H.B. No. 549

	AN ACT
	relating to the disposition of a decedent's remains.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 711.002, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (l) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (l), unless [Unless] a
	decedent has left directions in writing for the disposition of the
	decedent's remains as provided in Subsection (g), the following
	persons, in the priority listed, have the right to control the
	disposition, including cremation, of the decedent's remains, shall
	inter the remains, and are liable for the reasonable cost of
	interment:
	(1)  the person designated in a written instrument
	signed by the decedent;
	(2)  the decedent's surviving spouse;
	(3)  any one of the decedent's surviving adult
	children;
	(4)  either one of the decedent's surviving parents;
	(5)  any one of the decedent's surviving adult
	siblings; or
	(6)  any adult person in the next degree of kinship in
	the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent.
	(l)  A person listed in Subsection (a) may not control the
	disposition of the decedent's remains if, in connection with the
	decedent's death, an indictment has been filed charging the person
	with a crime under Chapter 19, Penal Code, that involves family
	violence against the decedent.
	SECTION 2.  Section 115(c), Texas Probate Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(c)  After notice and hearing, without regard to whether the
	deceased died intestate or testate, and subject to the prohibition
	described by Section 711.002(l), Health and Safety Code, a court
	may limit the right of a surviving spouse, whether or not the spouse
	has been designated by the deceased's will as the executor of a
	deceased spouse's estate, to control the burial and interment or
	cremation of the deceased spouse if the court finds that there is
	good cause to believe that the surviving spouse is the principal or
	an accomplice in a wilful act which resulted in the death of the
	deceased spouse.
	SECTION 3.  Section 711.002(j), Health and Safety Code, is
	repealed.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 549 was passed by the House on March
	30, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 146, Nays 0, 1 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 549 was passed by the Senate on May
	19, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor