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Committee advances bill allowing former guardians to arrange burial or final disposition after a ward’s death
Summary
House Bill 87, which clarifies that a person acting as a legal guardian at the time of a decedent’s death may retain authority to make burial and disposition arrangements, was sent to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation after brief committee consideration.
The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee voted to send House Bill 87 to the floor with a due pass recommendation. Senator Shippey presented the bill on behalf of Representative Clay Handy and described the measure as a narrow change to avoid funeral- and mortuary-related delays when a legal guardian’s authority terminates at a ward’s death.
Senator Shippey said the bill addresses situations in which a guardian’s legal authority ends automatically upon a ward’s death, which can leave a mortician without a clear person to make arrangements. The proposed statutory language would permit the person who acted as the guardian at the time of death to continue to make burial and disposition decisions so the process can proceed without delay.
Committee members had no substantive objections and no public testimony was taken. The motion to send the bill to the floor carried by voice vote.
