{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-213.076","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 213.076","heading":"Certificate of death or provisional certificate of death required to be filed -","body":"- Method of filing -- Notice of military burial rights -- Medical certification of\ncause of death -- Contents of certificate -- Supplemental report -- Verification-\nof-death statements -- Interment or other disposition of body prohibited unless\naccompanied by copy of certificate -- Authorization for disinterment -- Change\nin death certificate.\n(1) (a) A certificate of death or a provisional certificate of death for each death which\noccurs in the Commonwealth shall be filed with the cabinet or as otherwise\ndirected by the state registrar prior to final disposition, and it shall be\nregistered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section.\nThe fu neral director, or person acting as such, who first takes custody of a\ndead body shall be responsible for filing the certificate of death. The funeral\ndirector, or person acting as such, shall obtain the required personal and\nstatistical particulars from t he person best qualified to supply them over the\nsignature and address of the informant. All certificates of death shall be filed\nwith the cabinet using the Kentucky Electronic Death Registration System in\na manner directed by the state registrar.\n(b) At the time of obtaining the required personal and statistical particulars from\nthe informant referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the funeral\ndirector, or person acting as such, shall ask the informant if the deceased ever\nserved in the military. If the informant answers in the affirmative, then the\nfuneral director, or person acting as such, shall provide the informant with a\nfact sheet stating military burial rights supplied by the Kentucky Department\nof Veterans' Affairs.\n(c) The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall within five (5) days of the\ndeath, present the certificate to the attending physician, advanced practice\nregistered nurse, or physician assistant, if any, to the physician pronouncing\ndeath, or to the health officer or co roner as directed by the state registrar, for\nthe medical certificate of the cause of death and other particulars necessary to\ncomplete the record as required by this chapter.\n(d) It shall be unlawful for an institution to release a dead human body until t he\nfuneral director, or person acting as such, has completed and filed with the\nlocal registrar or person in charge of the institution, a provisional certificate of\ndeath. If death occurs outside an institution, the provisional certificate shall be\nfiled with the local registrar by the funeral director, or person acting as such,\nprior to final disposition of the dead body. A copy of the provisional\ncertificate of death signed by the person with whom it was filed, shall\nconstitute authority for the possessio n, transportation, and, except for\ncremation, final disposition of the body.\n(e) All persons having in their possession a completed provisional certificate of\ndeath shall file the certificate at not more than weekly intervals with the local\nregistrar.\n(f) If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in the\nCommonwealth, the certificate of death shall be completed and filed in\naccordance with this section. The place where the body is found shall be\nshown as the place of death. If the date of d eath is unknown, it shall be\ndetermined by approximation subject to amendment upon completion of any\npostmortem examination required to be performed.\n(g) If death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is\nfirst removed from the con veyance in the Commonwealth, the death shall be\nregistered in Kentucky, and the place where it is first removed shall be\nconsidered the place of death. If a death occurs on a moving conveyance\nwhile in international waters or air space or in a foreign coun try or its air\nspace, and the body is first removed from the conveyance in the\nCommonwealth, the death shall be registered in Kentucky, but the certificate\nshall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined.\n(2) If any certificate of death i s incomplete or unsatisfactory, the state registrar shall\ncall attention to the defects in the certificate and require the person responsible for\nthe entry to complete or correct. The state registrar may also require additional\ninformation about the circumstances and medical conditions surrounding a death in\norder to properly code and classify the underlying cause. A funeral director shall\nnot be held responsible for the failure of a physician, advanced practice registered\nnurse, physician assistant, dentis t, chiropractor, or coroner to complete or correct\nthe entry for which he or she is responsible.\n(3) (a) The medical certification shall be completed, signed, and returned to the\nfuneral director within five (5) working days after presentation to the\nphysician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or\nchiropractor in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which\nresulted in death, except when inquiry is required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475.\nIn such cases, or if the cause of death is unknown or under investigation, the\nmedical certification shall be completed within fiv e (5) days after receiving\nresults of the inquiry as required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475.\n(b) In the absence of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician\nassistant, dentist, or chiropractor, or with such person's approval, the\ncertificate m ay be completed and signed by his or her associate physician,\nadvanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or\nchiropractor, or the chief medical officer of the institution in which death\noccurred, or the physician who performed an auto psy upon the decedent, or a\nphysician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant employed\nby the local health department, if the individual has access to the medical\nhistory of the case and death is due to natural causes.\n(4) If death occurs more than thirty-six (36) hours after the decedent was last treated or\nattended by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant,\ndentist, or chiropractor, the case shall be referred to the coroner for investigation to\ndetermine and certify the cause of death. In the event that a coroner is not available\nto sign the certificate and there is no duly appointed deputy, the county\njudge/executive shall appoint a competent person to investigate the death and\ncertify to its cause.\n(5) (a) The physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist,\nchiropractor, or coroner who certifies to the cause of death shall return the\ncertificate to the funeral director, or person acting as such, who, in turn, shall\nfile the cer tificate directly with the Vital Statistics Branch. Any certified\ncopies of the record requested at the time of filing shall be issued in not more\nthan two (2) working days.\n(b) In the case of a death in which diabetes was known to be an underlying cause\nor contributing condition, diabetes shall be listed in the appropriate location\non the death certificate by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse,\nphysician assistant, dentist, chiropractor, or coroner who certifies to the cause\nof death.\n(6) Three (3) free verification -of-death statements shall be provided to the funeral\ndirector by the Vital Statistics Branch for every death in the Commonwealth of\nKentucky.\n(7) The body of any person whose death occurs in Kentucky shall not be interred,\ndeposited in a vault or tomb, cremated, or otherwise disposed of, or removed from\nor into any registration district, until a provisional certificate of death has been filed\nwith the local registrar of the registration district in which the death occurs. If the\ndeath occurred from a disease declared by the Cabinet for Health and Family\nServices to be infectious, contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the public\nhealth, no permit for the removal or other disposition of the body shall be granted\nby the registra r except under conditions prescribed by the Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services and the local health department. The Cabinet for Health and\nFamily Services shall identify by regulation those communicable diseases which\nrequire blood and body fluid preca utions. If a person who has been diagnosed as\nbeing infected with a communicable disease for which blood and body fluid\nprecautions are required, dies within a health facility as defined in KRS 216B.015,\nthe facility shall notify any embalmer or funeral di rector to whom the body will be\ntransported of the need for such precautions. The notice shall be provided by\nincluding the statement \"Blood and Body Fluid Precautions\" on the provisional\nreport-of-death form as prescribed by the Cabinet for Health and Fam ily Services.\nLack of this notice shall not relieve any embalmer or funeral director from taking\nuniversal blood and body fluid precautions as are recommended by the United\nStates Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control for\nMorticians' Services. No embalmer or funeral director shall charge more for\nembalming the remains of a person with a communicable disease which requires\nblood and body fluid precautions than the price for embalming services listed on the\nprice list funeral pr oviders are required to maintain and provide to consumers\npursuant to 16 C.F.R. sec. 453.2.\n(8) A burial-transit permit for the final disposition issued under the law of another state\nwhich accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into the Commonwealth sha ll be\nthe authority for final disposition of the body or fetus in the Commonwealth and\nmay be accepted in lieu of a certificate of death. There shall be noted on the face of\nthe record made for return to the local registrar that the body was shipped to\nKentucky for interment and the actual place of death.\n(9) Nothing in this section shall be construed to delay, beyond a reasonable time, the\ninterment or other disposition of a body unless the services of the coroner or the\nhealth officer are required or the Department for Public Health deems it necessary\nfor the protection of the public health. If compliance with this section would result\nin unreasonable delay in the disposition of the body the funeral director, or person\nacting as such, shall file with the l ocal registrar or deputy registrar prior to\ninterment a provisional certificate of death which shall contain the name, date, and\nplace of death of the deceased, the name of the medical certifier, and an agreement\nto furnish within ten (10) days a complete and satisfactory certificate of death.\n(10) No sexton or other person in charge of any place in which interment or other\ndisposition of dead bodies is made shall inter or allow interment or other disposition\nof a dead body or fetus unless it is accompanied  by a copy of the provisional\ncertificate of death. The sexton, or if there is no sexton, the funeral director, or\nperson acting as such, shall enter on the provisional certificate over his or her\nsignature, the date, place, and manner of final disposition  and file the certificate\nwithin five (5) days with the local registrar.\n(11) Authorization for disinterment, transportation, and reinterment or other disposition\nshall be required prior to disinterment of any human remains. The authorization\nshall be issued by the state registrar upon proper application. The provisions of this\nsubsection shall apply to all manners of disposition except cremation and without\nregard for the time and place of death. The provisions of KRS 381.765 shall not\napply to remains removed for scientific study and the advancement of knowledge.\n(12) After a death certificate has been on file for five (5) years, it may not be changed in\nany manner except upon order of a court. Prior to that time, requests for corrections,\namendments, or a dditions shall be accompanied by prima facie evidence which\nsupports the requested change.","path":["KRS Chapter 213"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54937","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:17Z","sha256":"f74b603c1e47183d9a51804d45c3da90a29d4b96723e4d35fd59e02e0a773131","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-213.075","next":"us-ky/krs-213.078"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}