Michigan § 333.2848 - Authorization for final disposition of dead body or fetus; time; form; retention of permit; religious service or ceremony not required; cremation; moving body; permit issued by other state.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in sections 2844 and 2845, a funeral director or person acting as a funeral director, who first assumes custody of a dead body, not later than 72 hours after death or the finding of a dead body and before final disposition of the body, shall obtain authorization for the final disposition. The authorization for final disposition of a dead body must be issued on a form prescribed by the state registrar and signed by the local registrar or the state registrar.

(2) Unless the mother has provided written consent for research on the dead fetus under section 2688, before final disposition of a dead fetus, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, the funeral director or person assuming responsibility for the final disposition of the fetus or fetal remains shall obtain from the parents, or parent if the mother is unmarried, an authorization for final disposition on a form prescribed and furnished or approved by the state registrar. The authorization may allow final disposition to be by a funeral director, the individual in charge of the institution where the fetus was delivered or miscarried, or an institution or agency authorized to accept donated bodies, fetuses, or fetal remains under this act. The parents, or parent if the mother is unmarried, may direct the final disposition to be interment or cremation as those terms are defined in section 2 of the cemetery regulation act, 1968 PA 251, MCL 456.522, or incineration. After final disposition, the funeral director, the individual in charge of the institution, or other person making the final disposition shall retain the permit for not less than 7 years. This section as amended by 2012 PA 499 does not require a religious service or ceremony as part of the final disposition of fetal remains.

(3) If final disposition is by cremation, the medical examiner of the county in which death occurred shall sign the authorization for final disposition.

(4) A body may be moved from the place of death to be prepared for final disposition with the consent of the physician or county medical examiner who certifies the cause of death.

(5) A permit for disposition issued under the law of another state that accompanies a dead body or dead fetus brought into this state is authorization for final disposition of the dead body or dead fetus in this state.