DISCLOSURES

Control of disposition

A. The right of a person to control the disposition of the human remains of a deceased vests in and devolves on that person in the following order of priority:

1. the personal representative named in the will of the deceased.
2. the spouse of the deceased if living with the deceased at the time of death or a person who was living with the deceased as husband or wife for a continuous period of not less than 2 years;
3. an adult child of the deceased;
4. an adult grandchild of the deceased;
5. if the deceased was a minor, a person who was a legal guardian of the person of the deceased at the time of death;
6. a parent of the deceased;
7. an adult sibling of the deceased;
8. an adult nephew or niece of the deceased;
9. an adult next of kin of the deceased, determined on the basis provided by sections 89 and 90 of the Estate Administration Act;
10. the minister under the Employment and Assistance Act or, if the official administrator under the estate Administration Act is administering the estate of the deceased under the Act, the official administrator:
    
11. an adult person having a personal or kinship relationship with the deceased, other than those referred to in paragraphs (2) to (4) and (6) to
12. Adult is 19 years old

B. If the person at the top of the order of priority set out in subsection (1) is unavailable or is unwilling to give instructions, that right passes to the person who is next in priority.

C. If under subsection (1) the right to control the disposition of human remains passes to person of equal rank, the order of priority

1. is determined in accordance with an agreement between or among them , or
2. in the absence of an agreement referred to in paragraph (a) begins with the eldest person in that rank and descend in order of age.

D. A person claiming that he or she should be given the sole right to control the disposition of the human remains or cremated remains may apply to the Supreme Court for an order regarding that right.

Requirement for authorization before funeral services or disposition

A. No funeral provider shall provide funeral services and no operator shall inter or cremate human remains unless the funeral provider or operator has received written authorization from the person who under section 5 has the right to control the disposition of the human remains.

B. Despite subsection (1), a funeral provider may accept an authorization by telephone to commence funeral services, but shall not dispose of the human remains until the funeral provider receives the written authorization required by subsection (1).

Protection from Liability

If

1. there is a error or omission in an authorization provided under section 8 to an operator or a funeral provider, or
2. the person who signed an authorization provided under section 8 did not have the authority to give directions set out in the authorization.
   

Before human remains are cremated, a funeral provider, or an operator of a crematorium to which human remains have been brought, may require visual identification of the human remains

1. by the person providing authorization under section 8 for the disposition of the human remains, or
2. by another person who is qualified to identify the human remains