Public Act 096-1243
 
HB5678 EnrolledLRB096 17049 KTG 35895 b


  
    AN ACT concerning civil law.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Disposition of Remains Act is amended  by 
changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (755 ILCS 65/5)

    Sec. 5. Right to control disposition; priority. Unless a 
decedent has left directions in writing for the disposition or 
designated an agent to direct the disposition of the decedent's 
remains as provided in Section 65 of the Crematory Regulation 
Act or in subsection (a) of Section 40 of this Act, the 
following persons, in the priority listed, have the right to 
control the disposition, including cremation, of the 
decedent's remains and are liable for the reasonable costs of 
the disposition:
        (1) the person designated in a written instrument that 
    satisfies the provisions of Sections 10 and 15 of this Act;

        (2) any person serving as executor or legal 
    representative of the decedent's estate and acting 
    according to the decedent's written instructions contained 
    in the decedent's will;

        (3) the individual who was the spouse of the decedent 
    at the time of the decedent's death;

        (4) the sole surviving competent adult child of the 
    decedent, or if there is more than one surviving competent 
    adult child of the decedent, the majority of the surviving 
    competent adult children;  however, less than one-half of 
    the surviving adult children shall be vested with the 
    rights and duties of this Section if they have used 
    reasonable efforts to notify all other surviving competent 
    adult children of their instructions and are not aware of 
    any opposition to those instructions on the part of more 
    than one-half of all surviving competent adult children;

        (5) the surviving competent parents of the decedent;  if 
    one of the surviving competent parents is absent, the 
    remaining competent parent shall be vested with the rights 
    and duties of this Act after reasonable efforts have been 
    unsuccessful in locating the absent surviving competent 
    parent;
 
        (6) the surviving competent adult person or persons 
    respectively in the next degrees of kindred or, if there is 
    more than one surviving competent adult person of the same 
    degree of kindred, the majority of those persons;  less than 
    the majority of surviving competent adult persons of the 
    same degree of kindred shall be vested with the rights and 
    duties of this Act if those persons have used reasonable 
    efforts to notify all other surviving competent adult 
    persons of the same degree of kindred of their instructions 
    and are not aware of any opposition to those instructions 
    on the part of one-half or more of all surviving competent 
    adult persons of the same degree of kindred;

        (7) in the case of indigents or any other individuals 
    whose final disposition is the responsibility of the State 
    or any of its instrumentalities, a public administrator, 
    medical examiner, coroner, State appointed guardian, or 
    any other public official charged with arranging the final 
    disposition of the decedent;

        (8) in the case of individuals who have donated their 
    bodies to science, or whose death occurred in a nursing 
    home or other private institution, who have executed 
    cremation authorization forms under Section 65 of the 
    Crematory Regulation Act and the institution is charged 
    with making arrangements for the final disposition of the 
    decedent, a representative of the institution; or

        (9) any other person or organization that is willing to 
    assume legal and financial responsibility.


    As used in Section, "adult" means any individual who has 
reached his or her eighteenth birthday.


    Nothwithstanding provisions to the contrary, in the case of 
decedents who die while serving as  members of the United States 
Armed Forces, the Illinois National Guard, or the United States 
Reserved Forces, as defined in Section 1481 of Title 10 of the 
United States Code, and who have executed the required U.S. 
Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data Form (DD Form 
93), or successor form, the person designated in such form to 
direct disposition of the decedent's remains shall have the 
right to control the disposition, including cremation, of the 
decedent's remains. 
(Source: P.A. 94-561, eff. 1-1-06; 94-1051, eff. 7-24-06.)
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.