§ 2711 — Persons who may execute an anatomical gift

(a) Any individual of sound mind and 18 years of age or more or an agent of such an individual, or an individual not of such age who has parental consent may give all or any part of the individual’s body for any purposes specified in § 2712 of this title, the gift to take effect upon the donor’s death. However, a married minor may make such a donation without parental consent.

(b) “Parental consent” as used in this section shall be defined as the recorded permission by any of the following persons in order of priority stated below when persons of prior classes are no longer living or no longer have contractual capacity and when there is no notice to a donee of an objection, written or otherwise, by a person of the same class:

(1) Either parent;

(2) A legal guardian;

(3) Any individual having legal custody.

(c) Any of the following persons, who are reasonably available, in order of priority stated, when persons in prior classes are not available at the time of death and in the absence of known objections by the decedent or by a member of the same or a prior class, may give all or any part of the decedent’s body for any purpose specified in § 2712 of this title:

(1) An agent of the decedent;

(2) The spouse of the decedent (unless a petition for divorce has been filed);

(3) An adult child of the decedent;

(4) A parent of the decedent;

(5) An adult sibling of the decedent;

(6) An adult grandchild of the decedent;

(7) An adult niece or nephew of the decedent;

(8) An adult aunt or uncle of the decedent;

(9) Any other person related to the decedent by blood, marriage or adoption or an adult who exhibited special care and concern for the decedent;

(10) A guardian of the person of the decedent at the time of death;

(11) Any other person authorized or obligated to dispose of the decedent’s body;

(12) A hospital administrator or their designee of the institution at which the decedent was a patient at the time of death.

(d) If the donee knows of an objection by the decedent or that a gift authorized by a member of a class is opposed by 50 percent or more of the reasonably available members of the same class or by a member of a prior class, the donee shall not accept the gift. The persons authorized by subsection (c) of this section may make the gift after death or immediately before death. A gift made by a person authorized pursuant to subsection (c) of this section may be amended or revoked by that person subject to § 2715(d) of this title.

(e) A gift of all or part of a body authorizes any examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the gift for the purposes intended.

(f) The rights of the donee created by the gift are paramount to the rights of others except as provided by § 2716(f) of this title.

(g) A donor’s gift of all or any part of the individual’s body, as indicated pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, a designation on a driver’s license or identification card, donor card, advance health-care directive, will or other document of gift, may not be revoked by the next-of-kin or other persons identified in subsection (c) of this section, nor shall the consent of any such person at the time of the donor’s death or immediately thereafter be necessary to render the gift valid and effective.

(h) The absence of a document of gift, in and of itself, shall not create any presumption regarding the person’s wishes regarding anatomical donation.

Legislative History

24 Del. C. 1953, § 1781; 57 Del. Laws, c. 445, § 2 ; 64 Del. Laws, c. 16, §§ 1-3 ; 65 Del. Laws, c. 487, § 3 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1 ; 73 Del. Laws, c. 1, § 1 ; 80 Del. Laws, c. 182, § 1