SB 1668

House Engrossed
  Senate Bill
disposition;
  remains; authorization; legal decision-making
(now: legal decision-making;
  decedent; authorization)
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
CHAPTER 74
SENATE BILL 1668
AN
ACT
Amending section 36-831, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to the disposition of remains.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 36-831, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE36-831. Duty for funeral
and disposition arrangements; waiver of decision-making; counties; civil
liability; costs; veterans; immunity; definitions
A. Except as provided pursuant to
in subsection I or J of this section, the duty of burying
the body of or providing other funeral and disposition arrangements for a dead person decedent devolves in the
following order:
1. If the dead person decedent was married, on the surviving spouse unless:
(a) The dead person decedent was legally separated from the person's
decedent's spouse.
(b) A petition for divorce or for legal separation
from the dead person's decedent's spouse
was filed before the person's death and remains pending at the time of death.
2. On the person who is designated as having power
of attorney for the decedent in the decedent's most recent health care power of
attorney pursuant to chapter 32, article 2 of this title if that power of
attorney specifically gives that person the authority to make decisions
regarding the disposition of the decedent's remains or a durable power of
attorney if that power of attorney specifically gives that person the authority
to make decisions regarding the disposition of the decedent's remains.
3. If the dead person decedent was a minor, on the parents, unless
there has been an award of legal decision-making or there is a parenting plan
that prescribes which parent has final authority to make legal decisions on
behalf of the child.
4. On the adult children of the dead
person decedent.
5. On the dead person's decedent's parent.
6. On the dead person's decedent's adult sibling.
7. On the dead person's decedent's adult grandchild.
8. On the dead person's decedent's grandparent.
9. On an adult who exhibited special care and
concern for the dead person decedent.
10. On the person who was acting as the guardian of
the person of the dead person decedent at
the time of death.
11. On any other person who has the authority to
dispose of the dead person's decedent's body.
12. If none of the persons named in paragraphs 1
through 11 of this subsection is 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.
13. If the dead person decedent was a prisoner in the custody of the state department
of corrections at the time of death and none of the persons named in paragraphs
1 through 11 of this subsection is willing to provide for the burial or other
funeral and disposition arrangements or cannot be located on reasonable
inquiry, on the state department of corrections.
B. During a person's life, the person's family
members that are listed in subsection A of this section may sign a waiver of decision making decision-making that
waives their rights under this section relating to the disposition of the
person's body when the person dies.
C. 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. The county officer who is
responsible for determining financial eligibility or abandonment may conduct an
investigation for that purpose. 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 United States department of veterans
affairs or a local veteran's organization, or both, of the death and give the
department or that organization the opportunity to provide for the person's
burial or for other funeral and disposition arrangements. If the department or
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.
D. If there is more than one member of a category
listed in subsection A, paragraph 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 of this section
entitled to serve as the authorizing agent, final arrangements may be made by
any member of that category unless that member knows of any objection by
another member of the category. If an objection is known, final
arrangements shall be made by a majority of the members of the category who are
reasonably available.
E. 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.
F. 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 I 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.
G. Notwithstanding the probate requirements of title
14, if a county is required to bury a person pursuant to subsection C of this
section, the county may recover the burial costs from the decedent's estate.
The county may record a lien on the decedent's estate, and the lien takes
priority over a beneficiary deed. A financial institution in
possession of that possesses 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.
H. 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 who has a higher priority as
prescribed in subsection A or C 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 who have the same priority as prescribed 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.
I. The duty to bury or to provide other funeral and
disposition arrangements devolves to the next person in the order prescribed pursuant to in 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 and the
funeral director is aware of the charge. The person who performs
this duty may recover costs as prescribed in subsection F 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.
J. If the decedent
died while serving in any branch of the United States armed forces, the United
States reserve forces or the national guard, and completed a United States
department of defense record of emergency data, DD form 93, or its successor
form, the duty to bury the decedent or to provide other funeral and disposition
arrangements for the decedent devolves on the person authorized by the decedent
pursuant to that form.
K. A person that possesses unclaimed cremated
remains may release to the United States department of veterans affairs or a
veterans' service organization verification information associated with the
remains to verify whether the remains are of a veteran or a veteran's dependent
who is eligible to be interred in a veterans' cemetery if
the person has possessed the cremated remains for at least one year, a person
described in subsection A of this section has not claimed the cremated remains
and the person made a reasonable effort to locate a relative of the decedent to
claim the remains. If the person receives notice from the United
States department of veterans affairs or a veterans' service organization that
the unclaimed cremated remains are the remains of a veteran or a veteran's
dependent who is eligible to be interred in a veterans'
cemetery, the person may transfer the cremated remains to a veterans' service
organization, which must ensure that the cremated remains are interred in a
veterans' cemetery or transport the cremated remains to a veterans' cemetery
for burial.
L. A person that releases verification information
pursuant to subsection K of this section or that transfers cremated remains to
a veterans' service organization or a veterans' cemetery pursuant to subsection
K of this section is immune from civil liability for damages resulting from the
release or transfer. A veterans' service organization that inters cremated
remains in or transports cremated remains to a veterans' cemetery pursuant to
subsection K of this section is immune from civil liability for damages arising
from the interment.
M. For the purposes of this section:
1. "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, a partnership or association or a
veterans' service organization.
2. "Verification information":
(a) Means data required by the United States
department of veterans affairs to verify whether a person is a veteran or a
veteran's dependent and is eligible for burial in a veterans' cemetery. , including
(b) Includes a copy of the
person's death certificate and the person's name, service number, social
security number, date of birth, date of death and place of birth.
3. "Veterans'
service organization" means a veterans' organization that is chartered by
the United States Congress, that is recognized by the United States department
of veterans affairs or that qualifies as a charitable organization that is
recognized under either section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) of the internal revenue
code and that is organized for the verification and burial of veterans and
their dependents.
N. For the purposes of this article,
"burial" includes cremation.END_STATUTE
APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR JUNE 4, 2026.
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE JUNE 5, 2026.