Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

755 ILCS 50/5-45

(755 ILCS 50/5-45) (was 755 ILCS 50/8)
Sec. 5-45. Rights and Duties at Death.

(a) The donee may accept or
reject
the anatomical gift. If the donee accepts a gift of the entire body, he may, subject
to the terms of the gift, authorize embalming and the use of the body in
funeral services, unless a person named in subsection (b) of Section 5-5

has requested, prior to the final disposition by the donee, that the remains
of said body be returned to his or her custody for the purpose of final
disposition.  Such request shall be honored by the donee if the terms of
the gift are silent on how final disposition is to take place.  If the
gift is of a part of the body, the donee or technician designated by him
upon the death of the donor and prior to embalming, shall cause the part to
be removed without unnecessary mutilation and without undue delay in the
release of the body for the purposes of final disposition. After removal of
the part, custody of the remainder of the body vests in the surviving
spouse, next of kin, or other persons under obligation to dispose of the
body, in the order of priority listed in subsection (b) of Section 5-5.

(b) The time of death shall be determined by a physician who attends the
donor at his death, or, if none, the physician who certifies the death. The
physician shall not participate in the procedures for removing or
transplanting a part.

(c) A person who acts or attempts in good faith to act in accordance with this Act, the Illinois Vehicle Code, the AIDS Confidentiality Act, or the applicable anatomical gift law of another state is not liable for the act in a civil action, criminal prosecution, or administrative proceeding.  Neither the person making an anatomical gift nor the donor's estate is liable for any injury or damage that results from the making or use of the gift.  In determining whether an anatomical gift has been made, amended, or revoked under this Act, a person may rely upon representations of an individual listed in item (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), or (8) of subsection (b) of  Section 5-5 relating to the individual's relationship to the donor or prospective donor unless the person knows that the representation is untrue. 
Any person that participates in good faith and according to the usual and
customary standards of medical practice in the preservation, removal, or transplantation
of any part of a decedent's body pursuant to an anatomical gift made by the
decedent under Section 5-20 or pursuant to an anatomical
gift made
by an individual as authorized by subsection (b) of Section 5-5 
shall have immunity from liability, civil, criminal, or otherwise, that
might result by reason of such actions.  For the purpose of any
proceedings, civil or criminal, the validity of an anatomical gift executed
pursuant to Section 5-20 shall be presumed and the good
faith of
any person participating in the removal or transplantation of any part of a
decedent's body pursuant to an anatomical gift made by the decedent or by
another individual authorized by the Act shall be presumed.

(d) This Act is subject to the provisions of "An Act to revise the law
in relation to coroners", approved February 6, 1874, as now or hereafter
amended, to the laws of this State prescribing powers and duties with
respect to autopsies, and to the statutes, rules, and regulations of this
State with respect to the transportation and disposition of deceased human
bodies.

(e) If the donee is provided information, or determines through
independent examination, that there is evidence that the anatomical gift was exposed
to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or any other identified causative
agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the donee may reject
the gift and shall treat the information and examination results as a
confidential medical record; the donee may disclose only the results
confirming HIV exposure, and only to the physician of the deceased donor.
The donor's physician shall determine whether the person who executed the
gift should be notified of the confirmed positive test result.

(Source: P.A. 98-172, eff. 1-1-14.)