HB1541 — Version 100

4may00.....4510-EBA

2000 SESSION

00-2106

05/10

HOUSE BILL 1541-FN-LOCAL

COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government

ANALYSIS

This bill allows municipalities and counties in which indigent persons die to cremate the individual. The bill also provides that deceased persons be transported to a crematory in a suitable container.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

4may00.....4510-EBA

00-2106

05/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

202:1 Cremation of Assisted Persons. Amend RSA 165:3 to read as follows:

165:3 Burial or Cremation.

I. If an assisted person shall die in any town or city the overseers of public welfare shall cause such person to be decently buried or cremated at the expense of the town or city.

II. Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph I to the contrary, if an assisted person dies in a county nursing home, the overseers of public welfare shall cause such person to be decently buried or cremated at the expense of the town or city in which the assisted person was a resident, as that term is defined in RSA 21:6, on the date on which the assisted person entered the county nursing home.

202:2 Assignment for Funeral, Burial, or Cremation Expenses. Amend the section heading of RSA 166:19-a and RSA 166:19-a, I and II to read as follows:

166:19-a Assignment for Funeral and Burial or Cremation Expenses

I. Except when a county assisted person has made arrangements for a prepaid funeral, if the total liquid assets of a county assisted person at death are less than $1,000, there shall be an automatic assignment to the funeral director or the person who paid for the funeral and burial or cremation of the deceased to the extent of funeral and burial or cremation expenses up to $1,000.

II. The funeral director or the person who paid for the funeral and burial or cremation expenses may submit a notarized statement to the effect that he has paid the expenses, together with an itemized list of the expenses, to the entity holding the assets. Upon submission of the statement and the list, the person shall receive payment to the extent of the expenses authorized under this section.

202:3 Assignment for Funeral, Burial, or Cremation Expenses. Amend the section heading of RSA 165:27-a and RSA 165:27-a, I and II to read as follows:

165:27-a Assignment for Funeral and Burial or Cremation Expenses.

I. Except when a town or city assisted person has made arrangements for a prepaid funeral, if the total of his liquid assets at death are less than $1,000, there shall be an automatic assignment to the funeral director or the person who paid for the funeral and burial or cremation of the deceased to the extent of funeral and burial or cremation expenses up to $1,000.

II. The funeral director or the person who paid for the funeral and burial or cremation expenses may submit a notarized statement to the effect that he has paid the expenses, together with an itemized list of the expenses, to the entity holding the assets. Upon submission of the statement and the list, the person shall receive payment to the extent of the expenses authorized under this section.

202:4 Casket not Required for Transport of Cremated Body. Amend RSA 325-A:4 to read as follows:

325-A:4 Containers. No dead body shall be removed, transported or shipped to any crematory unless encased in a [casket or other] suitable solid container made for such purpose. Such [casket or] container shall be incinerated with the dead human body.

202:5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.

(Approved: May 30, 2000)

(Effective Date: January 1, 2001)

LBAO

00-2106

Revised 1/5/00

HB 1541 FISCAL NOTE

FISCAL IMPACT:

METHODOLOGY: