South Carolina H 4048: Safe Cremation Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4048 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 19, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4048

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS 
BY AMENDING SECTIONS 32-8-320 AND 32-8-325, BOTH RELATING TO CREMATION 
AUTHORIZATIONS AND PROCEDURES, SO AS TO PROVIDE A NOTICE REQUIREMENT PRIOR TO 
CREMATION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 32-8-320(F) of the 
S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (F) If a funeral home handling funeral arrangements for a decedent 
transfers the decedent's body to another funeral home solely for cremation 
purposes, the funeral home performing the cremation may, in good faith, rely on 
a cremation authorization document executed at the funeral home handling the 
funeral arrangements, so long as the funeral home handling 
the funeral arrangements gives notice to the parties listed in 
subsection(A)(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) as required pursuant to Section 32-8-325(A)(2).

SECTION 2. Section 32-8-325(A) of the 
S.C. Code is amended to read:

 (A) A crematory authority shall not cremate human remains until it 
has received all of the following:

 (1) An abstract of information from a 
filed death certificate available on the electronic vital records system or a 
certified copy of the death certificate; however, if the decedent was 
pronounced dead during hours the department was not open to the public, a 
completed copy of the death certificate, excluding the signature of the State 
Registrar of Vital Statistics, signed by the attending physician, coroner, or 
medical examiner must be provided to the crematory authority; the death 
certificate signed by the registrar must be filed the next working day of the 
department and a certified copy must be provided to the crematory authority.

 (2) Proof that the 
funeral home handling funeral arrangements gave notice of the impending 
cremation to the persons listed in Section 32-8-320(A)(1), (2), (3), (4), and 
(5). Notice to the persons listed in Section 32-8-320(A)(1), (2), (3), (4), and 
(5) is sufficient by the United States Postal Service regulations, proper 
postage affixed, to their last known address, or electronic communication 
methods.

 (3) A 
cremation authorization on a form prescribed by the board and executed by the 
decedent on a preneed basis or executed by the decedent's agent and which 
contains:

 (a) the identity of the human remains 
and the date and time of death;

 (b) the name of the funeral director or 
funeral establishment responsible for obtaining the authorization;

 (c) the notification of infectious, 
contagious, or communicable disease or a disease declared by the department to 
be dangerous to the public health;

 (d) the name, address, and phone number 
of the agent and the relationship between the agent and the decedent;

 (e) a statement that the agent has the 
right to authorize the cremation of the decedent, as provided for in Section 
32-8-320 and that the agent is not aware of a person who has a superior 
priority right to that of the agent or is not aware of a person of equal 
priority who disagrees with authorizing the cremation;

 (f) authorization from the agent and 
the funeral director or funeral establishment for the crematory authority to 
perform the cremation;

 (g) a statement that, to the best of 
the agent's knowledge, the human remains do not contain a pacemaker or any 
other material or implant that may be hazardous or cause damage to the 
cremation chamber or the person performing the cremation;

 (h) the name of the agent or funeral 
establishment authorized to receive the cremated remains;

 (i) the method by which disposition of 
the cremated remains is to take place, if known. If the authorization form does 
not specify final disposition in a grave, crypt, niche, or scattering area, the 
form may indicate that the cremated remains are to be held by the crematory 
authority for thirty days before they are released, unless they are picked up 
by or shipped to the agent or funeral establishment before that time. At the 
end of thirty days, if final disposition arrangements have not been made, the crematory 
authority may return the cremated remains to the agent, crematory authority, or 
funeral establishment. If at the end of sixty days no final disposition 
arrangements have been made, the crematory authority or funeral establishment 
in charge of arrangements may dispose of the cremated remains in accordance 
with Section 32-8-345(D);

 (j) a listing of items of value to be 
delivered to the crematory authority with the human remains and instructions as 
to how the items should be handled;

 (k) a specific statement authorizing 
the crematory authority to proceed with the cremation upon receipt of the human