Right of Disposition by State: Who Decides Your Funeral

An emergency contact or an executor doesn't hold this right automatically. You need the specific document your state recognizes. It heads our funeral checklist, and our other end-of-life guides build on it.

Who decides your funeral if you sign nothing

Every state has a default ladder. It usually starts with a spouse, then adult children, parents and siblings, then more distant kin. The exact order varies by state.

For someone with no kin, the ladder ends with a public official: the county, the coroner or a public administrator (a county official who handles estates when no one else does). That official may not choose what you'd choose. Texas law tells the county to "inter," and California's coroner buries as an indigent case (one with no one to pay) if nobody acts. Both lean toward burial, not cremation.

A friend with no paperwork ranks low or not at all:

• New Mexico moved a friend who showed "special care and concern" to 6th place in 2023, after every relative.
• Arizona, North Carolina and Mississippi have a "special care and concern" friend slot near the bottom of the list.
• Maine, Louisiana and Pennsylvania have no friend category. It's a court or next of kin.

Your state's rules: form, backup, cost and deadline

"Not confirmed" means we couldn't verify it from current law. "Health care form" means the right runs through your health care power of attorney (the form naming someone to make medical decisions for you; see the section on that below).

Rules change. A lawyer who handles estates in your state can confirm your row.

State	How you name someone	Backup	Does your agent pay?	Deadline to act	Signing
Alabama	Affidavit, one name	No	No; wishes bind only if estate can fund them	2 days after notice or 3 after death	Notarized
Alaska	Disposition document	Yes	Yes, if estate falls short	48 hours from notice or death	Notarized; agent signs
Arizona	Health care POA that specifically grants it	Likely	No-show duty-holder owes double the expenses	"Reasonable time"	Health care POA rules; spouse ranks first
Arkansas	Declaration	Not in law	Must accept cost or lose the right	Not confirmed	2 witnesses
California	Health care form	Yes	Capped: only if estate falls short	7 days, or 10 for a spouse	Advance directive rules
Colorado	Declaration	Not in law	Not confirmed	5 days after notice or 10 after death	Declaration
Connecticut	Written designation	Yes	Silent	48 hours to locate first agent	2 witnesses
Delaware	Declaration	Yes	Estate covers third parties	None found	Statutory declaration
DC	Designation	Not in law	Silent	Not confirmed	Dated and signed
Florida	Your own written authorization; no general agent	No	No rule for holding the right; the signer pays, and the estate repays up to $6,000	None to act; a funeral home may dispose of the body after 90 days	Written authorization
Georgia	Health care form, or notarized affidavit	Yes	No general rule; estate pays as a priority claim	2 days after notice or 3 after death	Advance directive rules, or notarized affidavit
Hawaii	Written instrument, one name	No	Wishes bind only if estate can fund them	Not confirmed	Notarized
Idaho	Health care form, or notarized designation	Not confirmed	Silent	Guardian may act after 40 days	Notarized
Illinois	Agent appointment	Yes	Yes: "liable for the reasonable costs"	None; court rules within 30 days	Notarized; agent signs
Indiana	Funeral planning declaration	Yes	Silent	Not confirmed	Statutory form
Iowa	Declaration (no health care POA attachment needed)	Yes	Estate covers designee	Not confirmed	2 witnesses or notary
Kansas	Health care form granting the power	Not confirmed	Not confirmed	None in statute	Health care POA rules
Kentucky	Separate declaration (Form FPD-1)	Yes	Silent	5 days after notice	2 witnesses and notary
Louisiana	Notarized declaration or will	Not in law	Silent	None; a court decides	Notarized
Maine	Written, signed document	No	Wishes bind only if prepaid or funded	4 days after death	Signed
Maryland	Part III of the "After My Death" form, or other witnessed designation	Not confirmed	Silent	7 days after notice or 10 after death	At least 1 witness
Massachusetts	None in force (witnessed written wishes, prepaid terms)	No	Not confirmed	Not confirmed	Witnessed wishes
Michigan	Funeral representative designation	Yes	Must ensure payment	72 hours after death is pronounced; a representative who won't act within 48 hours of notice loses the role	2 witnesses or notary
Minnesota	Signed, dated instrument or health care directive	Not in law	Estate pays	Not confirmed	Witnessed or notarized wins
Mississippi	Self-directed authorization; a named representative ranks behind close kin	Not in law	Authorizer and/or estate	5 days from death	Not confirmed
Missouri	Durable POA granting "right of sepulcher"	Not confirmed	Agent not required to pay	48 hours to object after notice	Durable POA
Montana	Affidavit, one name	No	Wishes bind only if estate can fund them	2 days after notice or 3 after death	Notarized
Nebraska	Affidavit, one name	No	Wishes bind only if estate can fund them	3 days after notice or 4 after death	Notarized
Nevada	Affidavit, will or durable POA, one name	No	Silent for agent	Presumed unavailable after 30 days	Notarized
New Hampshire	Written, signed designation	Not in law	No pay or reimbursement allowed	Not confirmed	Signed
New Jersey	Official agent form	Yes	Silent	Not confirmed	2 witnesses and notary
New Mexico	None; cremation statement or will	No	Not confirmed	None found	Notary or 2 witnesses
New York	Agent appointment	Yes	No, unless agent agrees	None stated	2 witnesses; agent signs
North Carolina	Written statement, health care form, will or preneed contract	Yes	No general rule; estate pays as a priority claim	5 days after notice or 10 after death	2 witnesses (health care form also needs a notary)
North Dakota	Signed, dated statement	Not in law	Binding only if a prepaid contract funds it	Passes on if not done in time	Signed and dated
Ohio	Written declaration	Yes	Yes, for reasonable costs, if they accept the cost or buy services; refusing the cost forfeits the right	48 hours after notice, or 72 if no notice	Notary or 2 witnesses
Oklahoma	Sworn affidavit or witnessed document	Unclear	Not confirmed	3 days after notice or 5 after death	Must meet Oklahoma rules
Oregon	Statutory form	Yes	Wishes void if estate can't fund them	Not confirmed	Notary or 2 witnesses
Pennsylvania	None; court petition	No	Court can charge the estate	None to act; 48 hours to petition to stop a disposition	A will can state wishes
Rhode Island	Funeral planning agent	Yes	Yes, ensures full payment	Not confirmed	Notarized
South Carolina	Will or verified document (cremation)	Not in law	Silent	Not confirmed	Verified and attested
South Dakota	Affidavit, one name	No	Wishes bind only if estate can fund them	2 days after notice	Notarized
Tennessee	Signed disposition directions	Weak	Not confirmed	72 hours after notice or 168 after death	Notary or 2 witnesses
Texas	Agent appointment	Yes	Yes, reimbursable from estate	6 days after notice or 10 after death	Notarized; agent signs
Utah	Designated agent	Not in law	Silent	3 days after notice or 5 after death	Notary or will rules
Vermont	Health care form	Not confirmed	Not confirmed	Not confirmed	Advance directive rules
Virginia	Notarized designation	Not in law	Not confirmed	Deliver within 48 hours	Notarized; agent accepts in writing
Washington	Signed, dated designation	Not in law	Kin and estate	Not confirmed	1 witness
West Virginia	Affidavit, one name	No	Wishes bind only if estate can fund them	2 days after notice or 3 after death	Notarized
Wisconsin	Authorization form	Yes	Estate pays	2 days after notice	2 witnesses or notary
Wyoming	A designating document	Not in law	Silent	Coroner can sign after 7 days	None stated

In Maryland, the funeral choice is Part III of the separate "After My Death" form, not the advance directive itself. Sign it in front of the form's witnesses. The statute puts a person named on a witnessed form ahead of every relative, but a paper signed without a witness drops them to 6th, behind grandchildren. We found no court ruling on the form yet, so check with a Maryland lawyer.

Who to name, in order

1. A friend, neighbor or coworker who answers the phone

   It costs nothing, and someone nearby can act inside a short deadline. I'd pick the friend who picks up over the old friend three states away. Connecticut gives an agent 48 hours to be found, and Virginia gives 48 hours to deliver the paper.

2. A paid professional, where your state allows it

   A professional fiduciary (someone paid to manage another person's affairs) or attorney can sometimes serve. Some states limit this: New Hampshire bars any pay or reimbursement for the role, and others bar certain professionals. Ask an estate lawyer in your state before you sign anyone up.

3. Your own signed, paid directions

   A few states let your own paperwork do the work without an agent. Illinois has a pre-need cremation self-authorization. Florida puts your written authorization first.

   In Texas and California, written directions plus prepayment can carry. See our cremation steps for what the crematory needs.

4. The public fallback, named on purpose

   Los Angeles County lets you name the public administrator as executor in your will. That's the executor role, not the funeral agent. It ranks last because it's what happens anyway; naming it only makes the handoff faster.

How to sign it so it holds up

1. Get your state's official form. In New Jersey it's the New Jersey appointment of agent form. Texas prints its form inside the Texas disposition of remains statute.
2. Check your person can serve. Some states exclude funeral home staff or unrelated professionals.
3. Fill in a backup if your form has a line.
4. Sign with the strictest formalities you might face: two witnesses plus a notary. Virginia and New Jersey require a notary. Maryland needs at least one witness.
5. Have your agent sign the acceptance. Texas, Illinois, Alaska, New York and Virginia require it. In Texas, Illinois and Alaska, the agent can't act until they sign.
6. Give copies to your agent, your backup and your chosen funeral home.
7. When you replace a form, tell everyone holding the old one. Signing New Jersey's form cancels an earlier appointment in your will.

States where your health care agent also controls your funeral

Does your agent have to pay?

I wouldn't ask anyone to serve until the money is set aside. A payable-on-death account (a bank account that passes straight to a named person at death) naming your agent, a prepaid contract or insurance all work. Ohio's form has a box to name the money source. An estate lawyer can set up the account or contract correctly.

One rule holds even where the estate pays: whoever signs the funeral home's contract is bound by it. New York's funeral agent law, Public Health Law 4201, says your agent isn't liable for costs "unless he or she voluntarily agrees." Signing the contract is agreeing.

The deadline, and why being found late matters

Some clocks start at death, not when someone finds you. Alaska gives 48 hours. Maine gives 4 days, Mississippi 5.

Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland count from notice or from death. In Tennessee, Georgia and Maryland, whichever comes first. Wyoming's coroner can sign after 7 days. How long before someone is found covers the other side of this.

Pennsylvania is the plainest case of a system that fails people on their own. There's no agent form, and overriding relatives takes a court petition within 48 hours.

• Your agent and backup each have a signed copy.
• They have your chosen funeral home's phone number.
• A daily check-in alerts someone if you go quiet.
• Your agent knows where the original is kept.
• Your wishes are written down. Our final wishes planner helps.

If you move or live in two states

No funeral-agent law we found forces another state to honor your form. Kentucky says outright it is "not required to honor" one. Oklahoma requires a document that meets Oklahoma's rules.

Health care forms travel better. California, North Carolina and Georgia accept out-of-state health care documents, and their funeral right goes to the health care agent. Kansas accepts a health care POA valid under the law of the state you lived in when you signed it.

Sign again in your new state, and ask a lawyer there to check the form. If there's a fight, the court where the body is decides, under its own law. A 1972 Missouri case, Rosenblum, applied Missouri law to an Illinois resident who died there.

In the US and Canada

Canada has no US-style funeral agent form. The executor named in your will usually decides.

• British Columbia: the executor ranks first.
• Saskatchewan: the executor ranks first. A friend with no other role can't authorize cremation.
• Quebec: your written wishes bind your heirs.
• Ontario: the estate trustee generally decides. See Ontario funeral wishes.

Our executor guide compares the two countries, and our Canada guides cover each province.

What to set up next

• Your funeral agent: the conversation to have with the person you name.
• Who pays: fund it so your agent never pays.
• Prepaid funeral plans: the strongest tool where unfunded wishes can be set aside.
• A friend's standing: what happens if you haven't signed anything yet.