7615-7636

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 7615-7636




7615.  A funeral director is a person engaged in or conducting, or
holding himself or herself out as engaged in any of the following:
   (a) Preparing for the transportation or burial or disposal, or
directing and supervising for transportation or burial or disposal of
human remains.
   (b) Maintaining an establishment for the preparation for the
transportation or disposition or for the care of human remains.
   (c) Using, in connection with his or her name, the words "funeral
director," or "undertaker," or "mortician," or any other title
implying that he or she is engaged as a funeral director.



7616.  (a) A licensed funeral establishment is a place of business
conducted in a building or separate portion of a building having a
specific street address or location and devoted exclusively to those
activities as are incident, convenient, or related to the preparation
and arrangements, financial and otherwise, for the funeral,
transportation, burial or other disposition of human remains and
including, but not limited to, either of the following:
   (1) A suitable room for the storage of human remains.
   (2) A preparation room equipped with a sanitary flooring and
necessary drainage and ventilation and containing necessary
instruments and supplies for the preparation, sanitation, or
embalming of human remains for burial or transportation.
   (b) Licensed funeral establishments under common ownership or by
contractual agreement within close geographical proximity of each
other shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of
paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) if at least one of the
establishments has a room described in those paragraphs.
   (c) Except as provided in Section 7609, and except accredited
mortuary science programs engaged in teaching students the art of
embalming, no person shall operate or maintain or hold himself or
herself out as operating or maintaining any of the facilities
specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), unless he or she is
licensed as a funeral director.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a
funeral establishment to conduct its business or financial
transactions at the same location as its preparation or storage of
human remains.
   (e) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to render unlawful the
conduct of any ambulance service from the same premises as those on
which a licensed funeral establishment is conducted, including the
maintenance in connection with the funeral establishment of garages
for the ambulances and living quarters for ambulance drivers.



7616.2.  A licensed funeral establishment shall at all times employ
a licensed funeral director to manage, direct, or control its
business or profession. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
chapter, licensed funeral establishments within close geographical
proximity of each other, may request the bureau to allow a licensed
funeral director to manage, direct, or control the business or
profession of more than one facility.



7617.  The business of a licensed funeral establishment shall be
conducted and engaged in at a fixed place or facility.
   No person, partnership, association, corporation, or other
organization shall open or maintain a place or establishment at which
to engage in or conduct, or hold himself or herself or itself out as
engaging in or conducting, the business of a funeral establishment
without a license.



7617.1.  The applicant for a funeral establishment license, or in
the case the applicant is an association, partnership, or
corporation, all officers of the corporation or association or all
general partners of the partnership shall be at least 18 years of age
and shall not have committed acts or crimes constituting grounds for
denial of licensure under Section 480.



7618.  An application for a funeral director's license shall be
written on a form provided by the bureau, verified by the applicant,
accompanied by the fee fixed by this chapter and filed at its
Sacramento office.


7619.  The applicant for a funeral director's license shall be at
least 18 years of age, possess an associate of arts or science
degree, or the equivalent, or a higher level of education as
recognized by the Western Association of Colleges and Universities,
or any other nationally recognized accrediting body of colleges and
universities, and shall not have committed acts or crimes
constituting grounds for denial of licensure under Section 480.



7619.2.  The bureau shall grant a funeral director's license to any
applicant who complies with this article, notwithstanding Section
7619, if the applicant can demonstrate that he or she has complied
with Section 7622 on or before July 1, 1999.




7619.3.  No licensed funeral director shall engage in or conduct, or
hold himself or herself out as engaging in or conducting, the
activities of a funeral director without being employed by, or
without being a sole proprietor of, a licensed funeral establishment.




7620.  The application shall specify the address at which the
applicant proposes to engage in or conduct a place of business as a
funeral director.


7621.  The applicant shall also furnish the bureau with satisfactory
proof that the facility in which he or she intends to conduct
business as a funeral director is or will be constructed, equipped
and maintained in all respects as a licensed funeral establishment as
defined in this chapter.



7622.  Before an individual is granted a funeral director's license,
he or she shall successfully pass an examination upon the following
subjects:
   (a) The signs of death.
   (b) The manner by which death may be determined.
   (c) The laws governing the preparation, burial and disposal of
human remains, and the shipment of bodies dying from infectious or
contagious diseases.
   (d) Local health and sanitary ordinances and regulations relating
to funeral directing and embalming.



7622.2.  No person, partnership, association, corporation, or other
organization shall open or maintain a place or establishment at which
to engage in or conduct, or hold himself, herself, or itself out as
engaging in or conducting, the activities of a funeral director
without a license.



7622.5.  An applicant for examination under Section 7622 shall pay
the funeral director's examination fee fixed by this chapter.



7623.  If an applicant for a funeral establishment license proposes
to engage in or conduct more than one funeral establishment, the
applicant shall make a separate application and procure a separate
license for each separate establishment.




7624.  Not more than one person, partnership, association,
corporation, or other organization engaged in business as a funeral
establishment shall transact business in one specific funeral
facility.



7625.  Upon receipt of an application for a license, the bureau
shall cause an investigation to be made of the physical status or
plans and specifications of the proposed funeral establishment, and
of the other qualifications required of the applicant under this
chapter, and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer
oaths, and take testimony.
   The bureau shall grant a license if it finds that the proposed
funeral establishment is or will be constructed and equipped as
required by this chapter and that the applicant is qualified in all
other respects as required by this chapter.



7626.  The bureau shall examine and pass upon the qualifications of
the applicant as to ability and experience before passing upon the
physical status or plans and specifications of the proposed funeral
establishment.


7626.5.  Where a hearing is held to determine whether an application
for a license should be granted, the proceeding shall be conducted
in accordance with Chapter 5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, and the bureau shall have all of the powers
granted therein.



7627.  Every application for a funeral director's license under this
article shall be granted or refused within ninety days from the date
of the filing of the application, or within thirty days after the
close of the hearing upon the application, in case a hearing is held.



7628.  Any person, partnership, association, corporation, or other
organization desiring to change the location of a licensed funeral
establishment shall apply therefor on forms furnished by the bureau
and shall include a fee fixed by this chapter.
   The application shall be granted by the bureau upon the filing
with the bureau of a favorable report from an inspector concerning
the physical status or plans and specifications of the proposed
licensed funeral establishment to the effect that it conforms to the
requirements of this article.


7629.  No funeral establishment shall be conducted or held forth as
being conducted or advertised as being conducted under any name which
might tend to mislead the public or which would be sufficiently like
the name of any other licensed funeral establishment so as to
constitute an unfair method of competition.
   Any funeral director desiring to change the name appearing on his
or her license may do so by applying to the bureau and paying the fee
fixed by this chapter.


7630.  A funeral establishment's license may be assigned upon
payment of the fee fixed by this chapter and upon submission of an
audit report prepared and signed by an independent certified public
accountant or public accountant currently licensed in this state. The
audit report shall include an unqualified opinion on the accuracy of
the trust fund balances and a report of compliance with the
provisions of this article and Article 9 (commencing with Section
7735). Any shortages in the trust funds shall be funded.
   The assignee shall comply with all provisions previously placed on
the assignor.



7631.  In case of the death of a licensed funeral director who
leaves a funeral establishment as part or all of the assets of his or
her estate, the bureau may issue a temporary license to his or her
legal representative, unless the legal representative has committed
acts or crimes constituting grounds for denial of licensure under
Section 480. A temporary establishment license is valid for six
months from the date of issue. However, upon the petition of the
estate's legal representative, the bureau, in its discretion, may
grant a reasonable extension to allow for the assets of the estate to
be distributed as circumstances warrant.




7632.  A funeral director shall cause all human remains embalmed in
or at the direction of his or her funeral establishment to be
embalmed by a licensed embalmer, by an apprentice embalmer under the
supervision of his or her licensed supervising embalmer, or by a
student in a program accredited by the American Board of Funeral
Service Education under the supervision of a licensed embalmer.



7633.  No funeral director shall charge a fee for filing a
certificate of death or for providing copies thereof in excess of
fees set by statute for filing and providing certified copies of such
certificates.


7634.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a licensed
embalmer, at the request of a licensed physician, may remove tissue
from human remains for transplant, or therapeutic, or scientific
purposes specified in, and pursuant to, the provisions of the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 7150) of
Part 1 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code), if such embalmer
has completed a course in tissue removal for transplant, or
therapeutic, or scientific purposes approved by the Medical Board of
California of the State of California.



7635.  (a) Any person employed by, or an agent of, a licensed
funeral establishment, who consults with the family or
representatives of a family of a deceased person for the purpose of
arranging for services as set forth in subdivision (a) of Section
7615, shall receive documented training and instruction which results
in a demonstrated knowledge of all applicable federal and state
laws, rules, and regulations including those provisions dealing with
vital statistics, the coroner, anatomical gifts, and other laws,
rules, and regulations pertaining to the duties of a funeral
director. A written outline of the training program, including
documented evidence of the training time, place, and participants,
shall be maintained in the funeral establishment and shall be
available for inspection and comment by an inspector of the bureau.
   (b) This section shall not apply to anyone who has successfully
passed the funeral director's examination pursuant to Section 7622.




7636.  (a) (1) Any person who holds or has held, or was named on,
any license or registration under the jurisdiction of the bureau that
has been, within the immediately preceding 10 years, revoked,
suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered under a stipulated
decision, and who is employed by, or who seeks employment with, a
licensed funeral establishment in any capacity, shall inform the
managing funeral director of that revocation, suspension, probation,
or surrender.
   (2) A person subject to this subdivision shall inform the managing
funeral director upon application for employment by completing a
form that shall be made available by the bureau.
   (b) A managing funeral director who is informed pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall notify the bureau by submitting the form within
30 days of so being informed. Failure of the managing funeral
director to notify the bureau shall be a cause for a warning. A
managing funeral director shall not be subject to a warning if his or
her failure to notify the bureau is due to a false statement made by
an employee.
   (c) Any person required to notify the managing funeral director
under subdivision (a) who fails to do so or who makes a false
statement on the required form shall be subject to disciplinary
action if that person is a licensee of the bureau, or that failure or
false statement shall be cause for denial of a license under Section
480.
   (d) For purposes of subdivision (a), the term "named on" applies
to a person who was an owner, partner, or corporate officer of an
entity that was licensed or registered under the act at the time that
entity's license or registration under the act was revoked,
suspended, placed on probation, or surrendered.