2022 New York Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 41 - Vital Statistics
Title 4 - Registration of Deaths: Burial Permits
4144 - Deaths; Burial and Removal Permits; Transportation of Remains.

§ 4144. Deaths; burial and removal permits; transportation of remains.
1.  The  body  of  any person whose death occurs in this state, or which
shall be found dead herein shall not be interred, deposited in  a  vault
or  tomb, cremated or otherwise disposed of, or removed from this state,
or be temporarily held pending further disposition more than seventy-two
hours after death,  unless  a  permit  for  burial,  removal,  or  other
disposition  thereof shall have been properly issued by the registrar of
vital statistics  of  the  registration  district  in  which  the  death
occurred  or  the  body  was  found;  provided, however, that a licensed
funeral director may apply for and receive such permit on behalf of  any
person  or institution authorized by article forty-two or forty-three of
this chapter to receive unclaimed cadavers or anatomical gifts.
  2. (a) No burial or removal permit shall be issued  by  any  registrar
until,  wherever practicable, a complete and satisfactory certificate of
death has been filed with him as provided in this article.
  (b) The funeral director or undertaker  who  shall  make  any  removal
before a permit is issued by the registrar, shall return the body to the
registration  district  where  death  occurred,  whenever  the  coroner,
medical examiner, or district attorney shall request such return of  the
body for investigation or post-mortem examination.
  (c)  Except  as  specifically  provided  in this section, the existing
general duties of, and remuneration received  by,  local  registrars  in
accepting  and  filing  certificates  of  death  and  issuing burial and
removal  permits  pursuant  to  any  statute  or  regulation  shall   be
maintained, and not altered or abridged in any way by this section.
  3.  No  registrar  of  vital  statistics shall receive any fee for the
issuance of burial or removal  permits  under  this  chapter  except  as
referenced  by  section  forty-one hundred forty-eight of this title and
other than the compensation provided in this article.
  4. When the body of a deceased person is transported from  outside  of
the state into a registration district in this state for burial or other
disposition, the transit or removal permit issued in accordance with the
law  and  health regulations of the place where the death occurred shall
be given the same force and effect as the burial permit herein  provided
for.
  5.  If  the  interment, or other disposition of the body of a deceased
person is to be made within the state, the  wording  of  the  burial  or
removal  permit may be limited to a statement by the registrar, and over
his signature, that a satisfactory certificate  of  death,  having  been
filed  with  him,  as  required  by law, permission is granted to inter,
remove or otherwise dispose of the body, stating  the  name,  age,  sex,
cause  of  death,  and other necessary details in a manner and format as
may be required by the commissioner.
  6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner  shall
have  power  to promulgate rules with reference to the removal of bodies
of persons whose deaths occur on trains, boats or other carriers engaged
in the transportation of persons within this state, and  with  reference
to the removal of bodies as provided herein.