Funeral Homes

Authorization for Final Disposition

The funeral director or person acting as the funeral director who first assumes custody of a dead body shall, prior to final disposition of the body, or prior to removal of the dead body from the state, obtain authorization for final disposition of the body or removal of the body from the state. The completion of the medical certification of cause of death on the death certificate by the physician, county medical examiner, state medical examiner, or coroner shall constitute authorization. If the body is to be cremated or buried at sea, additional authorization shall be obtained from the county medical examiner, state medical examiner, or coroner.

Obtain assurance from the attending physician that death is from natural causes and that the physician will assume responsibility for certifying the cause of death and receive permission to remove the body from the place of death.

Funeral Home Procedure for Cremation Approval

Whenever a death occurs in an institution under the care of a physician (inpatient hospital, nursing home, or hospice situations) the coroner's office does not have the information necessary to know cause and manner of death; therefore, one of the following options must be submitted to the Houston County Coroner's Office:

1. A certified copy of the death certificate stating the cause and manner of death.
   If the death certificate has not been certified, you can print the Cause of Death Tab to PDF from the EVERS Portal that has been filled in by the doctor and email the PDF to the Coroner.
2. You may call the institution where the death occurred. The coroner's office has made arrangements with Medical Records of Southeast Health and Flowers Hospital, if death occurred at one of the 2 hospitals you may call and request a discharge summary or history and physical and have the records faxed directly to the Houston County Coroner's Office. In the case of a hospice death or nursing home death, you may request a patient history be faxed directly to the coroner's office at 334-983-1006 or have them emailed directly to the coroner's office at coronerbyrd@houstoncountyal.gov. 

   * Southeast Health Medical Records - 334-793-8982

   * Flowers Hospital Medical Records -334-793-5000 ext. 1176

3. If the Houston County Coroner's Office is responsible for certifying the death certificate, no medical records are needed.

   For any of these options, you can digitally sign and submit the Cremation/Burial at Sea Authorization.

Cremation/Burial at Sea Authorization