76R10386 DLF-F By Grusendorf H.B. No. 1571 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1571: By Uresti C.S.H.B. No. 1571 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the name of a decedent on a grave marker. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. Section 711.002, Health and Safety Code, is 1-5 amended by amending Subsections (g) and (j) and adding Subsection 1-6 (k) to read as follows: 1-7 (g) A person may provide written directions for the 1-8 disposition, including cremation, of the person's remains in a 1-9 will, a prepaid funeral contract, or a written instrument signed 1-10 and acknowledged by such person. The directions may govern the 1-11 inscription to be placed on a grave marker attached to any plot in 1-12 which the decedent had the right of sepulture at the time of death 1-13 and in which plot the decedent is subsequently interred. The 1-14 directions may be modified or revoked only by a subsequent writing 1-15 signed and acknowledged by such person. The person otherwise 1-16 entitled to control the disposition of a decedent's remains under 1-17 this section shall faithfully carry out the directions of the 1-18 decedent to the extent that the decedent's estate or the person 1-19 controlling the disposition are financially able to do so. 1-20 (j) In the absence of evidence of a contrary intent, it is 1-21 presumed that a married woman directs that her name, as it appears 1-22 on the grave marker for the plot in which she is interred, include 1-23 the same last name she used at the time of her death. 1-24 (k) Any dispute among any of the persons listed in 2-1 Subsection (a) concerning their right to control the disposition, 2-2 including cremation, of a decedent's remains shall be resolved by a 2-3 court of competent jurisdiction. A cemetery organization or funeral 2-4 establishment shall not be liable for refusing to accept the 2-5 decedent's remains, or to inter or otherwise dispose of the 2-6 decedent's remains, until it receives a court order or other 2-7 suitable confirmation that the dispute has been resolved or 2-8 settled. 2-9 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the 2-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 2-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 2-15 passage, and it is so enacted.