2010 Indiana Code
TITLE 23. BUSINESS AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS
ARTICLE 14. CEMETERY ASSOCIATIONS
CHAPTER 55. AUTHORIZATION FOR INTERMENT, ENTOMBMENT, OR INURNMENT

IC 23-14-55
     Chapter 55. Authorization for Interment, Entombment, or Inurnment

IC 23-14-55-1
Warranty and liability of individual signing authorization
     Sec. 1. An individual who signs an authorization for the interment, entombment, or inurnment of any human remains:
        (1) is considered to warrant the truthfulness of:
            (A) any fact set forth in the authorization;
            (B) the identity of the person for whose remains interment, entombment, or inurnment is sought; and
            (C) the individual's authority to order the interment, entombment, or inurnment; and
        (2) is personally and individually liable to pay damages in compensation for harm that:
            (A) is caused by; or
            (B) results from;
        the signing of the authorization for interment, entombment, or inurnment.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.29.

IC 23-14-55-2
Authority and liability of cemetery owner upon receipt of written authorization; persons prohibited from being an authorized agent
     Sec. 2. (a) Except as provided in subsection (d), the owner of a cemetery is authorized to inter, entomb, or inurn the body or cremated remains of a deceased human upon the receipt of a written authorization of an individual who professes either of the following:
        (1) To be (in the priority listed) one (1) of the following:
            (A) An individual granted the authority to serve in a funeral planning declaration executed by the decedent under IC 29-2-19, or the person named in a United States Department of Defense form "Record of Emergency Data" (DD Form 93) or a successor form adopted by the United States Department of Defense, if the decedent died while serving in any branch of the United States Armed Forces (as defined in 10 U.S.C. 1481) and completed the form.
            (B) An individual granted the authority in a health care power of attorney executed by the decedent under IC 30-5-5-16.
            (C) The individual who was the spouse of the decedent at the time of the decedent's death.
            (D) The decedent's surviving adult child. If more than one (1) adult child is surviving, any adult child who confirms in writing that the other adult children have been notified, unless the owner of the cemetery receives a written objection to the disposition from another adult child.
            (E) The decedent's surviving parent. If the decedent is survived by both parents, either parent unless the cemetery

owner receives a written objection to the disposition from the other parent.
            (F) The individual in the next degree of kinship under IC 29-1-2-1 to inherit the estate of the decedent. If more than one (1) individual of the same degree of kinship is surviving, any person of that degree unless the cemetery owner receives a written objection to the disposition from one (1) or more persons of the same degree of kinship.
        (2) To have acquired by court order the right to control the disposition of the deceased human body or cremated remains.
The owner of a cemetery may accept the authorization of an individual only if all other individuals of the same priority or a higher priority (according to the priority listing in this subsection) are deceased, are barred from authorizing the disposition of the deceased human body or cremated remains under subsection (d), or are physically or mentally incapacitated from exercising the authorization, and the incapacity is certified to by a qualified medical doctor.
    (b) A cemetery owner is not liable in any action for making an interment, entombment, or inurnment under a written authorization described in subsection (a) unless the cemetery owner had actual notice that the representation made under subsection (a) by the individual who issued the written authorization was untrue.
    (c) An action may not be brought against the owner of a cemetery relating to the remains of a human that have been left in the possession of the cemetery owner without permanent interment, entombment, or inurnment for a period of three (3) years, unless the cemetery owner has entered into a written contract for the care of the remains.
    (d) If:
        (1) the death of the decedent appears to have been the result of:
            (A) murder (IC 35-42-1-1);
            (B) voluntary manslaughter (IC 35-42-1-3); or
            (C) another criminal act, if the death does not result from the operation of a vehicle; and
        (2) the coroner, in consultation with the law enforcement agency investigating the death of the decedent, determines that there is a reasonable suspicion that a person described in subsection (a) committed the offense;
the person referred to in subdivision (2) may not authorize the disposition of the decedent's body or cremated remains.
    (e) The coroner, in consultation with the law enforcement agency investigating the death of the decedent, shall inform the cemetery owner of the determination referred to in subsection (d)(2).
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.29. Amended by P.L.102-2007, SEC.2; P.L.3-2008, SEC.170; P.L.143-2009, SEC.6; P.L.101-2010, SEC.2.