What document must be issued to allow burial, removal, or other disposition of a body?

• A. An embalming certificate
• B. A death certificate only
• C. A permit of burial, removal or other disposition
• D. A burial license

Answer: (C)

A disposition permit is required before burial, removal, or any other disposition of a body. This permit provides legal authorization to move and inter or cremDte remains and is issued by the local registrar of vital statistics or health department after the death has been certified and all necessary steps are in place. It’s a separate document from the death certificate, which simply records that the death occurred, and from an embalming certificate, which only confirms that embalming was performed if it was. A burial license isn’t the document that authorizes disposition; it relates to licensure of the service provider rather than the specific authorization to dispose of the body.