HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

TITLE 8. DEATH AND DISPOSITION OF THE BODY

SUBTITLE C. CEMETERIES AND CREMATORIES

CHAPTER 716. CREMATORIES

Sec. 716.201. CREMATION DISPUTE. (a) Until authorized by a valid court order, a crematory establishment, funeral establishment, cemetery, or other person may refuse to accept deceased human remains or to perform a cremation if the crematory establishment, funeral establishment, cemetery, or person is aware of:

(1) a dispute that has not been resolved or settled concerning the cremation of the remains;

(2) a reasonable basis for questioning any representation made by the authorizing agent; or

(3) any other lawful reason for refusing to accept or cremate the remains.

(b) A crematory establishment, funeral establishment, cemetery, or other person aware of any dispute concerning the release or disposition of the cremated remains may refuse to release the remains until:

(1) the dispute has been resolved or settled; or

(2) authorized by a valid court order to release or dispose of the remains.

(c) A crematory establishment, funeral establishment, cemetery, or other person is not liable in a civil action or criminal prosecution for refusing to accept or cremate human remains in accordance with Subsection (a) or for refusing to release or dispose of or releasing or disposing of cremated remains in accordance with Subsection (b).

When someone passes away, funeral directors are required by law to notify Social Security.  We do this when we create the death record and with Form SSA-721.  This should stop any benefits the deceased was receiving.  You will still need to contact Social Security if you need to make any adjustments or apply for other benefits.

We accept life insurance polices for payment that meet certain criteria.  Firstly, our staff must be able to verify that the policy is in-force and is assignable.  Secondly, the policy must not be contestable (usually less than two years old). Finally, the beneficiary must be able and willing to assign a portion of the proceeds of the policy over to cover the cremation bill.  Because of the necessary paper work and the delay in receiving payment, we only allow life insurance payments for our Premium Package.

Please note: There is a 4% added service charge on top of the total cremation bill to accept insurance for payment.

The cremation process involves several steps.  In order to give the consumer a better understanding of the chronology of events here is a generic timeline of what takes place and when.  As a general rule the average time to complete the cremation is 7 to 10 business days.  Death certificates will not arrive in our office for 2 to 3 weeks.

1. Death is Reported to Lone Star.  Our staff will make arrangements for the transfer of the deceased to our facility from a residence, hospice, hospital or Medical Examiner’s Office. (Our staff is available 24 hours to take your loved one into our care.)
2. The next-of-kin or responsible party makes or finalizes arrangements online with Lone Star Cremation. (24 to 48 hours after death)
3. Using the information provided by the responsible party our staff will generate an electronic death certificate and send it to the physician/Justice of Peace that will be certifying the death (1 to 14 Business Days)  Please note: By law the certifier has 10 business days to sign the death certificate.
4. Once the death certificate is signed our staff will request permission to cremate the body from the Medical Examiner who’s jurisdiction the death occurred. (1 to 2 Business Days)
5. Once the Medical Examiner has approved the cremation a permit will be requested from the State of Texas to proceed with the cremation. (1 to 2 Business Days)
6. Once the State issues the permit we will schedule the cremation at our crematory. (1 to 2 Business Days)
7. Certified Death Certificates will be ordered from the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Austin, Texas they will arrive in our office in 7 to 21 days.
8. Ashes are returned to our business office and placed into the urn selected. Usually within 1 to 2 business days after cremation.
9. Once the death certificates arrive from Austin, the ashes, death certificates and any merchandise selected can either be picked up by the responsible party or we will ship everything to the address provided when making arrangements.  (If shipping the delivery time is usually 1 to 3 business days.  If picking up, we ask that ashes be claimed within 30 days of us notifying the responsible party that everything is complete.)

For the majority of the families we serve, the average time it takes to complete the cremation is 7 to 10 business days.

We service the following Texas Counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Hood, Johnson, Kaufman, McLennan, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise Counties.

Please note: Not all counties are available in all of our packages.

In Texas, a cremation can be authorized by the person designated in a written instrument signed by the decedent; or the legal next-of-kin in order of priority.