An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Burial or Cremation of Certain Persons
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4313, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 411, §1, is further amended to read:
2. Burial or cremation. In the event of the death of an eligible person, the funeral director shall notify the overseer prior to burial or cremation or by the end of 3 business days following the funeral director's receipt of the body, whichever is earlier. Notwithstanding section 4305, subsection 3, paragraph C, a decision on any application for assistance with burial expenses need not be rendered until the overseer has verified that no a relative or other resource is not available to pay for the direct burial or cremation costs, but the decision must be rendered within 8 days after receiving an application. The father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, children or grandchildren, by consanguinity, living within or owning real or tangible property within the State, or the spouse or domestic partner are responsible for the burial or cremation costs of the eligible person in proportion to their respective abilities. When no legally liable relative possesses a financial capacity to pay either in lump sum or on an installment basis for the direct costs of a burial or cremation, the contribution of a municipality under this subsection is limited to a reasonable calculation of the funeral director's direct costs, less any and all contributions from any other source. For the purposes of this subsection, "domestic partner" has the same meaning as in section 2710, subsection 2.
summary
This bill adds spouses and domestic partners to the list of relatives who are potentially responsible for the burial or cremation costs of a person who was eligible to receive municipal general assistance at the time of that person's death. The bill also strikes the provision of law that restricts potentially responsible relatives to persons who live or own property in Maine.