects the anatomical gift, the anatomical gift may be
accepted by any hospital or procurement organization.
3. In the absence of evidence that an anatomical gift has been
revoked by the donor, a document of gift must be presumed to be valid. If
the donee knows of the decedent’s refusal or contrary indications to make
an anatomical gift or that an anatomical gift by a member of a class
having priority to act is opposed by a member of the same class or a
prior class under subsection 1 of NRS 451.557 , the donee shall not accept the anatomical
gift.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 159; A 1977, 963; 1989, 435; 1999, 3514
)
1. Delivery of a document of gift during the donor’s lifetime is
not required for the validity of an anatomical gift.
2. If an anatomical gift is made to a designated donee, the
document of gift, or a copy, may be delivered to the donee to expedite
the appropriate procedures after death. The document of gift, or a copy,
may be deposited in any hospital, procurement organization or registry
office that accepts it for safekeeping or for facilitation of procedures
after death. On request of a person listed in subsection 1 of NRS 451.557
, upon or after the donor’s death, the
person in possession shall allow the person making the request to examine
or copy the document of gift.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 160; A 1989, 436)
The Department of
Motor Vehicles and its representatives are not liable for damages in a
civil action or subject to prosecution in any criminal proceeding on
account of any entry on a driver’s license or identification card issued
by the Department.
(Added to NRS by 1977, 449; A 1985, 1996; 1991, 484, 2174; 2001,
2624 )
1. Each hospital in this State, after consultation with other
hospitals and procurement organizations, shall establish agreements or
affiliations for coordination of procurement and use of human bodies and
parts.
2. Except as otherwise required by the specific terms of an
anatomical gift, an anatomical gift from a resident of this State must be
offered to any residents of this State in need of transplantation or
therapy and listed on a transplant list generally recognized in the
medical field before the anatomical gift may be used by another person.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 432; A 1999, 3514 )
1. Every hospital shall establish policies and procedures to
identify potential donors. The policies and procedures must require the
administrator of the hospital or his representative:
(a) To determine whether a person is a donor.
(b) If the person is not a donor, to determine if the person is a
potential donor, including the consideration of:
(1) His religious and cultural beliefs; and
(2) The suitability of his organs and tissues for donation.
(c) At or near the time of death of a person identified as a
potential donor, to request the person designated in subsection 1 of NRS
451.557 , in the stated order of
priority if persons in a prior class are not available, to consent to the
gift of all or any part of the decedent’s body as an anatomical gift.
(d) If he has actual knowledge of a contrary intent of the decedent
or opposition by a person in the same class as or a prior class than a
person who has consented to an anatomical gift, not to procure an
anatomical gift.
(e) If an anatomical gift is made, to notify an organization which
procures organs and tissues and cooperate in the procurement of the
anatomical gift.
2. The following persons shall make a reasonable search for a
document of gift or other information identifying the bearer as a donor
or as a person who has refused to make an anatomical gift:
(a) A law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical
technician or other emergency rescuer finding a person who the searcher
believes is dead or near death; and
(b) A hospital, upon the admission of a person at or near the time
of death,
Ê if there is not immediately available any other source of that
information.
3. If a document of gift or evidence of refusal to make an
anatomical gift is located by the search required by paragraph (a) of
subsection 2, and the person or body to whom it relates is taken to a
hospital, the hospital must be notified of the contents and the document
or other evidence must be sent to the hospital.
4. If, at or near the time of death of a patient, a hospital knows
that an anatomical gift has been made pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS
451.557 or that a patient or a person
identified as in transit to the hospital is a donor, the hospital shall
notify the donee if one is named and known to the hospital, or if not, it
shall notify an appropriate procurement organization. The hospital shall
cooperate in the implementation of the anatomical gift or release and
removal of a part.
5. A person who fails to discharge the duties imposed by this
section is not subject to criminal or civil liability but is subject to
appropriate administrative sanctions.
(Added to NRS by 1987, 315; A 1989, 436; 2005, 335 )
1. Rights of a donee created by an anatomical gift are superior to
rights of others except with respect to autopsies under NRS 451.585
. A donee may accept or reject an
anatomical gift. If a donee accepts an anatomical gift of an entire body,
the donee, subject to the terms of the gift, may allow embalming and use
of the body in funeral services. If the gift is of a part of a body, the
donee, upon the death of the donor and before embalming, shall cause the
part to be removed without unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the
part, custody of the remainder of the body vests in the person under
obligation to dispose of the body.
2. The time of death must be determined by a physician who attends
the donor at death, or, if none, the physician who certifies the death.
Neither the physician who attends the donor at death nor the physician
who determines the time of death may participate in the procedures for
removing or transplanting a part unless the document of gift designates a
particular physician pursuant to subsection 5 of NRS 451.555 .
3. 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 determination of death by a physician.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 160; A 1987, 316; 1989, 437; 1991, 164)
1. An anatomical gift authorizes any reasonable examination
necessary to assure medical acceptability of the gift for the purposes
intended.
2. A hospital, physician, coroner, local health officer,
enucleator, technician or other person, who acts in accordance with the
terms of NRS 451.500 to 451.590 , inclusive, or with any other laws of the
State of Nevada relating to anatomical gifts, or attempts in good faith
to do so, is not liable for that act in a civil action or criminal
proceeding.
3. A person who makes an anatomical gift pursuant to NRS 451.555
or 451.557 and his estate are not liable for any injury
or damage that may result from the making or the use of the anatomical
gift.
(Added to NRS by 1989, 432)
A licensed funeral director, a
licensed embalmer, a medical technician or a licensed nurse may enucleate
an eye of a dead person in order to carry out a gift made pursuant to the
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act if the director, embalmer, technician or
nurse has successfully completed a course, approved by the Board of
Medical Examiners, in the procedure for enucleation of eyes.
(Added to NRS by 1979, 350; A 1987, 718, 1037)
The
provisions of NRS 451.500 to 451.590
, inclusive, are subject to the laws of
this state governing autopsies.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 161; A 1987, 316; 1989, 437)
1. A person shall not knowingly, for valuable consideration,
purchase or sell a part for transplantation or therapy.
2. Valuable consideration does not include reasonable payment for
the removal, processing, disposal, preservation, quality control,
storage, transportation or implantation of a part.
3. A person who violates this section is guilty of a category D
felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130 , or by a fine of not more than $50,000, or by
both fine and the punishment provided in NRS 193.130 .
(Added to NRS by 1989, 432; A 1995, 1280)
CREMATION
As used in NRS 451.600 to 451.715 ,
inclusive, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms
defined in NRS 451.605 to 451.630
, inclusive, have the meanings ascribed
to them in those sections.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
“Agent” means, with respect to a
particular deceased person, a person authorized to order the cremation of
his human remains.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
“Communicable
disease” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 441A.040 .
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
“Container” means a vessel,
whether or not a casket, in which human remains are placed for cremation.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
“Human remains” means the
body of a deceased person, or part of the body which has been removed
from a living person, in any stage of decomposition.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
“Operator” of a crematory means
the person licensed to conduct its business.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
“Urn” means a vessel in which cremated
remains can be placed and which can be closed to prevent leaking or
spilling of the remains or the entrance of foreign material.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601)
1. No person may cremate human remains except in a crematory whose
operator is licensed by the Nevada State Funeral Board.
2. The Board shall prescribe and furnish forms for application for
licensing. An application must be in writing and contain:
(a) The name and address of the applicant and the location or
proposed location of the crematory;
(b) A description of the structure and equipment to be used in
operating the crematory; and
(c) Any further information that the Board may reasonably require.
3. An application must be signed by the applicant personally, by
one of the partners if the applicant is a partnership, or by an
authorized officer if the applicant is a corporation or other form of
business organization.
4. The Board shall examine the structure and equipment and shall
issue the license if:
(a) It appears that the proposed operation will meet the
requirements of NRS 451.600 to 451.715
, inclusive; and
(b) The applicant has paid all fees related to the application.
5. If the ownership of a crematory is to be changed, the proposed
operator shall apply for licensing at least 30 days before the change.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2601; A 2003, 1279 )
1. The Nevada State Funeral Board shall adopt regulations for the
administration of NRS 451.600 to
451.715 , inclusive. Unless governed by
the regulations of the State Board of Health, the regulations of the
Nevada State Funeral Board must include, without limitation:
(a) The conditions under which the remains of a person who has died
from a communicable or otherwise dangerous disease may be transported to
a crematory for cremation; and
(b) The minimum standards for sanitation, required equipment and
protection from fire.
2. The Nevada State Funeral Board may bring legal proceedings to
enjoin any person who violates any provision of NRS 451.600 to 451.715 ,
inclusive, any regulation adopted pursuant thereto or any order of the
Board from operating a crematory. Any person who is so enjoined is liable
to the Board for attorney’s fees and court costs.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2602; A 2003, 1279 )
1. A cemetery or funeral home may erect and conduct a crematory if
licensed as the operator.
2. A crematory may be erected on or adjacent to the premises of a
cemetery or funeral establishment if the location is zoned for commercial
or industrial use, or at any other location where the local zoning
permits. A crematory must conform to all local building codes and
environmental standards.
3. The operator of a crematory may contract with or employ a
licensed funeral director to:
(a) Deal with the public in arranging for cremations;
(b) Transport human remains to the crematory; or
(c) Distribute, fill out or obtain the return of necessary papers.
Ê This subsection does not require the performance of any act by a
licensed funeral director unless other law requires that such an act be
performed only by him.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2602)
1. The following persons, in the following order of priority, may
order the cremation of human remains of a deceased person:
(a) A person designated as the person with authority to order the
cremation of the human remains of the decedent in a legally valid
document or in an affidavit executed in accordance with subsection 5;
(b) The spouse of the decedent;
(c) An adult son or daughter of the decedent;
(d) Either parent of the decedent;
(e) An adult brother or sister of the decedent;
(f) A grandparent of the decedent;
(g) A guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of death;
and
(h) A person who held the primary domicile of the decedent in joint
tenancy with the decedent at the time of death.
2. If the deceased person was an indigent or other person for the
final disposition of whose remains a county or the State is responsible,
the appropriate public officer may order cremation of the remains and
provide for the respectful disposition of the cremated remains.
3. If the deceased person donated his body for scientific research
or, before his death, a medical facility was made responsible for his
final disposition, a representative of the scientific institution or
medical facility may order cremation of his remains.
4. A living person may order the cremation of human remains
removed from his body or the cremation of his body after his death. In
the latter case, any person acting pursuant to his instructions is an
authorized agent.
5. A person 18 years of age or older wishing to give authority to
another person to order the cremation of his human remains upon his death
may execute an affidavit before a notary public in substantially the
following form:
State of Nevada }
}ss
County of...........................}
(Date) .......................................
I, ......................................, (person authorizing
another person to order the cremation of his human remains upon his
death) do hereby designate .................................. (person who
is being authorized to order the cremation of the human remains of
another person in the event of his death) to order the cremation of my
human remains upon my death.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ........
day of the month of ......... of the year .......
...........................................................................
.......
(Notary Public)
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2602; A 1999, 942 ; 2003, 1882 )
1. A prepaid contract for services to be rendered upon the death
of a beneficiary which includes cremation must specify the disposition of
the cremated remains, and that portion of the contract must be initialed
by the person paying for the services. If no additional or different
instructions are given by the agent at the time of the beneficiary’s
death, the operator of a crematory may dispose of the remains as
specified. Upon that disposition, the operator has no further liability
with respect to the remains.
2. A person may order his own cremation and the disposition of his
own cremated remains. The order must be signed by him and by two
witnesses. The order may designate the crematory. A copy of the order
must be retained by the signer and a copy sent to the crematory if
designated. The signer may revoke the order or change the designation of
the crematory, and must provide written notice of the action to the
operator of the crematory if designated.
3. When a person who has ordered his own cremation dies, a person
in possession of the order and a person charged with arranging for
disposition of the decedent’s body who is aware of the order shall use
their best efforts to ensure that the decedent is cremated, and the
cremated remains are disposed of, according to the order.
4. If a completed order for cremation, executed before death, and
the human remains to which it pertains are in the possession of the
operator of a crematory, and he has received payment for the cremation
and the disposition of the cremated remains, he shall perform those acts
as ordered and incurs no liability by their performance.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2602)
1. The operator of a crematory shall not cremate human remains
until a death certificate has been signed and, except as otherwise
provided in NRS 451.655 , without first
receiving a written authorization, on a form provided by the operator,
signed by the agent or by the living person from whom the remains have
been removed:
(a) Identifying the deceased person or the remains removed;
(b) Stating whether or not death occurred from a communicable or
otherwise dangerous disease;
(c) Stating the name and address of the agent and his relation to
the deceased person;
(d) Representing that the agent is aware of no objection to
cremation of the remains by any person who has a right to control the
disposition of the deceased person’s remains; and
(e) Stating the name of the person authorized to claim the cremated
remains or the name of the cemetery or person to whom the remains are to
be sent.
2. An authorized agent may delegate his authority to another
person by a written and signed statement containing his name, address and
relationship to the deceased person and the name and address of the
person to whom his authority is delegated. The operator of a crematory
incurs no liability by relying upon a signed order for cremation received
by mail or upon a delegation of authority.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2603)
1. The operator of a crematory shall keep a record of:
(a) Each authorization received;
(b) The name of each person whose human remains are received;
(c) The date and time of receipt, and a description of the
container in which received;
(d) The date of cremation; and
(e) The final disposition of the cremated remains.
2. The operator of a crematory shall not accept unidentified human
remains. If the remains are received in a container, the operator shall
place appropriate identification upon the exterior of the container.
3. If a permit for transportation of human remains to the
crematory is required by the local health authority, the operator shall
file the permit in his records.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2603)
1. No operator of a crematory may require that human remains be
placed in a casket, or refuse to accept human remains for cremation
because they are not in a casket.
2. The container used must:
(a) Consist of readily combustible materials;
(b) Cover the human remains completely when closed;
(c) Resist leaking or spilling;
(d) Be rigid enough for easy handling; and
(e) Protect the health and safety of employees of the operator.
3. Unless otherwise ordered in writing by the agent, the operator
shall incinerate the container as the remains are cremated.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2604)
1. If the operator of a crematory cannot cremate human remains
immediately after receiving them, he shall place them in a holding
facility within or adjacent to the crematory which:
(a) Preserves the dignity of the remains;
(b) Protects for the health and safety of employees of the
operator; and
(c) Is secure from access by anyone other than those employees,
except a workman in the ordinary course of his work.
2. If human remains are not embalmed, they may not be held longer
than 24 hours unless the holding facility is refrigerated.
3. An operator need not accept for holding a container from which
there is any evidence of leakage of bodily fluids.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2604)
1. The agent, or the person charged with arranging for disposition
of the body of a person who has ordered his own cremation, shall ensure
that any artificial device whose incineration would be dangerous is
removed from human remains before their cremation. If he is unable to
arrange for its removal before the remains are delivered to a crematory,
he shall inform the operator of the crematory.
2. The space within a crematory where cremation takes place must
be enclosed and must not be used for any other purpose than the cremation
of human remains. Immediately before a container is placed in this
chamber, the identification of the human remains within it must be
verified by the operator and any identifying document or label for the
urn must be removed from the container and kept near the control panel
until cremation is complete.
3. Upon the completion of cremation, the operator shall:
(a) Remove the recoverable residue from the chamber;
(b) Place the bone fragments in an urn with proper identification
and insofar as practicable place no other material with them unless
authorized by the agent; and
(c) Dispose of the remaining residue.
4. If the cremated remains will not fit in the urn selected by the
agent, the operator of the crematory shall hold the remains until the
agent selects an urn or urns in which the remains will fit.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2604)
1. The operator of a crematory shall not permit a person to be
present near human remains awaiting cremation, being cremated, or being
removed from the chamber unless his presence is within the normal scope
of his work or his presence is authorized by the family of the deceased.
2. The operator of a crematory shall not simultaneously cremate
the remains of more than one person in the same chamber unless so
authorized in writing by the agent for each person whose remains are to
be so cremated. Such a written authorization releases the operator from
liability for commingling of the cremated remains.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2605)
1. When cremated remains are called for or delivered, the person
receiving the remains and a representative of the operator of the
crematory shall sign a receipt showing the name of the person whose
remains are received and the date, time and place of receipt. The
operator shall retain the receipt. Thereafter, the remains may be
transported in any manner, with a permit if required by the local health
authority.
2. If a temporary urn is used to deliver the cremated remains to
the person authorized to claim them, that urn must be placed in a
suitable outer box to increase its security and integrity. The temporary
urn must be marked with the name of the person whose remains it contains
and the name of the operator of the crematory.
3. If cremated remains are to be shipped, the urn must be packed
in a sealed package. A method of shipment must be used which has an
internal tracing system and provides a receipt signed by the person
accepting delivery.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2605)
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2:
(a) The agent who orders cremation is responsible for the
disposition of cremated remains. If within 30 days after cremation the
person named in the authorization has not claimed the cremated remains
and no other disposition is specified in the authorization, the operator
of a crematory may place the vessel containing the cremated remains in a
common compartment with other unclaimed cremated remains. The operator
may charge a fee for storage when the cremated remains are claimed.
(b) If within 2 years after cremation the agent has not claimed the
cremated remains or specified their ultimate disposition, the operator
may dispose of the cremated remains in any manner not prohibited by NRS
451.700 . The agent is liable to the
operator for all reasonable expenses of disposition.
2. If cremation was ordered pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS
451.650 :
(a) The operator may dispose of the cremated remains in any manner
not prohibited by NRS 451.700 , if the
cremated remains are not claimed by the agent within 1 year after
cremation.
(b) The operator has a claim against the estate of the decedent for
the reasonable expenses of the disposition if those expenses are not paid
by the State or a political subdivision of the State.
(c) The operator shall not charge a public officer a fee for
storage of the cremated remains.
3. An operator who complies with subsection 1 or 2, or both, has
no further legal liability concerning the cremated remains so treated.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2605; A 1997, 2580)
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2 or authorized by
the agent who ordered the cremation, no person may:
(a) Scatter cremated remains in such a manner or location that the
remains are commingled with those of another person; or
(b) Place the cremated remains of more than one person in the same
urn unless the persons are friends or members of the same family and the
urn is designed for the remains of more than one person.
2. Cremated remains may be scattered at sea or over a public
waterway, or by air, from individual closed vessels, or scattered in an
area of a dedicated cemetery from which there is no means of location or
recovery and which is used exclusively for this purpose.
3. Cremated remains may be disposed of in any manner upon private
property if the agent who ordered the cremation so directs and the owner
of the property consents in writing.
4. Cremated remains for disposition pursuant to subsection 2 or 3
must be, and any other cremated remains may be, reduced to particles no
larger than 1/8 of an inch.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2605)
1. The signer of an order for the cremation of human remains
warrants the truth of the facts set forth in the order, including the
identity of the person whose remains are to be cremated, and his own
authority to order cremation. The signer is personally liable for any
damage resulting from the falsity of a warranted fact or from his lack of
authority.
2. The operator of a crematory may cremate human remains upon
receipt of an order signed by the agent. The operator has no liability
for cremating the remains or releasing the cremated remains pursuant to
the order.
3. The operator of a crematory is not liable for any article of
value delivered with human remains.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2606)
1. The operator of a crematory incurs no liability by refusing to
accept or to cremate human remains until he receives a court order or
other suitable confirmation that a dispute has been settled:
(a) If he is aware of a dispute concerning cremation of the remains;
(b) If he has a reasonable basis for questioning any of the
representations made by the agent; or
(c) For any other lawful reason.
2. If the operator of a crematory is aware of a dispute concerning
the release or disposition of cremated human remains, he may refuse to
release the remains until the dispute has been resolved or he receives a
court order authorizing the release or disposition of the remains. The
operator incurs no liability by such a refusal.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2606)
1. It is unlawful for any person to:
(a) Hold himself out to the public as the operator of a crematory
without being licensed pursuant to NRS 451.635 ;
(b) Sign an order for cremation knowing that the order contains
incorrect information; or
(c) Violate any other provision of NRS 451.600 to 451.715 ,
inclusive, any regulation adopted pursuant thereto or any order of the
Nevada State Funeral Board.
2. It is unlawful for the operator of a crematory to perform a
cremation without an order signed by a person authorized to order the
cremation pursuant to NRS 451.650 or
451.655 .
3. If a crematory is operated in this state in violation of any
provision of NRS 451.600 to 451.715
, inclusive, any regulation adopted
pursuant thereto or any order of the Nevada State Funeral Board, the
crematory is a public nuisance and may be abated as such.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2606; A 1995, 715; 2003, 1280 )
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