Any person signing a funeral service agreement, cremation authorization form, or any other authorization for disposition shall be deemed to warrant the truthfulness of any facts set forth therein, including the identity of the decedent whose remains are to be buried, cremated, or otherwise disposed of, and the party's authority to order such disposition. A funeral establishment shall have the right to rely on such funeral service contract or authorization and shall have the authority to carry out the instructions of the person whom the funeral establishment reasonably believes holds the right of disposition. No funeral establishment is responsible for contacting or independently investigating the existence of any next-of-kin or relative of the decedent.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-5-707
Funeral establishment's right to rely on contract or authorization
Applied in 1 court decision — leading case 617 F. App'x 428 - Sherry Capps v. Cremation Options, Inc. (2015)
Most recently applied in 617 F. App'x 428 - Sherry Capps v. Cremation Options, Inc. (June 2015)
Acts 2012, ch. 828, § 2.
Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.