Know your rights!

That person is called a dispositioner. Utah 58-9-602 says the dispositioner has the right and duty to control:

• The disposition of a deceased person 

• The location, manner and conditions of the disposition

• The arrangements for funeral goods and services to be provided

If you’re not using a funeral home, the dispositioner would also be responsible for filing the death certificate and other necessary paperwork.

Why does this matter?

If you don’t specify a dispositioner, your next-of-kin are in charge. (Utah 58-9-602)

And if you’re not sure your family will respect your final wishes or you as a person, that’s not ideal.

This person can advocate for your rights after you die in many ways.

• You can tell them who can see your body after you die, and who can participate in your care. 

• If you don’t want religion anywhere near your funeral, they’ll see to it.

• Stuff like that.

How to designate a dispositioner

You specify a dispositioner in a will. 

Utah has two types, listed in Utah 75-2-502.

• Witnessed will

  • Must be:

    • Signed by the testator 

    • Signed by two witnesses

• Holographic will

  • Valid with or without witnesses, as long as it’s signed by the testator and in their handwriting

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice! This is my own amateur interpretation of Utah’s laws.

More information

• Utah Funeral Consumers Alliance

• Funeral Consumers Alliance

When a death is expected, Utah law gives you 24 hours with the body. (Utah R436-8-4)

This means that loved ones can hold a vigil and wash/shroud the body before making any calls, if desired.

After 24 hours, the body must be either:

• Kept below 40 degrees

• Embalmed

The Exception

Unexpected deaths are different. 

• Utah 26B-8-205 lists types of deaths that require you to call law enforcement immediately, including:

  • Violence, gunshot, suicide, or accident

  • Sudden death in apparent good health

  • Overdose

• Utah 26B-8-206 says that for any deaths falling under Utah 26B-8-205:

  • You must call law enforcement immediately.

  • They’ll investigate the scene and determine if the district attorney and medical examiner need to be involved.

Utah law allows us to care for our dead without the services of a licensed funeral director. (Utah 58-9-601, 602)

You must, however, file a death certificate and comply with state laws and rules regarding the disposition of human remains. 

Why does this matter?

• Funeral home costs aren’t affordable for everyone.

  • A conventional funeral in Utah costs $2,500-$6,755, not including cemetery fees or a casket. (Funeral Consumers Alliance of Utah )

  • A home funeral can cost under $500. (National Home Funeral Alliance)

TO BE CLEAR: Funeral homes are a valid choice! 

• They take a lot of heavy logistical burdens off your plate.

• There is nothing wrong with going that route if it works for you and your loved ones.

• Just know that it’s not legally required.

• If you’d rather care for your dead at home,  you can absolutely do that here in Utah. 

If you don't use a funeral home, you're responsible for the following:

• Filing a death certificate (Utah 26B-8-114)

• Obtaining a burial-transit permit (Utah 26B-8-121)

• Caring for the body properly (Utah R436-8-4)

• Utah state law doesn’t require it: Utah R436-8-4

• Federal law doesn't either: FTC Funeral Rule

In most cases, refrigeration is an acceptable alternative.

The exception

• Funeral homes often do require embalming as a matter of private policy.

• Most won’t allow a public viewing without embalming.

• If you ask why, they’ll likely say it’s a practical necessity for sanitary reasons. 

Embalming does not make dead bodies safer to be around

• Major health organizations agree that embalming provides no public health benefit.

• Embalming slows decomposition. It does not stop it. 

• The preservative effects of embalming last about two weeks before dissipating

Embalming is still a valid choice

• Embalming and restoration work can provide closure for loved ones if there was trauma to the body.

• There are all kinds of reasons for choosing it, and the people who provide those services do so with care and expertise.

• It’s just not required by Utah state law or US federal law. 

• And it doesn’t have to be the default choice for everyone.

The FTC Funeral Rule says that:

• Funeral directors MUST give you price information on the phone if you ask for it.

• You do NOT have to give them your name, address, or phone number first.

Some may list prices online, but they are not required to do so, and fewer than 40% do.

However, in 2022, the FTC proposed changes to the rule, exploring whether and how funeral providers should be required to display price information online.

That process is still in motion.

This is called the GPL, meaning General Price List. It’s a big part of the FTC Funeral Rule.

• It lists all the goods and services the funeral home offers and the cost of each one. 

• Funeral directors must give the GPL to anyone who asks—in person—about funeral arrangements.

• The GPL is yours to keep, and you can use it to comparison shop.

Some funeral providers may mail or email their price list, and some may post them online—but they are not required to do so.

However, they are required to give you price information over the phone, per the FTC Funeral Rule.

The FTC Funeral Rule calls this “right of selection,” and it means you do NOT have to accept a package that includes items you don’t want. 

You can shop a la carte, if you want to.

The exception
A non-declinable basic services fee, which often covers professional services of the funeral director and staff and overhead. 

Funeral providers must disclose this fee on the GPL, and that disclosure must include a description of the services included for that price.

Funeral providers cannot refuse to handle a casket or urn you bought online, at a local casket store, or somewhere else—or charge you a fee to do it. 

As noted by the FTC Funeral Rule, a “casket handling" fee is a hidden penalty for those exercising the right to purchase a casket from another seller.

Additionally, the funeral home cannot require you to be there when the casket or urn is delivered to them.

No state or federal law requires a casket for cremation. (FTC Funeral Rule, Utah 58-9-609)

Funeral providers that offer direct cremations must tell you that alternative containers are available, and they must make them available. 

The FTC defines an alternative container as follows:

• An unfinished wood box or other non-metal receptacle or enclosure, without ornamentation or a fixed interior lining, which is designed for the encasement of human remains. 

• It is made of fiberboard, pressed-wood, composition materials or like materials, with or without an outside covering.

Exception
Crematories can set size, rigidity, and combustibility requirements for alternative containers.

Water cremation is legal in Utah. Also called alkaline hydrolysis, aquamation, or flameless cremation, this process is a gentler, more environmentally friendly alternative to flame cremation.

Utah 58-9-102 defines alkaline hydrolysis as follows:

A water-based dissolution process using alkaline chemicals, heat, and sometimes agitation or pressure that reduces human remains to a liquid and to dry bone residue. 

At the end of the process, two types of remains can be returned to loved ones:

• Ashes, similar to the skeletal remains you’d get with flame cremation, but 20% more of them

• A sterile liquid that contains salts, sugars, amino acids, and peptides

Loved ones can donate this nutrient-dense liquid to conservation land, or they can take some or all of it home to water the garden. (They also don’t have to take any.)

As far as I know, Tate Mortuary in Tooele is the only mortuary in Utah offering water cremation.

More information

• Cremation Association of North America (CANA) on alkaline hydrolysis

• CANA on the environmental impact of cremation

• Be a Tree Cremation on water cremation