157.06(5)(b)3.
3. The hospital administrator or representative or the organ procurement organization representative or designated requester shall make the request with reasonable discretion and sensitivity to the circumstances of the family. A request need not be made if the gift is not suitable, based upon accepted medical standards, for a purpose specified in
sub. (6) (a) or if the requester knows that the patient, or the member of the class of individuals to whom the request would be directed under
sub. (3) (a), has a cultural or religious objection or any other objection to the making of an anatomical gift. An entry shall be made in the medical record of the patient, in accordance with the rules promulgated under
par. (f), stating the name and affiliation of the individual making the request and the name, response and relationship to the patient of the individual to whom the request was made.
157.06(5)(bm)
(bm) If at or near the time of death of a patient a hospital knows that an anatomical gift of all or a part of the patient's body has been made under
sub. (3) (a), that a release and removal of a part of the patient's body has been permitted under
sub. (4) or that a patient or an individual identified as in transit to the hospital is a donor, the hospital shall notify the donee if one is named and known to the hospital. If a donee is neither named nor known to the hospital, the hospital shall notify an appropriate procurement organization. The hospital shall cooperate in the implementation of the anatomical gift or release and removal of a part of the body of the patient or individual.
157.06(5)(c)
(c) All of the following persons, under the following circumstances, shall make a reasonable search for a document of gift or other information identifying the individual as a donor or as an individual who has revoked or refused to make an anatomical gift:
157.06(5)(c)1.
1. A law enforcement officer, fire fighter, emergency medical technician - paramedic, ambulance service provider or emergency medical technician - basic who finds an individual whom the person believes is dead or near death.
157.06(5)(c)2.
2. A hospital, upon the admission of an individual who is at or near the time of death, if there is not immediately available any other source of that information.
157.06(5)(d)
(d) If a document of gift, revocation of a document of gift or evidence of refusal to make an anatomical gift is located by the search required by
par. (c) 1. and the individual or decedent to whom it relates is taken to a hospital, the hospital shall be notified of the contents and the person locating the document, revocation or other evidence shall send it to the hospital.
157.06(5)(f)
(f) The department of health and family services shall promulgate rules that do all of the following:
157.06(5)(f)1.
1. Set forth policies and procedures to be followed for discussing the anatomical gift donation process with members of the patient's family in situations under
par. (b) 2. and
3. in which there is or is not a document of gift.
157.06(5)(f)2.
2. Prescribe the manner in which information obtained under
par. (b) 2. and
3. regarding anatomical gift donations, revocations and refusals shall be placed in the patient's medical record so that it is readily accessible to hospital and other medical personnel in the event of the death of the patient.
157.06(6)
(6) Donees; purposes of anatomical gifts. 157.06(6)(a)(a) Any of the following persons may become donees of anatomical gifts for the purposes stated:
157.06(6)(a)1.
1. A hospital, physician or organ procurement organization, for transplantation, therapy, medical or dental education, research, or advancement of medical or dental science.
157.06(6)(a)2.
2. An accredited medical or dental school, college or university for education, research or advancement of medical or dental science.
157.06(6)(a)3.
3. A designated individual for transplantation or therapy needed by that individual.
157.06(6)(b)
(b) A donor may make an anatomical gift to a designated donee or without designating a donee. If a donee is not designated or if the donee is not available or rejects the anatomical gift, any hospital may accept the anatomical gift.
157.06(6)(c)
(c) If the donee knows of the decedent's refusal or contrary indications to make an anatomical gift or that an anatomical gift by a member of a class having priority to act is opposed by a member of the same class or a prior class under
sub. (3) (a), the donee may not accept the anatomical gift.
157.06(7)(a)(a) Delivery of a document of gift during the donor's lifetime to another is not required for the validity of an anatomical gift.
157.06(7)(b)
(b) If an anatomical gift is made to a designated donee, the document of gift, or a copy, may be delivered to the donee to expedite the appropriate procedures after the donor's death. The document of gift, or a copy, may be deposited in any hospital, organ procurement organization or registry office that accepts it for safekeeping or for facilitation of procedures after death. On request of an interested person, upon or after the donor's death, the person in possession shall allow the interested person to examine or copy the document of gift.
157.06(8)(a)(a) Rights of a donee created by an anatomical gift are superior to rights of others except for autopsies under
sub. (10) (b). A donee may accept or reject an anatomical gift. If a donee accepts an anatomical gift of an entire body for a purpose other than transplantation or therapy, the body may not be delivered to the donee or the donee's agent if the surviving spouse or other person who assumes custody of the body requests a funeral service or other last rites for the deceased. If such a request is made, the body may not be delivered until after the funeral or rites have been conducted. If the entire body is given for transplantation or therapeutic purposes or if the gift is of a part of a body, the donee, upon the death of the donor and before embalming, shall cause the part to be removed without unnecessary mutilation. After removal of the part of the body, custody of the remainder of the body vests in the person under obligation to dispose of the body.
157.06(8)(b)
(b) The time of death shall be determined by a physician who attends the donor at death or, if none, the physician who certifies the death. Neither the physician who attends the donor at death nor the physician who determines the time of death may participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part of the donor's body unless the document of gift designates a particular physician under
sub. (2) (d).
157.06(8)(c)
(c) If there has been an anatomical gift, a physician may remove any donated parts of the body, a technician may remove any donated tissue or bone and an enucleator may remove any donated eyes or parts of eyes, after determination of death by a physician. Any individual acting under the direction of a physician and any funeral director licensed under
ch. 445 may perform the functions of an enucleator under this section if he or she has completed a course in eye enucleation and holds a valid certification of competence from a medical college approved by the medical examining board under
s. 448.05 (2). A certificate of competence shall be valid for 3 years.
157.06(9)(a)(a) Each hospital in this state, after consultation with other hospitals and with the organ procurement organization in whose designated service area the hospital is located, shall establish agreements or affiliations for coordination of procurement and use of human bodies and parts.
157.06(9)(b)
(b) A vascularized organ that is obtained by an organ procurement organization for which the designated service area primarily includes area in this state shall be used within that designated service area unless
par. (c) applies.
157.06(9)(c)
(c) If no suitable potential recipient for the vascularized organ is specified on a waiting list of a hospital that is within the designated service area of the organ procurement organization specified in
par. (b), that organ procurement organization shall offer the vascularized organ for use by any other organ procurement organization for which the designated service area primarily includes area in this state.
157.06(9)(d)
(d) If no suitable potential recipient for the vascularized organ is specified on a waiting list of a hospital that is within the designated service area of the organ procurement organization to which the vascularized organ is offered under
par. (c), the organ procurement organization specified in
par. (b) shall do one of the following:
157.06(9)(d)1.
1. If the organ procurement organization has found that it is in the best interests of persons on waiting lists in this state in need of transplanted vascularized organs and will increase the number of people receiving transplants to enter into a reciprocal sharing agreement with an organ procurement organization for which the designated service area primarily is outside this state, and has entered into such an agreement, offer the vascularized organ for use by the organ procurement organization under the agreement.
157.06(9)(d)2.
2. Offer the vascularized organ for use by an entity that distributes vascularized organs on a regional or national basis under a contract with the federal department of health and human services or a subcontract with a contractor with the federal department of health and human services.
157.06(10)(a)(a) An anatomical gift authorizes any reasonable examination necessary to assure medical acceptability of the gift for the purposes intended.
157.06(10)(b)
(b) This section is subject to the laws of this state prescribing powers and duties of the coroner, medical examiner and other physicians licensed to perform autopsies, with respect to autopsies and the reporting of certain deaths under
ch. 979.
157.06(10)(c)
(c) A hospital, physician, coroner, medical examiner, enucleator or other person, who acts in accordance with this section or with the applicable anatomical gift law of another state or a foreign country or attempts in good faith to do so, is not liable for that act in a civil action or criminal proceeding.
157.06(10)(d)
(d) A person who makes an anatomical gift under
sub. (2) or
(3) and the person's estate are not liable for any injury or damage that may result from the making or the use of the anatomical gift.
157.06(10)(e)
(e) A person who fails to discharge the duties imposed by
sub. (5) (c) and
(d) is not liable for that act or inaction in a civil action or criminal proceeding.
157.06(11)
(11) Uniformity of interpretation. This section shall be so construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it.
157.06(11m)
(11m) Effect of prior document of gift. Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, a document of gift that was made under the requirements of s.
157.06, 1987 stats., is deemed to comply with the requirements of this section.
157.06(12)
(12) Short title. This section may be cited as the "uniform anatomical gift act".
157.06 Annotation
Chapters 69 and 157 are not alternatives to the requirement in s. 979.10 that anyone cremating a corpse must first obtain a cremation permit from the coroner. University medical schools or anyone else qualified to receive a corpse can receive a corpse for research without first obtaining a permit.
77 Atty. Gen. 218.
CEMETERIES
157.061
157.061
Definitions. Except as otherwise provided, in this subchapter:
157.061(1)
(1) "Burial" means entombment, inurnment or interment.
157.061(1m)
(1m) "Care fund" means one or more accounts or other investments established for the care of a cemetery.
157.061(2)
(2) "Cemetery authority" means any person who owns or operates a cemetery specified in
s. 157.065 (1).
157.061(2m)
(2m) "Cemetery lot" means a grave or 2 or more contiguous graves and, when used in reference to the sale, purchase or ownership of a cemetery lot, includes the right to bury human remains in that cemetery lot.
157.061(3)
(3) "Cemetery merchandise" means goods associated with the burial of human remains, including monuments, markers, nameplates, vases and urns, and any services that are associated with supplying or delivering those goods or with the burial of human remains and that may be lawfully provided by a cemetery authority. The term does not include caskets or outer burial containers.
157.061(4)
(4) "Dedicated" means platted for use exclusively as a cemetery and qualified for the exemption from general property taxes under
s. 70.11 (13).
157.061(5)
(5) "Department" means the department of regulation and licensing.
157.061(7)
(7) "Family member" means a spouse or an individual related by blood, marriage or adoption within the 3rd degree of kinship as computed under
s. 990.001 (16).
157.061(7m)
(7m) "Grave" means a piece of land that is used or intended to be used for an underground burial of human remains, other than a burial in an underground mausoleum space.
157.061(8)
(8) "Human remains" means the body of a deceased individual that is in any stage of decomposition or has been cremated.
157.061(9)
(9) "Mausoleum" means a building, structure or part of a building or structure that is used or intended to be used for the burial of human remains.
157.061(10)
(10) "Mausoleum space" means a niche, crypt or specific place in a mausoleum that contains or is intended to contain human remains.
157.061(11)
(11) "Municipality" means town, village or city.
157.061(11g)
(11g) "Outer burial container" means any container that is placed or intended to be placed into the burial excavation of a grave and into which a casket is placed or intended to be placed at the time of burial.
157.061(11r)
(11r) "Payment of principal" means the portion of a payment for the purchase of a cemetery lot, cemetery merchandise or a mausoleum space that represents the principal amount owed by the purchaser for the cemetery lot, cemetery merchandise or mausoleum space, and does not include any portion of the payment that represents any taxes, finance or interest charges or insurance premiums.
157.061(12)
(12) "Preneed sales contract" means an agreement for the sale of cemetery merchandise that is to be delivered after the date of the initial payment for the merchandise, or for the sale of an undeveloped space.
157.061(13)
(13) "Preneed trust fund" means an account or other investment in which a portion of the proceeds received under a preneed sales contract is deposited.
157.061(14)
(14) "Public mausoleum" means a mausoleum that holds or is intended to hold more than 10 human remains or a mausoleum in which at least one mausoleum space is offered for sale to the general public.
157.061(15)
(15) "Religious association" means any church, synagogue or mosque or any religious society organized under
ch. 187.
157.061(16)
(16) "Sale" means a transfer for consideration of any interest in ownership, title or right to use.
157.061(17)
(17) "Undeveloped space" means a mausoleum space that is not ready for the burial of human remains on the date of the sale of the mausoleum space.
157.062
157.062
Cemetery associations; creation; powers and duties. 157.062(1)(1)
Organization. Seven or more residents of the same county may form a cemetery association. They shall meet, select a chairperson and secretary, choose a name, fix the annual meeting date, and elect by ballot not less than 3 nor more than 9 trustees whom the chairperson and secretary shall immediately divide by lot into 3 classes, who shall hold their offices for 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively. Within 3 days, the chairperson and secretary shall certify the corporate name, the names, home addresses and business addresses of the organizers and of the trustees, and their classification, and the annual meeting date acknowledged by them, and, except as provided in
sub. (9), deliver the certification to the department of financial institutions. The association then has the powers of a corporation.
157.062(2)
(2) Amendments. The association may change its name, the number of trustees or the annual meeting date by resolution at an annual meeting, or special meeting called for such purpose, by a majority vote of the members present, and, except as provided in
sub. (9), by delivering to the department of financial institutions a copy of the resolution, with the date of adoption, certified by the president and secretary or corresponding officers.
157.062(3)
(3) Validation. When there shall have been a bona fide attempt to organize a cemetery association, but a failure to record a properly drawn and executed certificate of organization, and it has in good faith bought and platted grounds and conveyed cemetery lots and carried on business for over 25 years, the same shall be a body corporate from the date of conveyance to it of real estate, and its transfers and other transactions are validated.
157.062(4)(a)(a) An annual election shall be held during the annual meeting. The annual meeting, and any special meeting described in
sub. (2), shall be held at a place in the county chosen by the trustees upon public notice as required by the bylaws. Trustees chosen after the first election shall be proprietors of cemetery lots in the cemetery, residents of the state, and hold office for 3 years. Election shall be by ballot and a plurality shall elect. Each owner of one or more cemetery lots is entitled to one vote, and one of several owners of a cemetery lot, designated by the majority of them, shall cast the vote.
157.062(4)(b)
(b) If the annual election is not held on the day fixed for the annual meeting, the trustees may appoint another day, not more than 60 days after the annual meeting, and give public notice of time and place, and if an election is not so held 5 members may apply to the judge of a court of record in the county for an order granting power to hold an election, by publishing in the county a class 2 notice, under
ch. 985, of the application and the judge shall grant the application, and election shall then be held upon like notice. The terms of trustees expire on the date of the annual meeting in the year in which they are scheduled to expire, except that if no election is held at the annual meeting the terms expire on the date of the next election held under this paragraph.
157.062(5)
(5) Trustees; duties, report. The trustees may fill vacancies for the unexpired term. One shall be chosen president, and they shall appoint a secretary and treasurer, and may require security of the treasurer. The trustees shall manage the affairs and property of the association and control and beautify the cemetery, and may establish regulations for those purposes. The trustees shall make and file written reports as required in
s. 157.62 (1) and
(2).
157.062(6)(a)(a) The association is dissolved by failure to hold an annual election for 3 successive years.
157.062(6)(b)
(b) If an association that has been dissolved under
par. (a), or any group that was never properly organized as a cemetery association, has cemetery grounds and human remains are buried in the cemetery grounds, 5 or more members, or persons interested as determined by order of the circuit judge under
par. (c), may publish a class 3 notice, under
ch. 985, in the municipality in which the cemetery is located, of the time, place and object of the meeting, assemble and reorganize by the election of trustees and divide them into classes as provided in
sub. (1), the commencement of the terms to be computed from the next annual meeting date. The secretary shall enter the proceedings of the meeting on the records. The association is reorganized upon delivery of a copy of the proceedings to the department of financial institutions, except as provided in
sub. (9). Upon reorganization, the title to the cemetery grounds, trust funds and all other property of the association or group vests in the reorganized association, under the control of the trustees. The reorganized association may continue the name of the dissolved association or may adopt a new name.
157.062(6)(c)
(c) If an association is dissolved under
par. (a) or any group has never been properly organized as cemetery association, and there are fewer than 5 members living or residing in the county where the cemetery is located, the circuit judge for the county shall upon the petition of any person interested, make an order determining who are persons interested in the cemetery. Any adult person who owns an interest in any cemetery lot in the cemetery, who is related to any person buried in the cemetery, or who is a descendant, brother, sister, nephew, niece or surviving spouse of a member of the dissolved association, is an interested person. The circuit judge may make the order upon evidence he or she deems sufficient, with or without hearing. The order need not contain the names of all persons interested, but shall contain the names of at least 5 such persons.
157.062(6m)
(6m) Forms. The department of financial institutions may prescribe and furnish forms for providing the information required under
subs. (1) to
(6).
157.062(7)
(7) Tax for maintenance. When a cemetery association having control of a cemetery in a town, village or city of the third or fourth class has insufficient maintenance funds it may certify in writing to the clerk of such town, city or village the amount deemed necessary during the next ensuing year, the amount the association has therefor, and the deficiency, and the governing body of such town, city or village may levy and collect a tax therefor and pay the same to the association. If the cemetery is in more than one such municipality the deficiency shall be equitably distributed. If a cemetery located wholly within a town, village or city of the third or fourth class has also buried therein decedents from an adjoining municipality, the association having insufficient funds, the association may certify in writing to its municipal clerk and to the clerk of such other municipality, the amount deemed necessary for the ensuing year, the amount the association has therefor, the amount of the deficiency and the equitable amount that each municipality should contribute; whereupon the governing body of each such municipality may levy and collect a tax therefor and pay the same to the association.
157.062(8)
(8) Limited liability of trustees and officers. 157.062(8)(a)(a) Except as provided in
pars. (b) to
(d), a trustee or officer of a cemetery association organized under this section is not liable to the association, its members or creditors, or any person asserting rights on behalf of the association, its members or creditors, or any other person, for damages, settlements, fees, fines, penalties or other monetary liabilities arising from a breach of, or failure to perform, any duty resulting solely from his or her status as a trustee or officer, unless the person asserting liability proves that the breach or failure to perform constitutes any of the following:
157.062(8)(a)1.
1. A wilful failure to deal fairly with the association or its members in connection with a matter in which the trustee or officer has a material conflict of interest.
157.062(8)(a)2.
2. A violation of criminal law, unless the trustee or officer had reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was lawful or no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.
157.062(8)(a)3.
3. A transaction from which the trustee or officer derived an improper personal profit.
157.062(8)(b)
(b) Except as provided in
par. (c), this subsection does not apply to any of the following:
