Massachusetts General Laws
Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials
Section 44 - Cremation of Bodies

[See Order of the Commissioner of Public Health, dated March 23, 2020, (2019 MA EO H20-9) related to the COVID-19 State of Emergency, for potential impact on the terms of this section.]
Section 44. The body of a deceased person shall not be cremated within 48 hours after his decease unless he died of a contagious or infectious disease, and, if the death occurred within the commonwealth, the body shall not be cremated by any corporation authorized to cremate the bodies of the dead until its officers have received the certificate or burial permit required by law before burial, and a certificate from a medical examiner or similarly authorized person that he has viewed the body and made personal inquiry into the cause and manner of death, and is of opinion that no further examination or judicial inquiry concerning the same is necessary. If the death occurs without the commonwealth, the medical examiner's certificate may be provided by a medical examiner or similarly authorized person in whose jurisdiction said death occurred or the reception and cremation of the body of a deceased person shall be governed by a by-law or regulation made or approved by the department of public health as provided in section nine.

Structure Massachusetts General Laws