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Is it legal to manage funerals yourself in Oregon?
ORS 432.005(23) empowers any person in Oregon to perform the duties of a funeral service practitioner without a license as long as they are not accepting payment for these services. This ensures families the right to conduct any and all funeral details, including filing any necessary paperwork, care of the body, and transportation. You may choose to do some, or all of this yourself.
Can you choose who will conduct all of those details for you in Oregon?
ORS 97.130 grants the right of an adult to control disposition of their own bodily remains and to either make a written delegation of a named individual to carry out those wishes or to delegate the authority to do so to someone else. (For a list of who is legally to make decisions in succession, see How to Complete Paperwork>Authority to Make Arrangements.)
Must a body be embalmed?
Embalming is NOT required in any state, and only two states require embalming to cross state lines (Alabama, Arkansas). However, Oregon requires embalming for infectious bodies despite the health risks under specific circumstances: (See Oregon Administrative Rules § § 830-030-0010, 830-030-060, 830-030-070, 830-030-0080 (2018).)
What can be done instead of embalming?
Simple, inexpensive cooling methods such as lowering the heat, opening a window, using air conditioning, Techni Ice™
(available through Amazon) or dry ice (www.dryicedirectory.com), are sufficient for 1 to 3 days in the home or other appropriate venue. In fact, the average body will hold for that long in a 65 degree room with no adverse outcomes under typical circumstances.
What paperwork is needed when someone dies and where do you find it?
Oregon Health Authority Center for Health Statistics, provides a “Home Burial Packet” that give families wishing to act as unpaid funeral service practitioners with a paper death certificate, notification of death card, and related instructions. This packet has instructions for the paper version of the death certificate, the required 24 hour notice form and a tag that must accompany the remains. Request this packet from the Center for Health Statistics Registration Unit Manager, 971-673-1160. As of 2019, the Oregon Health Authority directs questions about home burials to Sindia Padilla at sindia.b.padilla@state.or.us or 971-673-1360.
What is the timeline for filing paperwork in Oregon?
ORS 432.158 requires notice to the county register within 24 hours of taking custody of a body on a specific form called “24 hour notice of receipt of body.” Although there is an electronic filing system used by professionals for this 24 hour notice, the “Home Burial Packet” contains a paper version and information on where it goes.
The death certificate must be signed by an authorized physician or their assistant within 48 hours of death (ORS 432.133). The medical certificate be then be signed by an authorized physician or their assistant within 48 hours. The death certificate must be filed with the registrar of the county where the death occurred or to the state Center for Health Statistics within 5 days. However, extenuating circumstances such as holidays and bad weather can make meeting these deadlines difficult, so keep in mind that there are no funeral police. Do the best you can.
Who may complete the death certificate?
If the family hires a funeral director to handle the death certificate, it will be completed with information provided by the family and filed electronically. Alternatively, the next-of-kin or a designated agent acting as an unpaid funeral services practitioner may complete the death certificate and submit it to the county clerk.
What information is needed for a death certificate in Oregon?
Oregon law requires that information sufficient for the death certificate includes social security number, parents’ names, place of birth, occupation, etc. Oregon now allows a new sex designation on the death record, X, indicating nonbinary, to include individuals whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female. Oregon Health Authority Death Certificate Filing Instructions
Is it legal to move a body in Oregon?
Yes. The bottom portion of the death certificate, once signed by the Medical Certifier, serves as the transportation permit, as well as Authorization for Final Disposition (i.e., burial or cremation).
What happens when someone dies in a facility, such as a hospital, hospice house, or care facility, if the family wants to have a home funeral?
Even though a transportation permit (i.e., the death certificate, once signed by the medical certifier) is required only for transferring the body to burial or cremation, there are hospitals and care facilities that are unfamiliar with Oregon families’ rights under the law. Because businesses can write their own policies, such institutions may have body release protocols in place that insist or imply that use of a funeral services company is required, or that transferring the body back home or to another location prior to disposition requires completion of the 24 Hour Death Notice and Death Certificate. To address this barrier, see How Oregon Hospital Staff and Administrators Can Support Oregon Families in Caring for Their Own Dead and Sample Hospital Body Release Policy.
Must a minister perform a service?
There is no legal requirement that clergy perform a service. Families may choose to create and conduct a unique and meaningful service themselves that celebrates and honors their family member, or invite clergy to participate.
What do funerals cost?
The average modern funeral in the U.S. costs $8,755 (National Funeral Directors Association, 2017) with cultural preferences and market forces resulting in a lower – but still considerable – average cost in Oregon of $5,500. These traditional funeral costs includebasic non-declinable fees, embalming, other preparation of the body, transportation, use of facilities and staff, an average metal casket, a concrete outer burial vault, and use of a hearse. This figure does NOT include a cemetery plot or opening and closing fees, cremation fees, medical examiner fee, obituaries, flowers, monuments, grave markers, musician or clergy honorariums to conduct funeral or memorial services.
Other than the non-declinable fee, families may choose which services to purchase from funeral establishments. Prices for cremation and funeral services can vary considerably. (Oregon is among the states leading the nation with the highest cremation rates, with the average cremation arrangement in Oregon costing around $1,000 and one Portland-based operator charging $595 for a direct cremation.)
Funeral homes are required by law to publish a General Price List; consumers can request them from several establishments to comparison shop.
Home funerals, direct cremations and immediate burials, and family-directed memorials may cost a fraction of what the industry charges for a conventional funeral, depending on which services families wish to perform themselves. Families can also purchase bio-degradable caskets and urns directly, or make them themselves, at a significant cost savings.
What are Direct Cremations and Immediate Burials?
Both refer simply to the cremation or burial, without embalming, viewing, funeral or memorial services in the funeral home (you may have one elsewhere) or other incidentals such as flowers, prayer cards, etc. (See What to Expect When Funeral Shopping for more information about what is included or call a funeral director to learn what services they include.)
Is human composting legal in Oregon?
No. Currently this is legal only in Washington State and there doesn't appear to be a plan to create the legal authority at this time. Once the Recompose facility is operational in Seattle (expected by early 2021), they will accept customers from out of state. (See FAQs Recompose)
ORS 432.005(23) empowers any person in Oregon to perform the duties of a funeral service practitioner without a license as long as they are not accepting payment for these services. This ensures families the right to conduct any and all funeral details, including filing any necessary paperwork, care of the body, and transportation. You may choose to do some, or all of this yourself.
Can you choose who will conduct all of those details for you in Oregon?
ORS 97.130 grants the right of an adult to control disposition of their own bodily remains and to either make a written delegation of a named individual to carry out those wishes or to delegate the authority to do so to someone else. (For a list of who is legally to make decisions in succession, see How to Complete Paperwork>Authority to Make Arrangements.)
Must a body be embalmed?
Embalming is NOT required in any state, and only two states require embalming to cross state lines (Alabama, Arkansas). However, Oregon requires embalming for infectious bodies despite the health risks under specific circumstances: (See Oregon Administrative Rules § § 830-030-0010, 830-030-060, 830-030-070, 830-030-0080 (2018).)
What can be done instead of embalming?
Simple, inexpensive cooling methods such as lowering the heat, opening a window, using air conditioning, Techni Ice™
(available through Amazon) or dry ice (www.dryicedirectory.com), are sufficient for 1 to 3 days in the home or other appropriate venue. In fact, the average body will hold for that long in a 65 degree room with no adverse outcomes under typical circumstances.
What paperwork is needed when someone dies and where do you find it?
Oregon Health Authority Center for Health Statistics, provides a “Home Burial Packet” that give families wishing to act as unpaid funeral service practitioners with a paper death certificate, notification of death card, and related instructions. This packet has instructions for the paper version of the death certificate, the required 24 hour notice form and a tag that must accompany the remains. Request this packet from the Center for Health Statistics Registration Unit Manager, 971-673-1160. As of 2019, the Oregon Health Authority directs questions about home burials to Sindia Padilla at sindia.b.padilla@state.or.us or 971-673-1360.
What is the timeline for filing paperwork in Oregon?
ORS 432.158 requires notice to the county register within 24 hours of taking custody of a body on a specific form called “24 hour notice of receipt of body.” Although there is an electronic filing system used by professionals for this 24 hour notice, the “Home Burial Packet” contains a paper version and information on where it goes.
The death certificate must be signed by an authorized physician or their assistant within 48 hours of death (ORS 432.133). The medical certificate be then be signed by an authorized physician or their assistant within 48 hours. The death certificate must be filed with the registrar of the county where the death occurred or to the state Center for Health Statistics within 5 days. However, extenuating circumstances such as holidays and bad weather can make meeting these deadlines difficult, so keep in mind that there are no funeral police. Do the best you can.
Who may complete the death certificate?
If the family hires a funeral director to handle the death certificate, it will be completed with information provided by the family and filed electronically. Alternatively, the next-of-kin or a designated agent acting as an unpaid funeral services practitioner may complete the death certificate and submit it to the county clerk.
What information is needed for a death certificate in Oregon?
Oregon law requires that information sufficient for the death certificate includes social security number, parents’ names, place of birth, occupation, etc. Oregon now allows a new sex designation on the death record, X, indicating nonbinary, to include individuals whose gender identity is not exclusively male or female. Oregon Health Authority Death Certificate Filing Instructions
Is it legal to move a body in Oregon?
Yes. The bottom portion of the death certificate, once signed by the Medical Certifier, serves as the transportation permit, as well as Authorization for Final Disposition (i.e., burial or cremation).
What happens when someone dies in a facility, such as a hospital, hospice house, or care facility, if the family wants to have a home funeral?
Even though a transportation permit (i.e., the death certificate, once signed by the medical certifier) is required only for transferring the body to burial or cremation, there are hospitals and care facilities that are unfamiliar with Oregon families’ rights under the law. Because businesses can write their own policies, such institutions may have body release protocols in place that insist or imply that use of a funeral services company is required, or that transferring the body back home or to another location prior to disposition requires completion of the 24 Hour Death Notice and Death Certificate. To address this barrier, see How Oregon Hospital Staff and Administrators Can Support Oregon Families in Caring for Their Own Dead and Sample Hospital Body Release Policy.
Must a minister perform a service?
There is no legal requirement that clergy perform a service. Families may choose to create and conduct a unique and meaningful service themselves that celebrates and honors their family member, or invite clergy to participate.
What do funerals cost?
The average modern funeral in the U.S. costs $8,755 (National Funeral Directors Association, 2017) with cultural preferences and market forces resulting in a lower – but still considerable – average cost in Oregon of $5,500. These traditional funeral costs includebasic non-declinable fees, embalming, other preparation of the body, transportation, use of facilities and staff, an average metal casket, a concrete outer burial vault, and use of a hearse. This figure does NOT include a cemetery plot or opening and closing fees, cremation fees, medical examiner fee, obituaries, flowers, monuments, grave markers, musician or clergy honorariums to conduct funeral or memorial services.
Other than the non-declinable fee, families may choose which services to purchase from funeral establishments. Prices for cremation and funeral services can vary considerably. (Oregon is among the states leading the nation with the highest cremation rates, with the average cremation arrangement in Oregon costing around $1,000 and one Portland-based operator charging $595 for a direct cremation.)
Funeral homes are required by law to publish a General Price List; consumers can request them from several establishments to comparison shop.
Home funerals, direct cremations and immediate burials, and family-directed memorials may cost a fraction of what the industry charges for a conventional funeral, depending on which services families wish to perform themselves. Families can also purchase bio-degradable caskets and urns directly, or make them themselves, at a significant cost savings.
What are Direct Cremations and Immediate Burials?
Both refer simply to the cremation or burial, without embalming, viewing, funeral or memorial services in the funeral home (you may have one elsewhere) or other incidentals such as flowers, prayer cards, etc. (See What to Expect When Funeral Shopping for more information about what is included or call a funeral director to learn what services they include.)
Is human composting legal in Oregon?
No. Currently this is legal only in Washington State and there doesn't appear to be a plan to create the legal authority at this time. Once the Recompose facility is operational in Seattle (expected by early 2021), they will accept customers from out of state. (See FAQs Recompose)
