MA Funeral Juris flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

License renewal cycle

The fixed period, commonly biennial, after which a funeral director, embalmer, or establishment license expires unless renewed with the required fee and continuing education documentation.

Lapsed license

A credential that has expired because renewal was not completed by the deadline; practicing under it is unlicensed practice and may require reinstatement rather than simple renewal.

Board subpoena power

The statutory authority of the licensing board to compel production of records and testimony during an investigation, enforceable through court order if the licensee refuses.

Licensure by endorsement

A process allowing a licensee from another jurisdiction to obtain a license without full re-examination when the existing credential is substantially equivalent and in good standing.

Scope of practice

The statutorily defined set of functions a licensed funeral director or embalmer may perform, such as embalming or arranging services, beyond which practice is unauthorized.

Apprentice supervision

The requirement that a trainee perform licensed functions only while a licensed practitioner is present or immediately available, as the governing rule specifies.

Establishment license

A site-specific credential authorizing operation of a funeral home at a particular address; it does not transfer automatically to a new owner or location.

Branch location

A secondary facility where funeral services are arranged or offered; it requires its own license and a designated licensed manager responsible for daily operations.

Preparation room standards

Facility requirements including running water, drainage, ventilation, and non-porous surfaces, kept separate from living and food-preparation areas and disinfected after each use.

Right of disposition

The statutory priority granting authority over a decedent's remains, typically surviving spouse, then adult children, then parents, then nearest kin.

Burial-transit permit

A document issued by the local registrar after death certificate filing that authorizes movement and final disposition of human remains, including cremation.

Unclaimed remains

Decedents for whom no authorized person can be located; the county or state assumes disposition responsibility under statutory indigent or unclaimed-remains procedures.

Death certificate filing deadline

The statutory period, commonly 72 hours or before disposition, within which the funeral director must file the certificate with the local registrar.

Medical examiner jurisdiction

Authority over deaths that are violent, suspicious, unattended, or otherwise reportable, requiring examiner authorization before the funeral home may proceed.

Cause-of-death amendment

A correction to the medical section of a filed death certificate, which must be made by the certifying physician or examiner rather than the funeral director.

Preneed contract

A written agreement to furnish funeral goods or services at need, disclosing price, funding method, and whether the price is guaranteed or non-guaranteed.

Preneed rescission right

The purchaser's statutory right to cancel a preneed contract within a short period, commonly three business days, and receive a refund as the statute provides.

Guaranteed price contract

A preneed agreement in which the provider bears future cost increases and must furnish the specified goods and services without additional charge at need.

Preneed trust account

A separate account held by a qualified trustee for preneed funds, which may not be commingled with the funeral home's operating funds.

Trust disbursement on performance

Release of trust funds to the provider only after the contracted services are performed, supported by documentation of death and delivery.

Commingling prohibition

The rule barring a provider from mixing preneed trust funds with business or personal funds; violation is a ground for revocation and may be theft.

Embalming requirement

A rule requiring embalming when remains will be publicly viewed, shipped by common carrier, or held beyond the statutory limit without refrigeration.

Universal precautions

Infection-control practices requiring gloves, eye protection, and impervious garments whenever contact with blood or body fluids is reasonably anticipated.

Regulated medical waste

Sharps and blood-soaked materials generated during preparation, segregated and disposed of through an approved carrier under bloodborne-pathogen standards.

Moral turpitude conviction

A criminal conviction involving dishonesty or depravity that constitutes a statutory ground for discipline, including suspension or revocation of a license.

Emergency suspension

An immediate restriction of a license when continued practice poses an imminent threat to public safety, followed by a hearing consistent with due process.

Failure to cooperate

A separate violation committed when a licensee refuses to produce records or testify in a board investigation, punishable independently of the underlying complaint.

Cremation authorization

A signed consent from the person with the right of disposition, plus a burial-transit permit, required before a crematory may cremate remains.

Crematory identification procedure

A written process verifying the identity of remains before cremation, with a metal identification tag that remains with the remains throughout.

Endowment-care trust

A portion of cemetery lot sale proceeds held in trust for perpetual maintenance, from which only income may be spent unless statute permits principal use.

Disinterment permit

Authorization required to remove remains from a grave, obtained through court order or written consent of the person with the right of disposition plus registrar approval.

Cemetery lot certificate

A recorded document conveying ownership of a burial lot, subject to the cemetery's recorded plat and its endowment-care obligations.