Public Act 094-1051
 
SB2673 Enrolled LRB094 18964 LCT 54429 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Disposition of Remains Act is amended by
changing Sections 5, 10, 15, and 40 as follows:
 
    (755 ILCS 65/5)
    Sec. 5. Right to control disposition; priority. Unless a
decedent has left directions in writing for the disposition or
designated an agent to direct the disposition of the decedent's
remains as provided in Section 65 of the Crematory Regulation
Act or in subsection (a) of Section 40 of this Act, the
following persons, in the priority listed, have the right to
control the disposition, including cremation, of the
decedent's remains and are liable for the reasonable costs of
the disposition:
         (1) the person designated in a written instrument that
    satisfies the provisions of Sections 10 and 15 of this Act;
         (2) any person serving as executor or legal
    representative of the decedent's estate and acting
    according to the decedent's written instructions contained
    in the decedent's will;
         (3) the individual who was the spouse of the decedent
    at the time of the decedent's death;
         (4) the sole surviving competent adult child of the
    decedent, or if there is more than one surviving competent
    adult child of the decedent, the majority of the surviving
    competent adult children; however, less than one-half of
    the surviving adult children shall be vested with the
    rights and duties of this Section if they have used
    reasonable efforts to notify all other surviving competent
    adult children of their instructions and are not aware of
    any opposition to those instructions on the part of more
    than one-half of all surviving competent adult children;
         (5) the surviving competent parents of the decedent;
    if one of the surviving competent parents is absent, the
    remaining competent parent shall be vested with the rights
    and duties of this Act after reasonable efforts have been
    unsuccessful in locating the absent surviving competent
    parent;
         (6) the surviving competent adult person or persons
    respectively in the next degrees of kindred or, if there is
    more than one surviving competent adult person of the same
    degree of kindred, the majority of those persons; less than
    the majority of surviving competent adult persons of the
    same degree of kindred shall be vested with the rights and
    duties of this Act if those persons have used reasonable
    efforts to notify all other surviving competent adult
    persons of the same degree of kindred of their instructions
    and are not aware of any opposition to those instructions
    on the part of one-half or more of all surviving competent
    adult persons of the same degree of kindred;
         (7) in the case of indigents or any other individuals
    whose final disposition is the responsibility of the State
    or any of its instrumentalities, a public administrator,
    medical examiner, coroner, State appointed guardian, or
    any other public official charged with arranging the final
    disposition of the decedent;
         (8) in the case of individuals who have donated their
    bodies to science, or whose death occurred in a nursing
    home or other private institution, who have executed
    cremation authorization forms under Section 65 of the
    Crematory Regulation Act and the institution is charged
    with making arrangements for the final disposition of the
    decedent, a representative of the institution; or
         (9) any other person or organization that is willing
    to assume legal and financial responsibility.
    As used in Section, "adult" means any individual who has
reached his or her eighteenth birthday.
(Source: P.A. 94-561, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
    (755 ILCS 65/10)
    Sec. 10. Form. The written instrument authorizing the
disposition of remains under paragraph (1) of Section 5 of this
Act shall be in substantially the following form:
 
"APPOINTMENT OF AGENT TO CONTROL DISPOSITION OF REMAINS

 
        I, ................................, being of sound
    mind, willfully and voluntarily make known my desire that,
    upon my death, the disposition of my remains shall be
    controlled by ................... (name of agent first
    named below) and, with respect to that subject only, I
    hereby appoint such person as my agent (attorney-in-fact).
    All decisions made by my agent with respect to the
    disposition of my remains, including cremation, shall be
    binding.
 
    SPECIAL DIRECTIONS:
         Set forth below are any special directions limiting
    the power granted to my agent:
    ..............................
    ..............................
    ..............................
 
If the disposition of my remains is by cremation, then:
 
( ) I do not wish to allow any of my survivors the option of
canceling my cremation and selecting alternative arrangements,
regardless of whether my survivors deem a change to be
appropriate.
 
( ) I wish to allow only the survivors I have designated below
the option of canceling my cremation and selecting alternative
arrangements, if they deem a change to be appropriate:
    ......................................................
    ......................................................
    ......................................................
 
    ASSUMPTION:
 
        THE AGENT, AND EACH SUCCESSOR AGENT, BY ACCEPTING THIS
    APPOINTMENT, AGREES TO AND ASSUMES THE OBLIGATIONS
    PROVIDED HEREIN. AN AGENT MAY SIGN AT ANY TIME, BUT AN
    AGENT'S AUTHORITY TO ACT IS NOT EFFECTIVE UNTIL THE AGENT
    SIGNS BELOW TO INDICATE THE ACCEPTANCE OF APPOINTMENT. ANY
    NUMBER OF AGENTS MAY SIGN, BUT ONLY THE SIGNATURE OF THE
    AGENT ACTING AT ANY TIME IS REQUIRED.
 
    AGENT:
    Name: ......................................
    Address: ...................................
    Telephone Number: ..........................
    Signature Indicating Acceptance of Appointment:
.................
    Signature of Agent: ........................
    Date of Signature: .........................
 
    SUCCESSORS:
        If my agent dies, becomes legally disabled, resigns, or
    refuses to act, I hereby appoint the following persons
    (each to act alone and successively, in the order named) to
    serve as my agent (attorney-in-fact) to control the
    disposition of my remains as authorized by this document:
 
    1. First Successor
 
    Name: ......................................
    Address: ...................................
    Telephone Number: ..........................
    Signature Indicating Acceptance of Appointment: .........
    Date of Signature: ....................
 
    2. Second Successor
 
    Name: ......................................
    Address: ...................................
    Telephone Number: ..........................
    Signature Indicating Acceptance of Appointment: .........
    Date of Signature: .............
 
    DURATION:
    This appointment becomes effective upon my death.
 
    PRIOR APPOINTMENTS REVOKED:
        I hereby revoke any prior appointment of any person to
    control the disposition of my remains.
 
    RELIANCE:
        I hereby agree that any hospital, cemetery
    organization, business operating a crematory or
    columbarium or both, funeral director or embalmer, or
    funeral establishment who receives a copy of this document
    may act under it. Any modification or revocation of this
    document is not effective as to any such party until that
    party receives actual notice of the modification or
    revocation. No such party shall be liable because of
    reliance on a copy of this document.
    ASSUMPTION:
 
        THE AGENT, AND EACH SUCCESSOR AGENT, BY ACCEPTING THIS
    APPOINTMENT, AGREES TO AND ASSUMES THE OBLIGATIONS
    PROVIDED HEREIN.
 
 
    Signed this ...... day of .............., ...........
 
     .........................................
 
    STATE OF ..................
    COUNTY OF .................
 
 
        BEFORE ME, the undersigned, a Notary Public, on this
    day personally appeared ...................., proved to me
    on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the person
    whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and
    acknowledged to me that he/she executed the same for the
    purposes and consideration therein expressed.
 
    GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND SEAL OF OFFICE this ..... day
    of ................, 2........
 
    ..........................................
 
    Printed Name: .............................
    Notary Public, State of ...................
 
    My Commission Expires:
    ....................".
(Source: P.A. 94-561, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
    (755 ILCS 65/15)
    Sec. 15. Requirements for written instrument under
paragraph (1) of Section 5 of this Act. A written instrument is
legally sufficient under paragraph (1) of Section 5 if the
wording of the instrument complies substantially with Section
10, the instrument is properly completed, the instrument is
signed by the decedent and , the agent, and each successor
agent, and the signature of the decedent is notarized. The
agent may sign at any time, but the agent's authority to act is
not effective until the agent signs the instrument. The written
instrument may be modified or revoked only by a subsequent
written instrument that complies with this Section.
(Source: P.A. 94-561, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
    (755 ILCS 65/40)
    Sec. 40. Directions by decedent.
    (a) A person may provide written directions for the
disposition or designate an agent to direct the disposition,
including cremation, of the person's remains in a will, a
prepaid funeral or burial contract, a power of attorney that
satisfies the provisions of Article IV-Powers of Attorney for
Health Care of the Illinois Power of Attorney Act and contains
a power to direct the disposition of remains, a cremation
authorization form that complies with the Crematory Regulation
Act, or in a written instrument that satisfies the provisions
of Sections 10 and 15 and that is signed by the person and
notarized. The directions may be modified or revoked only by a
subsequent writing signed by the person. and notarized. The
person otherwise entitled to control the disposition of a
decedent's remains under this Act shall faithfully carry out
the directions of the decedent to the extent that the
decedent's estate or the person controlling the disposition are
financially able to do so.
    The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 94th General
Assembly shall also apply to any written instrument that: (i)
satisfies the provision of Article IV-Powers of Attorney for
Health Care of the Illinois Power of Attorney Act; (ii)
contains a power to direct the disposition of remains; and
(iii) was created before the effective date of this amendatory
Act.
    (b) If the directions are in a will, they shall be carried
out immediately without the necessity of probate. If the will
is not probated or is declared invalid for testamentary
purposes, the directions are valid to the extent to which they
have been acted on in good faith.
(Source: P.A. 94-561, eff. 1-1-06.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.