Michigan § 333.2853 - Permit for disinterment and reinterment required; issuance; forms for permits and applications; retention of application; copy of permit as permanent record; petition for disinterment order.

A permit for disinterment and reinterment is required before disinterment of a dead body. The local health department in whose jurisdiction the body is interred shall issue the permit upon proper application by a licensed funeral director or person acting as a funeral director in accordance with rules promulgated by the department.

A person shall not disinter or permit the disinterment of a dead body in a cemetery and the body's reinterment in a cemetery or removal from the cemetery unless a disinterment and reinterment permit is issued by the local health department in the jurisdiction in which the cemetery is located.

The department shall prepare and furnish to local health departments the forms for permits and applications therefor, which shall be used in the procedures prescribed by this section and section 2852.

The local health department shall retain an application for a disinterment and reinterment permit for not less than 5 years. A duplicate copy of the permit shall be maintained in permanent records of the cemetery from which the body was disinterred.

If a required consent cannot be obtained, a person may petition the circuit court of the county in which the cemetery is located for a disinterment order.