2005 Arizona Revised Statutes - Revised Statutes §36-831  Burial duties; notification requirements; failure to perform duty; definitions

A. Except as provided pursuant to subsection G of this section, the duty of burying the body of or providing other funeral and disposition arrangements for a dead person devolves in the following order:

1. If the dead person was married, on the surviving spouse.

2. If the dead person was a minor, on the parents.

3. If the dead person has no surviving spouse, on the adult children of the dead person.

4. If none of the persons named in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this subsection are financially capable of providing for the burial or other funeral and disposition arrangements, or cannot be located on reasonable inquiry, on any person or fraternal, charitable or religious organization willing to assume responsibility.

B. If none of the persons named in subsection A of this section is willing or financially able to bury or provide other funeral and disposition arrangements for a dead person, or if the person cannot be located after reasonable efforts have been made to do so, the county in which death occurs shall bury or place in a permanent care crypt the dead body or cremated remains of a dead body. If the decedent is known to be an honorably discharged veteran or the surviving spouse of an honorably discharged veteran, the county shall notify the veterans' administration or a local veteran's organization, or both, of the death and give that organization the opportunity to provide for the person's burial or for other funeral and disposition arrangements. If the organization is unable to provide for the burial of the veteran or the surviving spouse, the county shall ensure that the decedent is properly interred and that burial is made in a veterans' cemetery or a portion of a cemetery that is designated for the burial of veterans and spouses of veterans.

C. If the county medical examiner or person performing the duties of the county medical examiner knows that the dead person is a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe located in this state, the county medical examiner or person performing the duties of the county medical examiner must notify the tribe and give the tribe the opportunity to provide for the person's burial or other funeral and disposition arrangements. If an autopsy is required by section 11-597, the county medical examiner or person performing the duties of the county medical examiner, if possible, shall complete the autopsy and return the remains to the federally recognized Native American tribe located in this state within four calendar days after the determined date of death.

D. A person on whom the duty prescribed in subsection A of this section is imposed who omits or is unwilling to perform that duty within a reasonable time or is prohibited from performing that duty under subsection G of this section is liable to the person performing the duty in an amount of two times the expenses the person incurred in providing for the burial or other funeral and disposition arrangements. The person who performs this duty may recover this amount in a civil action.

E. Notwithstanding the probate requirements of title 14, if a county is required to bury a person pursuant to subsection B of this section, the county may recover the burial costs from the decedent's estate. A financial institution in possession of monies in an account in the decedent's name must reimburse the county for the burial costs on presentation by the county of an affidavit that certifies:

1. The date of the decedent's death.

2. That pursuant to this section, the county performed the decedent's burial.

3. The total burial costs incurred by the county.

F. A person, a corporation or an agency of government that provides for the burial or other funeral and disposition arrangements on the instructions of a person described in subsection A of this section is immune from civil liability:

1. For failing to honor the wishes of the decedent or the wishes of a person having a higher priority in subsection A or B of this section if the person, corporation or agency of government was not aware, after reasonable inquiry, of the contrary wishes.

2. For refusing to follow conflicting directions of persons having the same priority in subsection A of this section.

3. For following directions of a personal representative that are consistent with the written testamentary instructions of the decedent.

G. The duty to bury or to provide other funeral and disposition arrangements devolves to the next person in the order prescribed pursuant to subsection A of this section if the person who is otherwise responsible for performing this duty is charged with the criminal death of the person to whom the duty is owed. The person who performs this duty may recover costs as prescribed in subsection D of this section. If the charges against the person on whom this duty originally fell are subsequently dismissed or are resolved in that person's favor on the merits, the person is responsible for only the actual costs.

H. For the purposes of this section, "person" includes a natural person, a corporation, a company, a partnership, a firm, an association, a society, the United States, this state, any territory, state or country, an Arizona federally recognized Native American tribe, any political subdivision of this state or a public or private corporation or partnership or association.

I. For the purposes of this article, "burial" includes cremation.