How Care Facility Staff and Administrators Can Support Families Who Choose Home Funerals in Washington

Washingtonians have the legal right to custody and control of their own dead. One of the greatest challenges to home funerals is that many facilities have policies that require immediate or timely removal of the body. These may make it difficult for the next-of-kin to make their own arrangements for completing paperwork and transportation. While some families may have plans to move their loved one home rather than to a funeral home, others may only learn they have this right through well-crafted body release policies and procedures. Nurses, chaplains, and social workers can convey accurate information to families about their right to handle after-death care and assist families in making the transition from facility to home go smoothly.
 
Legal Authority of the Next-of-Kin

In Washington, the legislative authority for the next-of-kin to act as unpaid funeral services practitioners is found in RCW§68.50.270: "Possession of human remains: The person or persons determined under RCW§68.50.160 as having authority to order disposition is entitled to possession of the human remains without further intervention by the state or its political subdivisions."
 
RCW§68.50.160(1) specifies: “A person has the right to control the disposition of his or her own remains without the predeath or post death consent of another person. A valid written document expressing the decedent's wishes regarding the place or method of disposition of his or her remains, signed by the decedent in the presence of a witness, is sufficient legal authorization for the procedures to be accomplished.” Immediate family are by law the default decision makers regarding physical remains.
 
Ways You Are Empowered to Assist the Next-of-Kin


1. Determine who is responsible for writing or revising body release policies and procedures. Check to see if the existing policy is in compliance with the law regarding home funeral families’ rights to care for their own dead.
2. Ask the next-of-kin, “What plans can we assist you in making?” instead of “What funeral home do you want us to call?” See How Celebrants/Clergy/Chaplains Can Support Washington Home Funeral Families.
3. Provide the following information alongside any information about local funeral homes: Under Washington law, families may conduct any or all tasks commonly performed by a funeral home, except embalming (which is not required by Washington law). This may include:
   • caring for the deceased (for example, bathing and dressing);
   • sheltering the deceased at home;
   • filing death notice, handling death certificate/transportation/disposition permit;
   • transporting the body home or to another location for care and viewing (sometimes called a wake or vigil), and to place of final disposition;
   • making arrangements for any ceremony and for final disposition (for example, with a cemetery or crematory, or obtaining county planning commission permission for a home burial).

Additional Information

National Home Funeral Alliance (NHFA) www.homefuneralalliance.org

Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) www.funerals.org
10 Ways Care Facility Staff Can Support Home Funeral Families
How Celebrants/Clergy/Chaplains Can Support Washington Home Funeral Families

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