2013 New York Consolidated Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 43 - (4300 - 4310) ANATOMICAL GIFTS
4306 - Rights and duties at death.

 
    §  4306. Rights and duties at death. 1. The donee may accept or reject
  the gift. If the donee accepts a  gift  of  the  entire  body,  he  may,
  subject to the terms of the gift, authorize embalming and the use of the
  body  in  funeral  services.   If the gift is of a part of the body, the
  donee upon the death of the donor and prior to embalming, may cause  the
  part  to be removed without unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the
  part, custody of the remainder  of  the  body  vests  in  the  surviving
  spouse, next of kin, or other persons under obligation to dispose of the
  body.
    2.  When a donor is determined dead based on irreversible cessation of
  circulatory  and  respiratory  functions,  the  time  of  death shall be
  certified by a physician.   Such physician may not  participate  in  the
  procedure  to remove or transplant the body part. In all other cases the
  time of death shall be certified by the physician who attends the  donor
  at  his death and one other physician, neither of whom shall participate
  in the procedure for removing or transplanting the part.
    3. A person who acts in good faith in accord with the  terms  of  this
  article  or with the anatomical gift laws of another state is not liable
  for damages in any  civil  action  or  subject  to  prosecution  in  any
  criminal proceeding for his act.
    4.  At  the  time of acceptance of the gift, when it is known that the
  donation will be used for other than transplantation purposes, the donee
  if requested by the donor or the donor's next of kin  shall  advise  the
  donor  or  the donor's next of kin of the body parts to be utilized, the
  uses to which the body parts may be  put,  whether  body  parts  may  be
  transferred  to  other  facilities  or  institutions  and  plans for the
  ultimate disposition of all body parts if the donor  has  not  specified
  the ultimate disposition.