{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-367.93117","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 367.93117","heading":"Persons with authority to make funeral, burial, or other ceremonial","body":"arrangements after an individual's death -- Authority for funeral home or\nDistrict Court to act -- Disqualification of person arrested for or charged with\nthe death -- Petition to waive disqualification.\n(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the right to control the\ndisposition of a decedent's body, make arrangements for funeral services, make\narrangements for burial or cremation, and to make other cere monial arrangements\nafter an individual's death devolves on the following in the priority listed:\n(a) A person:\n1. Named as the designee or alternate designee in a declaration executed by\nthe decedent under KRS 367.93101 to 367.93121; or\n2. Named in a Unit ed States Department of Defense form \"Record of\nEmergency Data\" (DD Form 93) or a successor form adopted by the\nUnited States Department of Defense if the decedent died while serving\nin any branch of the United States Armed Forces, pursuant to KRS\n36.440;\n(b) The decedent's surviving spouse;\n(c) A surviving adult child of the decedent or, if more than one (1) adult child is\nsurviving, the majority of the adult children. Less than half of the surviving\nadult children have the right to control disposition und er this section if the\nchild or children have used reasonable efforts to notify the other surviving\nadult children of their intentions and are not aware of any opposition to the\nfinal disposition instructions by more than half of the surviving adult childr en\nand this has been attested to in writing;\n(d) The surviving parent or parents of the decedent. If one (1) of the parents is\nabsent, the parent who is present has the right to control disposition under this\nsection if the parent who is present has used r easonable efforts to notify the\nabsent parent and attests to that in writing;\n(e) The surviving adult grandchild of the decedent or, if more than one (1) adult\ngrandchild is surviving, the majority of the adult grandchildren. Less than half\nof the surviving adult grandchildren have the right to control disposition under\nthis section if the grandchild or grandchildren have used reasonable efforts to\nnotify the other surviving adult grandchildren of their intentions and are not\naware of any opposition to the final disposition instructions by more than half\nof the surviving adult grandchildren and this has been attested to in writing;\n(f) The decedent's surviving adult sibling or, if more than one (1) adult sibling is\nsurviving, the majority of the adult siblin gs. Less than half of the surviving\nadult siblings have the right to control disposition under this section if the\nsibling or siblings have used reasonable efforts to notify the other surviving\nadult siblings of their intentions and are not aware of any op position to the\nfinal disposition instructions by more than half of the surviving adult siblings\nand this has been attested to in writing;\n(g) An individual in the next degree of kinship under KRS 391.010 to inherit the\nestate of the decedent or, if more than one (1) individual of the same degree is\nsurviving, the majority of those who are of the same degree of kinship. Less\nthan half of the individuals who are of the same degree of kinship have the\nright to control disposition under this section if they us ed reasonable efforts to\nnotify the other individuals who are of the same degree of kinship of their\nintentions and are not aware of any opposition to the final disposition\ninstructions by more than half of the individuals who are of the same degree\nof kinship and this has been attested to in writing;\n(h) If none of the persons described in paragraphs (a) to (g) of this subsection are\navailable, the following may act and arrange for the final disposition of the\ndecedent's remains:\n1. Any other person willin g to act and arrange for the final disposition of\nthe decedent's remains who attests in writing that a good -faith effort has\nbeen made to contact any living individuals described in paragraphs (a)\nto (g) of this subsection; or\n2. A funeral home that has a valid prepaid funeral plan that makes\narrangements for the disposition of the decedent's remains if the funeral\ndirector attests in writing that a good -faith effort has been made to\ncontact any living individuals described in para graphs (a) to (g) of this\nsubsection;\n(i) A court -appointed guardian or conservator for the decedent at the time of\ndeath, after all the alternatives in paragraphs (a) to (h) of this subsection have\nbeen exhausted. Cremation shall be permitted under this subsection only if:\n1. The decedent has not expressed an objection to cremation to the\nguardian or conservator prior to death; and\n2. a. The decedent arranged a preneed policy in effect that is limited to\nthe cost of cremation; or\nb. The decedent lacked sufficient funds at the time of death to pay for\na full burial; or\n(j) The District Court in the county of the decedent's residence or the county in\nwhich the funeral home or the crematory is located.\n(2) No person shall have the right to control the disposit ion of the remains of the\ndecedent if the person has been arrested for, or charged with, committing an offense\nintentionally, knowingly, or wantonly, which resulted in the death of the decedent.\n(3) A person disqualified pursuant to subsection (2) of this section may petition the\ncourt, in the interest of justice, to waive the disqualification.","path":["KRS Chapter 367"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=50470","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:06Z","sha256":"4f85ef4effad3732280e488df3ebdfc32a9bcf3eebc24c16643e27d88f90428a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-367.93115","next":"us-ky/krs-367.93119"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}