AAMI New York State Laws
The registrar
Where does the person in charge of the place of burial or other disposition return the burial permit to?
Within 10 days
What is the time frame in which you must notify the department of a change in name, address or ownership of a funeral firm?
A certificate of fetal death
What kind of death certificate is issued in cases of fetal death?
What other information must be on the outer interment receptacle price list?
-The retail price of each outer interment receptacle that doesn't require special ordering - Supplier name - Model name or number - Description of the construction material - The effective date of prices listed
120 days after the date of cremation
After what period of time may a funeral director dispose of unclaimed cremated remains?
No
Are you allowed to charge more than the actual cost of a cash advance item?
No
Are you allowed to use undue influence on a customer?
A certificate of biennial registration duly issued to him by the department
As a person entitled to engage in the business of funeral directing, undertaking or embalming, what must you carry with you at all times?
No
Can a funeral director or funeral firm be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy?
No
Can a trainee embalm alone?
No
Can the physician who certifies the death of a donor participate in the removal procedure?
No
Can the use of names of unlicensed persons be used in advertising?
No
Can the use of names of unlicensed persons be used on signs?
Yes- but only if they are in reference to cash advance items.
Can the word' estimate' appear on the 'Funeral Home Charges' portion of the Statement of Goods and Services?
No
Can you charge for custodial care for a time period when a charge was incurred for embalming, other preparation, visitation of funeral services?
No
Do you need a removal permit if you are moving a body within the same cemetery?
No
Does a newly licensed funeral director have to take continuing education in his/her first biennium?
No
Does a person have to be a licensed funeral director in order to transport a body?
Yes
Does the 'place of death' appear on the Statement of Goods and Services?
Yes
Does the resident's funeral home have to have an embalming room?
Within 10 days
How long after a new manager is appointed must the firm notify the department?
For at least 4 years
How long must price lists be retained?
40 cases exclusive of stillborn children and cases handled for other firms.
How many cases must the firm who supervises you handle?
One
How many firms may a person serve as manager of?
At least 50%
How many hours of continuing continuing education must be live classroom instruction?
12 hours
How many hours of continuing education must a funeral director take each biennium.
One true copy and it must be kept for at least 4 years following the funeral
How must copies of the Statement of Goods and Services be maintained? How long must documents be kept after a funeral?
Both the new owner and former owner, or the estate of the former owner, or both the persons currently and formerly having control over such monies.
If a funeral firm is sold or ownership transferred, who must notify the consumer who has the money in trust?
From the registrar of vital statistics having jurisdiction at the place of disinterment
If it is necessary for you to handle a disinterment, where will you get a removal permit?
90 days
If the manager of a funeral firm becomes incapacitated in some way, how long before a new manager must be appointed?
The body shall be enclosed in a casket or container or shall have been closed in a waterproof pouch and secured in a rigid littler or stretcher. However the body is encased, it shall be obscured from public view. The funeral director or his agent assuming responsibility for the transportation of the dead body must take the steps necessary to prevent leakage of body fluids from the container it's in. The vehicle and equipment used for transportation must be maintained to be clean and sanitary.
If you are transporting a body by vehicle other than common carrier, what does the law say about the container and the condition of the body?
One must give notice in writing within 10 days
If you should change your residence while registered with the department, when do you have to give notification to the department and how?
You must supply a true copy of the certificate of incorporation that was filed with the Secretary of State, a copy of the notice from the Secretary of State showing that the corporation has been duly incorporated, the name, residence address and title of each of its officers and directors, the name and residence address of each stockholder having a 10% or greater proprietary, beneficial, equitable or credit interest, and the designation of a manger which shall be in the form of a certified copy of the resolution of the board of directors appointing such manager.
If your business is a corporation, what must you supply to the department along with your application to become a registered funeral firm?
A permit of burial, removal or other disposition
In order for a body to be interred, cremated, placed in a crypt or shipped, what document must be issued?
Not less than 75
In order to obtain a funeral director's license in New York, what grade must you attain on the National Board Exam?
By placement in a tomb, crypt, niche in a columbarium, burial in a cemetery, or scattering at sea or by otherwise disposing of such remains as provided by the rule of the department
In what manner may a funeral director dispose of unclaimed cremated remains?
No
Is it legal to sell human organs?
1. Attain statistical facts and enter them on the certificate with the name and address of the informant 2. Promptly present the certificate with the doctor to certify the facts of death and supply medical info 3. List facts of date and place of disposition and removal over his signature with address 4. Before the disposition, file the death certificate with the registrar of the district in which the death occurred
List the duties of the funeral director in regard to the death certificate
1. If the owner is an individual or partnership, he must be a funeral director 2. If the owner is a corporation, the manager registered with the department must be a funeral director 3. The owner must biennially register with the department 4. The funeral firm's certificate of registration must be displayed conspicuously at the establishment for which it was issued 5. The firm must be under the management of a licensed funeral director who is registered with the department, who shall not serve as manager of any other funeral establishment 6. All funeral directing, undertaking and embalming shall take place under the supervision of a licensed funeral director, undertaker and embalmer respectively 7. The firm shall conform to the rules and regulations of the department 8. The license and registration shall not be assignable or transferrable
List the requirements of operating a funeral home?
No
May a funeral charge a customer more than the actual cost of cash advance items?
No
May it be commingled with the firm's general funds?
Yes
Must a funeral firm have a business telephone?
If they arrange direct cremations, yes.
Must all funeral homes provide an alternative container?
Yes
Must the resident work full time?
Body must be placed in a coffin or casket which shall immediately and permanently be closed
What must an undertaker do with the body of someone who dies of plague or smallpox?
Can you charge for topical disinfection when embalming has been selected?
No
At least 2 hours of credits must be applicable to New York State laws and regulations affecting funeral directing, embalming, embalming and preneed services.
Of the continuing education credits, what are the only required or mandatory credit hours?
What must the heading for the outer interment receptacle price list contain?
The list must contain the true funeral firm name and address as it is registered and a caption describing the list as an "Outer Interment Receptacle Price List".
- All blood and excretions of a dead human body shall be disposed of in a sanitary manner - All receptacles containing embalming fluid or any poisonous or dangerous substances shall be plainly marked to indicate their contents
What must be done with blood and bodily fluid?
- the effective date of the price list - The funeral firm's registered name and address - A caption describing the document as the "Casket Price List"
What must the heading for the casket price list contain?
- The true funeral firm name, address and telephone as registered with the department - A caption describing the list as a "General Price List" - The effective date of the price list
What must the heading for the general price list contain?
-A chapel or reposing room of at least 300 sq feet of floor space, used only to conduct funeral services -An arrangement office, to be used exclusively for making funeral arrangements or other business matters - A preparation room containing at least 120 sq feet of floor space
What 3 things must a funeral firm established and registering after 2/28/74 contain?
Signs must say the true name of the firm as registered with the department and the lettering shall have a minimum height of 1 and 1/2 inches.
What must the sign in front of the funeral firm say? And how large must the letters be?
A pocket card issued by the department
What must you carry with you at all times when working?
-Arrange for the removal or transfer of each dead human body from the place of death, or from the place where it is released to him/her by family or other legal authority - The conduct of each funeral service - interment, delivery to and acceptance by crematory personnel at the crematory, or the pickup from or the delivery to a common carrier of a dead human body - make arrangements on behalf of any funeral director undertaker or funeral firm with a customer or customer's designee for temporary final entombment, or cremation, disinterment reinterment or other lawful disposition of a dead human body, for the care preparation, shipment or transportation of a dead human body, or the purchase, sale or rental of funeral merchandise, service or paraphernalia.
What 4 things must a licensed funeral director or undertaker only supervise?
1. Firm name and address as it is registered 2. Signature and/or typed name of the funeral director or undertaker making funeral arrangements, and the date such statement was furnished to the customer 3. Name of the deceased, together with the place and scheduled date of cremation 4. Statement by the person making arrangements indicating the manner of disposition of the cremated remains 5. Dated signature, address and phone number of the person making the arrangements 6. A disclosure statement by the funeral director or undertaker making arrangements, indicating the manner of disposition of the cremated remains if unclaimed after 120 days from the date of cremation
What 6 items must appear on the Customer's Designation of Intentions form?
1. Alternative Services 2. Transfer 3. Preparation 4. Arrangements 5. Supervision 6. Use of facilities 7. Livery 8. Merchandise 9. Additional services and merchandise 10. Limited services
What are the 10 categories of funeral home charges that must be listed on the general price list?
1. Package prices which are agreed upon between the funeral firm and a governmental agency 2. Between the funeral firm and a not-for-profit corporation for members of the corporation or other persons whose interests are represented by the corporation
What are the 2 acceptable alternative pricing methods?
The body must be encased in a rigid container constructed to withstand the hazards of the method of transport used, the body must be placed in a leak-proof pouch within the container, or the container must be leak-proof or placed in a leak-proof container. The body must also be clothed or covered with a shroud or other body covering, and all external orifices shall be closed with absorbent cotton and a name tag affixed to the dead body giving the name of the deceased as it appears on the death certificate.
What are the regulations concerning the container and the conditions of the body of a person being transported by common carrier?
-The surfaces of the floor, walls and ceiling shall be covered with tile or other hard, smooth impervious washable material - The room must be adequately lighted and ventilated. Ventilation shall be provided by and exhaust fan or an air-conditioning unit that completely removes objectionable fumes - it shall be equipped with hot and cold running water, a utility sink, and cabinets or closets for instruments and supplies - it shall be equipped with adequate sewage and waste disposal drainage facilities and systems - the doors shall be tight-closing and rigid and any widows should be treated to obstruct any view inside - the prep table should be non-porous - the room shall be equipped with proper and convenient receptacles for bandages, refuse, cotton and other waste materials
What are the requirements for an embalming room in your firm?
The person in charge shall keep a record of all bodies interred or otherwise disposed of on the premises under his or her charge, in each case stating the deceased's name, the place of death, date of burial or disposal, and the name and address of the funeral director or undertaker. These records shall be kept open to official inspection at all times.
What are the responsibilities of the person in charge of the cemetery or burial place?
- By checking that the pulse has ceased in the radial or other arteries - By checking that heart and respiratory sound aren't heard with the use of a stethoscope or with the ear applied directly over the heart
What are the tests an embalmer or funeral director must do before removal, embalming cremation or burial?
Arsenic, lead, mercury, zinc, silver, antimony or chloral or any poisonous alkaloid
What compounds are prohibited in embalming?
Burial-transit permit
What document must accompany human remains on a common carrier?
Human remains after incineration in a crematory
What does the term cremated remains mean?
Either or both the manager or sponsor and the resident shall appear for an oral interview to determine the resident's qualifications for full licensure.
What happens at the end of the period of residency as far as exams go?
If someone calls and asks about terms, prices, services, offerings of any information from the price list or other available source which reasonably answers their questions, someone has to make that information available over the phone.
What is New York's position on telephone disclosure of prices?
A candidate is called a registered resident. One must register with the department within two weeks from the date beginning employment as a resident.
What is a candidate for funeral director licensure called in NY? And when must you register with the department?
1. Person designated in a written statement 2. Decedent's living spouse 2a. Decedent's living domestic partner 3. Any of the decedent's surviving children eighteen years of age or older 4. Either of the decedent's parents 5. Any of the decedent's surviving siblings over 18 6. An court appointed guardian 7. Any person over 18 who would be entitled to share in the estate with the closest person in relation having the highest priority 8. An appointed fiduciary of the decedent's estate 9. A close friend or relative who is familiar with the decedent's wishes when no one higher on the list is available 10. A chief fiscal officer of a county or public administrator appointed, or anyone else acting on the behalf of the decedent, provided that the person has executed a written statement
What is the descending priority of person who shall have the right to control the remains of a decedent?
That the autopsy is contrary to religious beliefs of the decedent
What is the one reason a family can object to an autopsy?
- The retail price of every casket and alternative container offered that doesn't require special ordering - Supplier name - Model name or number - Type of wood, type and gauge of metal or other construction material - Description on the interior
What other information must be on the casket price list?
"Services and merchandise provided as cash advance items will be billed at the same amount paid by the funeral firm."
What statement must appear above the "Cash Advances" section?
A felony
What type of crime is body stealing?
A misdemeanor
What type of crime is opening a grave without proper permission?
A misdemeanor
What type of crime is receiving a stolen body?
- A violent death - A death cause by a criminal act or criminal neglect - A death occurring in a suspicious, unusual or unexplained manner - A death caused by suspected criminal abortion - A death while unattended by a physician, so far as can be discovered, or where no physician able to certify the cause of death as provided in the public health law and in form as prescribed by the commissioner of health can be found - A death of a person held in a public institution other than a hospital, infirmary or nursing home
What type of deaths must be reported to the Coroner or Medical Examiner?
A statement from a physician, coroner or medical examiner certifying that such body does not contain a battery or a power cell
What type of statement must accompany a body to a crematory?
The firm must put the money in an interest bearing trust account in a banking institution within the state. They must hold the money separately from other accounts until the merchandise has been delivered and services have been rendered.
When a person wants to prepay funeral expenses, how must the funeral firm hold the money? And what type of account must it be?
In half-inch numbers or larger
When displaying caskets and outer interment receptacles for sale, what size must the numbers be?
July 1st of each even year
When does the biennial renewal of a funeral director, embalmer or undertaker's registration take place?
July 1st of each odd year
When does the biennial renewal of a funeral firm's registration take palce?
Within 7 days of the interment
When does the person in charge of the place of burial or other disposition have to return the burial permit?
Within 72 hours of death or the finding of the body
When must death be registered in NY state?
Within one week of the funeral. If the funeral director does not have them within a week, they must be returned when they are obtained
When must documents belonging to the family be returned to the family?
It must be offered before discussing or showing caskets or alternative containers
When must the casket price list be offered?
When individuals inquire in person about funeral arrangements or the prices of funeral services or merchandise, the funeral firm must offer them the list upon beginning discussion either of funeral arrangements or of the selection of any funeral services or merchandise.
When must the general price list be offered to the consumer?
It must be offered before either discussing or showing outer interment receptacles.
When must the outer interment receptacle price list be offered to the customer?
Within 10 days of receiving it. The firm must notify the customer within 30 days of the location or any change to the location.
When must these monies be deposited? And when must the customer be notified where the money is?
- Itemized statements - Funeral bills indicating charges and merchandise provided - Casket invoices or delivery copies - Outer interment receptacle invoices or delivery copies - Receipts or cancelled checks for cash advance items - Customer's designation of intentions - Itemization of social services and other governmental cases shall be in compliance with the rules of the department or agency having jurisdiction
Which documents must be retained?
Copies of the General Price Lists
Which if any of the price lists be offered for retention?
Who can serve as the manager of a funeral firm?
Who can serve as the manager of a funeral firm?
The person in charge of the place of burial or other disposition
Who does the funeral director give the burial permit to?
The resident and manager or sponsor must file quarterly reports jointly with the department.
Who has to file the resident's reports with the department and when?
- Licensed funeral directors or embalmers and their employees - Duly registered funeral director students and their trainees - Duly authorized instructors for funeral directing schools - Public officials or representatives while carrying out their duties - Duly accredited doctors or nurses - Members of the immediate family of the deceased and their designated representatives
Who is permitted in the embalming room?
The registrar of the district in which the death occurred
Who issues burial permits?
In descending order: The spouse, a son or daughter over the age of 18, either parent, a brother or sister over 18, a guardian of the decedent at the time of death, any other person authorized or under the obligation to dispose of the body
Who may consent to an anatomical gift for a deceased person?
Any individual of sound mind over the age of 18 years of age or more
Who may execute or consent to an anatomical gift for himself?
- A representative of the State or municipal government engaged in the administration or enforcement of law - A representative of a cemetery, crematory, hospital, common carrier or casket showroom - A person having lawful possession of a dead human body, the release of which is sought by the licensee
Who must you show a certificate of biennial registration to if requested?
The coroner having jurisdiction or the medical examiner
Who should the funeral director notify if a death occurs without medical attendance?
The resident will be supervised by a manager or sponsor designated by the manager who is licensed and registered as a funeral director or undertaker and embalmer, and who is regularly employed by the funeral firm.
Who will supervise your resident training?