Sec. 19a-323. (Formerly Sec. 19-168). Cremation authorized. Cremation certificate or permit for final disposition required. Fee payable in certain cases. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 19a-323. (Formerly Sec. 19-168). Cremation authorized. Cremation certificate or permit for final disposition required. Fee payable in certain cases. (a) The body of any deceased person may be disposed of by incineration or cremation in this state or may be removed from the state for such purpose.

      (b) If death occurred in this state, the death certificate required by law shall be filed with the registrar of vital statistics for the town in which such person died, if known, or, if not known, for the town in which the body was found. The Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, associate medical examiner, or an authorized assistant medical examiner shall complete the cremation certificate, stating that such medical examiner has made inquiry into the cause and manner of death and is of the opinion that no further examination or judicial inquiry is necessary. The cremation certificate shall be submitted to the registrar of vital statistics of the town in which such person died, if known, or, if not known, of the town in which the body was found, or with the registrar of vital statistics of the town in which the funeral director having charge of the body is located. Upon receipt of the cremation certificate, the registrar shall authorize the cremation certificate, keep it on permanent record, and issue a cremation permit, except that if the cremation certificate is submitted to the registrar of the town where the funeral director is located, such certificate shall be forwarded to the registrar of the town where the person died to be kept on permanent record. The estate of the deceased person, if any, shall pay the sum of forty dollars for the issuance of the cremation certificate or an amount equivalent to the compensation then being paid by the state to authorized assistant medical examiners, if greater, provided, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall not assess any fees for costs that are associated with the cremation of a stillborn fetus. No cremation certificate shall be required for a permit to cremate the remains of bodies pursuant to section 19a-270a. When the cremation certificate is submitted to a town other than that where the person died, the registrar of vital statistics for such other town shall ascertain from the original removal, transit and burial permit that the certificates required by the state statutes have been received and recorded, that the body has been prepared in accordance with the Public Health Code and that the entry regarding the place of disposal is correct. Whenever the registrar finds that the place of disposal is incorrect, the registrar shall issue a corrected removal, transit and burial permit and, after inscribing and recording the original permit in the manner prescribed for sextons' reports under section 7-72, shall then immediately give written notice to the registrar for the town where the death occurred of the change in place of disposal stating the name and place of the crematory and the date of cremation. Such written notice shall be sufficient authorization to correct these items on the original certificate of death. The fee for a cremation permit shall be three dollars and for the written notice one dollar. The Department of Public Health shall provide forms for cremation permits, which shall not be the same as for regular burial permits and shall include space to record information about the intended manner of disposition of the cremated remains, and such blanks and books as may be required by the registrars.

      (c) If the body of a deceased person is brought into this state for cremation and is accompanied by a permit for final disposition issued by a legally constituted authority of the state from which the body was brought, indicating cremation for the body, such permit shall be sufficient authority to cremate the body and no additional cremation certificate or permit shall be required.

      (d) No body shall be cremated until at least forty-eight hours after death, unless such death was the result of communicable disease, and no body shall be received by any crematory unless accompanied by the permit provided for in this section.

      (1949 Rev., S. 4726; 1953, S. 2363d; 1959, P.A. 423; 1961, P.A. 227; 1963, P.A. 470; February, 1965, P.A. 48, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 699, S. 27; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 79-47, S. 6; P.A. 83-565, S. 1, 2; P.A. 90-158, S. 1; P.A. 91-89; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 04-255, S. 20; P.A. 05-81, S. 3; P.A. 07-104, S. 7; 07-252, S. 80; P.A. 08-184, S. 53.)

      History: 1959 act deleted requirements that cremation certificate be under oath, that certificate be from director of health when death resulted from natural causes and for certificate from coroner and added provision re sum payable to medical examiner; 1961 act specified registrar of vital statistics and medical examiner be those for town in which person died or where funeral director having charge of the body is located, added provision for filing of and fee for cremation certificate, requiring registrar of other town to ascertain that the certificates have been received and recorded and the body prepared prior to issuing permit and that forms be provided by state health department rather than vital statistics bureau; 1963 act added reference to bodies cremated pursuant to Sec. 19-141 and changed technical language; 1965 act added provision that registrar of other town ascertain that place of disposal entry is correct, provision for issuance of corrected removal permit and for manner of inscribing and recording original permit, and deleted requirement that notice of registrar of other town be on a form supplied by state health department; 1969 act clarified provisions by streamlining language and adding reference to towns where bodies found but where deceased person did not necessarily die and deleted proviso re cremation upon authority of permit issued by another state; P.A. 77-614 replaced department of health with department of health services, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-47 clarified language, replaced "certificate of death" with "death certificate" and "deputy medical examiner" with "deputy chief medical examiner" and added associate medical examiners as issuers of cremation certificates; Sec. 19-168 transferred to Sec. 19a-323 in 1983; P.A. 83-565 provided with respect to examination of the body and issuance of a cremation certificate, as required in cases of cremation, that estate of deceased, in lieu of previous fee of $10, pay a fee of $40 or an amount equivalent to that paid to assistant medical examiners for such examination and certificate, if greater, except that no fee shall be required for the examination and certificate in cases of violent death, sudden death not caused by recognizable disease, death under suspicious circumstances or death related to disease resulting from employment or accident while employed or which may constitute a threat to public health; P.A. 90-158 removed language concerning external examination of the body by a medical examiner; P.A. 91-89 raised fee for cremation permit from $0.50 to $3.00; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 04-255 specified that the Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, associate medical examiner or authorized assistant medical examiner shall complete the cremation certificate, required registrar to keep cremation certificate and issue cremation permit, and made conforming changes; P.A. 05-81 replaced "issued in" with "submitted to" re town other than where person died, made a technical change and required Department of Public Health to provide space on cremation permits to record information about the intended manner of disposition of the cremated remains, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 07-104 added provisions requiring permit for final disposition indicating cremation issued by legally constituted authorities of state from which a body is brought prior to cremating such body in this state, added Subdiv. designators (1) and (2) and renamed burial transit removal permit as removal, transit and burial permit, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 07-252 designated provisions re disposition by incineration or cremation as Subsec. (a), designated provisions re death certificates and cremation certificates as Subsec. (b), transferred provisions re out-of-state permits for final disposition into new Subsec. (c) and transferred provisions re 48-hour waiting period and receipt of bodies by crematories into new Subsec. (d), effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 08-184 amended Subsec. (b) to provide that Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall not assess any fees for costs that are associated with cremation of stillborn fetus.

      See Sec. 7-62b et seq. re procedures for death certificates, burial permits, burials, disinterments, etc.