Introduction to Mortuary Law

Flashcards covering key concepts from mortuary law focusing on definitions, sources, types of laws, and methods of disposition.

Funeral Service Law

That branch of law which relates to matters concerned with the disposal of the dead and regulation of funeral directors/embalmers and funeral establishments.

Constitutional Law

The body of law deriving from the U.S. Constitution and dealing primarily with governmental powers, civil rights and civil liberties.

Legislation (Statutory Law)

Law created by legislative bodies in contrast to law generated by judicial opinions and administrative bodies.

Police Power

The inherent power of every government to make reasonable laws to protect the safety, health, morals, and general welfare of its citizens.

Administrative Law

The body of law created by federal and state administrative agencies through implementation of powers and duties in the form of rules, regulations, orders, and decisions.

Contract Law

An agreement between two or more competent persons enforceable by law.

Case Law

Appellate court decisions that establish precedented principles.

Stare Decisis

A policy of courts to stand by a precedent and apply it to all future cases where the facts are substantially the same.

Quasi-Property Theory

A theory that a dead body has characteristics of both personal and non-personal property.

Ground Burial

A method of final disposition that involves interment or inurnment of a body.

Alkaline Hydrolysis

A method of body disposition involving placement of the body in a cylinder filled with water and strong alkaline chemicals.

Natural Organic Reduction

A method of body disposition where the body is placed in a vessel filled with organics to reduce it to soil.

Dead Human Body

The body of a dead human being, deprived of life, but not entirely disintegrated.

Corpse

A legal term for a dead human body used in a court of law.

Cadaver

A dead human body that has been donated for scientific research.

Cremation

The mechanical and/or thermal process that reduces human remains to bone fragments.

Burial at Sea

A method of final disposition that involves burying a body in the ocean at least three nautical miles from shore.

Mausoleum

A structure for entombment that is designed to withstand earthquakes and includes individual ventilation systems.

Human Body Parts

Organs, tissues, eyes, bones, arteries, blood, and other portions of a human body for transplantation.