Title of Regulation: 18VAC65-20. Regulations of the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers (repealing 18VAC65-20-530).

Statutory Authority: § 54.1-2400 and Chapter 28 (§ 54.1-2800) of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: September 29, 2010.

Agency Contact: Lisa Russell Hahn, Executive Director, Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23233-1463, telephone (804) 367-4424, FAX (804) 527-4637, or email lisa.hahn@dhp.virginia.gov.

Summary:

Section 54.1-2811.1 of the Code of Virginia, added by the 2010 General Assembly, specifies in subsection B that a dead human body shall be maintained in refrigeration and shall not be embalmed in the absence of express permission by a next of kin of the deceased or a court order. Therefore, the regulation authorizing a funeral establishment to proceed with embalming absent express permission is in direct conflict with changes in the law and is repealed.

18VAC65-20-530. Documentation of embalming. (Repealed.)

A licensee who proceeds with an embalming without prior approval from a family member or other person shall document in writing the reasons for the proceeding, the efforts made to contact the family or authorized person and the licensee authorizing the embalming. Subsequently, approval for the embalming shall be obtained from a family member or other authorized person.