87R9041 EAS-D
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1139
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prohibited disposition of a decedent's remains by
certain persons; providing an administrative penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Justine Hosseini
Act.
SECTION 2. Section 711.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (l) and adding Subsections
(m) and (n) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (l) and
(m), unless a decedent has left directions in writing for the
disposition of the decedent's remains as provided in Subsection
(g), the following persons, in the priority listed, have the right
to control the disposition, including cremation, of the decedent's
remains, shall inter the remains, and in accordance with Subsection
(a-1) are liable for the reasonable cost of interment:
(1) the person designated in a written instrument
signed by the decedent;
(2) the decedent's surviving spouse;
(3) any one of the decedent's surviving adult
children;
(4) either one of the decedent's surviving parents;
(5) any one of the decedent's surviving adult
siblings;
(6) any one or more of the duly qualified executors or
administrators of the decedent's estate; or
(7) any adult person in the next degree of kinship in
the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent.
(l) A person listed in Subsection (a) may not control the
disposition of the decedent's remains if, in connection with the
decedent's death, an indictment has been filed charging the person
with an offense [a crime] under Chapter 19, Penal Code, that
involves family violence against the decedent.
(m) A person listed in Subsection (a), including the
decedent's surviving spouse, may not control the disposition of the
decedent's remains if, in connection with the decedent's death:
(1) the person has been detained or arrested on
suspicion of committing an offense under Title 5, Penal Code; or
(2) an indictment has been filed charging the person
with an offense under Title 5, Penal Code.
(n) A person regulated under Chapter 651, Occupations Code,
who knowingly allows a [the] person described by Subsection (l) or
(m) [charged with a crime] to control the disposition of the
decedent's remains in violation of Subsection (l) or (m), as
applicable, [this subsection] commits a prohibited practice under
Section 651.460, Occupations Code, and the Texas Funeral Service
Commission may take disciplinary action or assess an administrative
penalty against the regulated person under that chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 152.102(b), Estates Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Subsection (a) applies:
(1) without regard to whether the decedent died
intestate or testate;
(2) regardless of whether the surviving spouse is
designated by the decedent's will as the executor of the decedent's
estate; and
(3) subject to the prohibitions [prohibition]
described by Sections [Section] 711.002(l) and (m), Health and
Safety Code.
SECTION 4. Section 651.460(a), Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person violates this chapter if the person:
(1) arranges for funeral services or merchandise and
fails to provide a customer with a purchase agreement as required by
Section 651.406;
(2) fails to retain and make available to the
commission, on request, copies of all price lists, written notices,
embalming documents, and memoranda of agreement required by this
chapter for two years after the date of distribution or signing;
(3) violates this chapter, a rule adopted under this
chapter, an order by the commission revoking, suspending, or
probating a license, an order assessing an administrative penalty,
or an agreement to pay an administrative penalty;
(4) allows the use of a dead human body by an embalming
establishment for research or educational purposes without
complying with Section 651.407;
(5) is associated with a funeral establishment,
whether as an employee, agent, subcontractor, assignee, owner, or
otherwise, and fails to comply with this chapter or a rule adopted
under this chapter; or
(6) knowingly violates Section 711.002(l) or (m),
Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
the disposition of the remains of a decedent whose death occurs on
or after the effective date of this Act. The disposition of the
remains of a decedent whose death occurs before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of the
decedent's death, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.