§ 37:831 — Definitions

§831. Definitions
For purposes of this Chapter and implementation thereof, the following terms have
the meaning as defined herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Active licensee" means an individual that holds a funeral director or embalmer
and funeral director license issued by the board and who has complied with all requirements
of this Chapter.
(2) "Addiction" means the physiological or psychological dependency on drugs or
alcohol.
(3) "Advertisement" means the publication, dissemination, circulation, or the placing
before the public, or causing directly or indirectly to be made, published, disseminated, or
placed before the public any announcement or statement in a newspaper, magazine, or other
publication, or in the form of a book, notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, handbill, poster, bill,
sign, placard, card, label, or tag, or over any radio station, television station, or both.
(4) "Approved continuing education program" means a continuing education
program activity which is approved by the board.
(5) "Approved provider" means any continuing education provider approved by the
board.
(6) "Association" means a partnership, a combination or group of individuals, or an
unincorporated organization of persons having a common interest.
(7) "Authorizing agent" means a person legally entitled to authorize the cremation
of human remains.
(8) "Board" means the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.
(9) "Body parts" means human remains or limbs or other portions of the anatomy that
are severed from the body during an accident; removed from a person for medical purposes
during treatment, surgery, biopsy, autopsy, or medical research; or otherwise become
unattached from the body. It also means human bodies or any portion of bodies that have
been donated to science for medical, educational, or research purposes.
(10) "Branch establishment" means a licensed funeral establishment devoted to or
used in the care of the body of a deceased person, or maintained or held out to the public, by
advertising or otherwise, as the office or place for the practice of funeral directing.
Ownership of the branch is identical to the ownership of the main funeral establishment
controlling the branch, and such establishment can practically be served by the licensed
personnel of the main establishment.
(11) "Burial" means the act or process of disposing of a human body by depositing
it in the earth, at sea, or by any other accepted disposition.
(12) "Burial-transit permit" means the permit for disposition of a dead human body
as required by state law.
(13) "Buyer" means the person entering into a preneed funeral contract with a
licensed funeral establishment.
(14) "Capper", "steerer", or "runner" means a person who, for monetary benefits or
other considerations, procures or attempts to procure business at the direction of, request of,
or in cooperation with a licensee by means of deceit, trick, fraud, or misleading statements.
(15) "Care of the dead" means watchful observation of the deceased person and
attention given to the survivors and friends.
(16) "Casket" means a rigid container which is designed for the encasement of
human remains usually constructed of wood, metal, fiberglass, or other similar material and
ornamented and lined with fabric, which may or may not be combustible, for transportation,
or for other disposition.
(17) "Certificate" means a license issued by the board.
(18) "Change of ownership" means a transfer of more than fifty percent of the stock
or assets of a funeral establishment or crematory authority.
(19) "Closed container" means any container in which cremated human remains can
be placed and closed in a manner so as to prevent leakage or spillage of remains or the
entrance of foreign material.
(20) "Contagious disease" means a disease which is communicable by contact.
(21) "Continuing education" means that education which is obtained by a licensee
through education processes in order to develop, maintain, improve, or expand skills and
knowledge.
(22) "Corporation" means a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single
person although constituted by one or more persons and legally endowed with various rights
and duties.
(23) "Cremated human remains" means all the remains of the human body recovered
after the completion of the cremation process, including processing, pulverization, or
processing and pulverization which leaves only bone fragments reduced to unidentifiable
dimensions and may possibly include the residue of any foreign material that was cremated
with the human remains.
(24) "Cremation" means the technical process, using direct flame and heat, that
reduces human remains to bone fragments through heat and evaporation. Cremation may
also include the processing, pulverization, or the processing and pulverization of bone
fragments.
(25) "Cremation container" means the container in which the human remains are
transported to the crematory and placed in the cremation retort for cremation. A cremation
container should substantially meet all of the following standards:
(a) Be composed of materials suitable for cremation.
(b) Provide a complete covering for the human remains.
(c) Be resistant to leakage or spillage.
(d) Be rigid enough for handling with ease.
(e) Provide protection to safeguard the health, safety, welfare, and personal integrity
of crematory personnel.
(26) "Cremation retort" means the enclosed space within which the cremation
process takes place.
(27) "Crematory" means the building or portion of a building that houses the
cremation retort for the reduction of bodies of deceased persons to cremated human remains.
(28) "Crematory authority" means the legal entity which is licensed by the board to
operate a crematory.
(29) "Crematory retort operator" means the individual who is authorized and licensed
by the board to operate the retort and perform the cremation process.
(30) "Deceptive" means tending or having power to impose a false idea or belief or
causing one to believe an untruth.
(31) "Dishonest conduct" means a standard of personal behavior by a funeral
director, or embalmer, or both, characterized by a willful distortion of the truth in an attempt
to deceive, cheat or defraud.
(32) "Disinterment" means the act or ceremony of extracting a dead human body
from the earth or tomb.
(33) "Disposition" means the shipment, interment, burial, cremation, or anatomical
donation of a dead human body or parts of a dead human body.
(34) "Embalmer" means a person who disinfects or preserves, or both, a dead human
body or bodies, entirely or in part, by the use of chemical substances, fluids, or gases
ordinarily used, prepared, or intended for such purposes, either by outward application of
such chemical substances, fluids, or gases on the body, or by the introduction of same into
the body by vascular or hypodermic injection, or by direct application into the organs or
cavities.
(35) "Embalmer and funeral director" means a person to whom a valid license has
been issued by the board to perform the duties of embalming and funeral directing.
(36) "Embalming" means preparing, disinfecting, and preserving, either
hypodermically, arterially, or by any other recognized means, the body of a deceased person
for burial, cremation, or other disposition.
(37) "Financial institution" means a state or national bank, savings bank or savings
association located in the state of Louisiana and whose deposits are insured by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, including homesteads, building and loan associations and
savings and loan associations.
(38) "Firm" means a business unit or enterprise or a partnership of two or more
persons not recognized as a legal person distinct from the members composing it.
(39) "Formal hearing" means a hearing as provided for in R.S. 37:847.
(40) "Fraud" means the intentional distortion of the truth by a funeral director, or
embalmer, or both, in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender
to a legal right.
(41) "Funeral" means the observances held for a dead person usually before burial
or cremation.
(42) "Funeral directing" means the operation of a funeral home, or, by way of
illustration and not limitation, any service whatsoever connected with the management of
funerals, or the supervision of hearses or funeral cars, the purchase of caskets or other funeral
merchandise, and retail sale and display thereof, the cleaning or dressing of dead human
bodies for burial, and the performance or supervision of any service or act connected with
the management of funerals from time of death until the body or bodies are delivered to the
cemetery, crematory, or other agent for the purpose of disposition.
(43) "Funeral director" means a person to whom a valid license has been issued by
the board to perform the duties of funeral directing.
(44) "Funeral establishment" means any place or premises duly licensed by the board
and devoted to or used in the care and preparation for disposition of the body of a deceased
person or maintained or held out to the public by advertising or otherwise as the office or
place for the practice of funeral directing.
(45) "Funeral goods and services" means any one or more of the following goods or
services:
(a) Goods which are sold or offered for sale directly to the public for use in
connection with funeral services.
(b) Any services which may be used to care for or prepare deceased human remains
for burial, cremation, or other final disposition.
(c) The arranging, supervising, or conducting of the funeral ceremony or the final
disposition of deceased human bodies.
(d) Funeral merchandise.
(46) "Funeral merchandise" means: caskets, rental caskets, rental casket inserts,
alternative containers, combo/shipping caskets, and other receptacles, excluding urns, where
human remains are directly placed for disposition.
(47) "Funeral recipient" means the individual for whom funeral goods and services
are to be provided under the terms of a preneed funeral contract.
(48) "Funeral trust account" means an account established pursuant to R.S.
37:865(B)(1).
(49) "Gratuity" means an inducement given voluntarily or beyond obligation to gain
business.
(50) "Guaranteed funeral goods and services" means funeral goods and services
which a funeral establishment agrees to provide for a named funeral recipient upon death
which are a specifically identified set of funeral goods and services designated as guaranteed
and for which a funeral trust account has been established or a preneed insurance policy or
annuity has been purchased or assigned to pay for those funeral goods and services, provided
the buyer has fully funded a funeral trust account, or has fully paid for a preneed funeral
policy or annuity, within a specified period of time after the preneed funeral contract is made
and the funeral establishment has agreed to accept the funds available in the funeral trust
account or preneed insurance policy or annuity during the term of the guarantee as payment
in full for those funeral goods and services so that there will be no additional cost to the
funeral recipient's family or his or her estate for those funeral goods and services.
(51) "Holding facility" means an area within or adjacent to the crematory designated
for the short-term retention of human remains prior to cremation that shall fulfill all of the
following requirements:
(a) Comply with any applicable public health laws.
(b) Preserve the dignity of the human remains.
(c) Recognize the integrity, health, safety, and welfare of the crematory authority
personnel operating the crematory.
(d) Be secure from access by anyone other than authorized personnel.
(52) "Hour of continuing education" means a unit of measurement equivalent to an
organized learning experience of fifty consecutive minutes.
(53) "Human remains" means the body of a deceased person, or part of a body or
limb in any stage of decomposition that has been removed from a living or dead person.
(54) "Inactive licensee" means an individual that holds a funeral director or
embalmer and funeral director license issued by the board not practicing in any capacity in
this state and who has not met the requirements of R.S. 37:854.
(55) "Incompetency" means the lack of skills or qualities necessary to perform the
duties of funeral director, or embalmer, or both.
(56) "Infectious disease" means a sickness or malady which is easily diffused, or
spread, or communicated.
(57) "Informal meeting" means a fact gathering session of the board as provided for
in R.S. 37:847.
(58) "Interment" means the act or ceremony of burying a dead human body.
(59) "Interment receptacle" means an enclosure in which a casket is placed.
(60) "Intern" means a person who is duly registered as such with the board while in
the employ of a funeral establishment and who is engaged in learning the practice of funeral
directing, or the practice of embalming, or both as the case may be, under the supervision of
a funeral director or funeral director and embalmer duly licensed by the board and available
on the same premises for consultation.
(61) "Joint venture" means a speculative business enterprise involving the united
activity of two or more persons.
(62) "Legal custody" means the immediate care, charge, and control exercised by a
person or an authority according to or within the law.
(63) "Malpractice" as used in this Chapter, means a negligence from professional
duty or a failure to exercise an acceptable degree of skill or learning as a funeral director, or
embalmer, or both that results in injury, loss, or damage.
(64) "Mandatory disclosure" means to divulge necessary, required information
relating to services and merchandise offered by the funeral home establishment and
pertaining to any other conditions known at the time funeral arrangements are made.
(65) "Mislead" means to lead into a mistaken action or belief often by deliberate
deceit.
(66) "Misrepresentation" means the act of giving a false, or misleading representation
with an intent to deceive.
(67) "Next of kin" means one or more living persons in the nearest degree of
relationship to another person.
(68) "Partnership" means a legal relationship existing between two or more persons
contractually associated as joint principals in a business.
(69) "Prearrangement" means the non-binding gathering and exchange of
information before the death of an individual that provides guidance for a funeral or final
disposition of that individual and does not result in a preneed funeral contract.
(70) "Preneed funeral contract" means any written agreement between a buyer and
a funeral establishment in which a funeral establishment agrees, prior to the death of a named
funeral recipient, to furnish funeral goods and services for the funeral recipient upon death,
and the buyer, pursuant to that agreement, transfers or tenders funds, or assigns an insurance
policy or annuity to the funeral establishment for the purpose of paying all or part of the cost
of those funeral goods and services at the time they are actually provided. The contract may
be designated as revocable or irrevocable and may be guaranteed or non-guaranteed as to
some or all of the funeral goods and services included therein.
(71) "Preneed insurance policy or annuity" means any policy or contract of insurance
issued by an insurance company in accordance with Title 22 of the Louisiana Revised
Statutes of 1950, and used to fund a preneed funeral contract.
(72) "Preparation" means the actions or processes necessary to make a dead body
ready for disposition.
(73) "Processing" means the reduction of identifiable bone fragments after the
completion of the cremation process to unidentifiable bone fragments by manual or
mechanical means.
(74) "Program instructor" means an organization or person who conducts or presents
continuing education to licensees.
(75) "Pulverization" means the reduction of identifiable bone fragments after the
completion of the cremation and processing of granulated particles by manual or mechanical
means.
(76) "Reburial" means to transfer or transport a body from one place to another for
reinterment.
(77) "Refund designee" means the person designated in a preneed funeral contract
by the buyer to receive any surplus of funds as provided in R.S. 37:865(G) and (I).
(78) "Removal" means to transfer or transport a body from one place to another for
preparation for burial or reburial.
(79) "Sole proprietorship" means one who has the legal right or exclusive title to
something.
(80) "Solicitation" means the act or practice of any licensee, or any agent, employee,
or person acting on his behalf, approaching a person or a group of persons to make a request
or plea, or to urge someone toward a particular cause as it may pertain to the care, custody,
or disposition of a dead human body.
(81) Repealed by Acts 2014, No. 264, §2.
(82) "Temporary container" means a receptacle for cremated human remains usually
made of cardboard, plastic, or similar material designed to hold the cremated human remains
until an urn or other permanent container is acquired. "Temporary container" shall not mean
a "temporary receiving vault" as defined in R.S. 8:1.
(83) "Temporary license" is a license issued for a period of not more than six months
to an individual who has been licensed for a period of not less than one year and who has
been active as an embalmer and funeral director or funeral director in another state, province,
or jurisdiction recognized by the board and who meets all of the requirements of this Part.
The license entitles the holder to practice embalming and funeral directing or funeral
directing in the state of Louisiana under the general supervision of a licensed establishment
manager. The license shall become null and void if the license being endorsed is revoked,
suspended, or lapsed.
(84) "Transfer" means to convey from one person, place, or situation to another.
(85) "Unethical or unprofessional conduct" as used in this Chapter means a standard
of personal behavior by a funeral director, or embalmer, or both, or intern, or individual
working under the authority of a temporary license not conforming to accepted, professional
principles of the funeral service profession.
(86) "Untrustworthiness" means the quality or state of not being worthy of
confidence.
(87) "Untruthful" means to be false, inaccurate, or dishonest.
(88) "Urn" means a receptacle designed to permanently encase cremated human
remains.

Legislative History

Acts 1963, No. 12, §1; Acts 1966, No. 19, §1, eff. June 15, 1966 at 10:30 A.M.; Acts 1977, No. 283, §1; Acts 1983, No. 454, §1; Acts 1990, No. 415, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Acts 2003, No. 1243, §2; Acts 2008, No. 799, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2010, No. 373, §1; Acts 2012, No. 176, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; Acts 2014, No. 264, §§1, 2; Acts 2015, No. 25, §1.