| 1 | 1 | | 81R714 MSE-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Dutton H.B. No. 923 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to prohibiting the disposition of a decedent's remains by |
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| 8 | 8 | | a person charged with certain criminal conduct against the |
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| 9 | 9 | | decedent. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 711.002, Health and Safety Code, is |
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| 12 | 12 | | amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (l) to |
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| 13 | 13 | | read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) Except as provided by Subsection (l), unless [Unless] a |
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| 15 | 15 | | decedent has left directions in writing for the disposition of the |
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| 16 | 16 | | decedent's remains as provided in Subsection (g), the following |
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| 17 | 17 | | persons, in the priority listed, have the right to control the |
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| 18 | 18 | | disposition, including cremation, of the decedent's remains, shall |
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| 19 | 19 | | inter the remains, and are liable for the reasonable cost of |
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| 20 | 20 | | interment: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) the person designated in a written instrument |
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| 22 | 22 | | signed by the decedent; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (2) the decedent's surviving spouse; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) any one of the decedent's surviving adult |
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| 25 | 25 | | children; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (4) either one of the decedent's surviving parents; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (5) any one of the decedent's surviving adult |
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| 28 | 28 | | siblings; or |
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| 29 | 29 | | (6) any adult person in the next degree of kinship in |
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| 30 | 30 | | the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent. |
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| 31 | 31 | | (l) A person listed in Subsection (a) may not control the |
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| 32 | 32 | | disposition of the decedent's remains if, in connection with the |
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| 33 | 33 | | decedent's death, an indictment has been filed charging the person |
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| 34 | 34 | | with a crime under Chapter 19, Penal Code, that involves family |
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| 35 | 35 | | violence against the decedent. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 2. Section 115(c), Texas Probate Code, is amended |
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| 37 | 37 | | to read as follows: |
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| 38 | 38 | | (c) After notice and hearing, without regard to whether the |
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| 39 | 39 | | deceased died intestate or testate, and subject to the prohibition |
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| 40 | 40 | | described by Section 711.002(l), Health and Safety Code, a court |
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| 41 | 41 | | may limit the right of a surviving spouse, whether or not the spouse |
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| 42 | 42 | | has been designated by the deceased's will as the executor of a |
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| 43 | 43 | | deceased spouse's estate, to control the burial and interment or |
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| 44 | 44 | | cremation of the deceased spouse if the court finds that there is |
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| 45 | 45 | | good cause to believe that the surviving spouse is the principal or |
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| 46 | 46 | | an accomplice in a wilful act which resulted in the death of the |
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| 47 | 47 | | deceased spouse. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 49 | 49 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 50 | 50 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 51 | 51 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 52 | 52 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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