HB 2163 - Current law provides a list, in the order of priority, of next-of-kin who have the right to control the disposition of a dead human body. This act provides that the surviving spouse shall not be considered as next-of-kin if an action for dissolution of marriage has been filed and is pending in a court of competent jurisdiction. Additionally, the next-of-kin of a deceased person may delegate the final disposition of the deceased to an agent through a power of attorney. Under this act, an individual with a superior claim to the disposition of the deceased may be notified in person or by written notice with delivery confirmation, rather than "personally served with written notice", by a person with an inferior claim who has the desire to exercise the right to control the final disposition of the deceased.
This act is identical to provisions of SB 1070 (2022), SB 291 (2021), and provisions of SCS/HB 585 (2021) and substantially similar to SB 598 (2020), SB 282 (2019), SCS/HCS/HB 447 (2019), HB 461 (2019), SCS/HCS/HB 1597 (2018), and provisions in HB 909 (2017).
SARAH HASKINS