Custody, Transportation, and Disposition of Human Remains
Right to control disposition
ORS 97.130 sets the priority for who may control disposition. Oregon recognizes a written designation by the decedent, then a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, then adult children, then parents, then siblings, then a guardian or personal representative, and finally a person who assumes responsibility. The person with priority has the right to make funeral and disposition decisions, including cremation versus burial.
Custody and transportation
Only a licensed FSP, or a person lawfully authorized, may take custody of a dead body. Removal from the place of death requires proper authorization and, for transport, a burial-transit permit where required. Remains must be transported in a sanitary, secure manner. The FSP must confirm identity before embalming, cremation, or burial.
Disposition
Burial, entombment, cremation, and alkaline hydrolysis where authorized require a disposition permit. Disinterment requires a court order or the permission of the person with right of control plus the cemetery, and a permit. Scattering of cremated remains must comply with local and state limits.
Worked example
The decedent is survived by a spouse and two adult children. The children want cremation; the spouse wants burial. Under Oregon’s priority list, the spouse controls unless the decedent left a written designation naming someone else. The FSP should document the spouse’s authority and not take direction from the children alone.
Traps
Do not assume the eldest child controls. Do not treat a fiancé or unmarried partner as a spouse unless registered as a domestic partner. Do not release remains to a person who merely paid the bill. Do not transport without the required permit.