How to Fill Out and Submit the Texas Cremation Authorization Form

The Texas cremation authorization form is the signed document a crematory must have on file before it will accept a body. It identifies the deceased, names the person with legal authority to approve the cremation, discloses any hazardous implants, and directs what happens to the ashes. Your funeral home supplies the form during the arrangement conference, and the funeral director countersigns it before it goes to the crematory with a death record.

Who Has the Right to Sign

The crematory cannot proceed unless the signer is the highest-ranking person available under Texas Health and Safety Code § 711.002. The priority runs in this order:¹

A person the decedent named in a written directive.
The surviving spouse. Texas recognizes informal (common-law) marriage, and an informal spouse holds the same authority.
Any one surviving adult child. Agreement from the other children is not required by statute.
Either surviving parent, acting alone.
Any one surviving adult sibling.
An executor or administrator of the estate.
The next adult relative in the order of inheritance.

If the highest-priority person does nothing within six days of learning about the death, or ten days from the death itself (whichever comes first), the law treats them as unable or unwilling to act and authority passes to the next person on the list.¹

When People at the Same Level Disagree

When the crematory learns of a disagreement between people who share priority (siblings, for example), it cannot perform the cremation until a court order resolves it. The form itself handles the more common situation by asking the signer to state either that no one with an equal or superior right exists, or that reasonable efforts to reach that person failed and the signer believes they would not object. A signer who proceeds without full agreement agrees to indemnify the funeral home and crematory for any resulting liability.²

Unmarried Partners

An unmarried partner who is not named in a written directive has no standing under this hierarchy. Parents, adult children, and siblings all outrank an unmarried partner. The only way to put a partner in charge is a written designation signed by the decedent while alive, which places the named person at the top of the list above even a spouse.¹

What the Form Asks For

The Texas Funeral Service Commission publishes a sample form, and funeral homes generally use their own versions that track the requirements of Health and Safety Code § 716.052. Regardless of the layout, the same information appears.

Identifying Information

You fill in the decedent’s full legal name, date of death, and time of death, along with your own name, address, and relationship to the deceased. The funeral home and crematory complete their own blocks with business name, license number, and address.³

Your Authority to Authorize

You sign a statement confirming your legal right to authorize the cremation. The form offers two paths: certify that no one with a superior or equal right exists, or acknowledge that someone with equal priority does exist, confirm you tried to reach them, and accept the indemnification clause described above.²

Implant Disclosure

Pacemakers, defibrillators, and other battery-powered or radioactive implants can explode in a cremation chamber. The form requires you to declare whether the deceased had any such implant and to describe it. The funeral director is responsible for removing it before delivering the body. If you know about an implant and fail to disclose it, you are personally liable to the crematory for the damage. A funeral director who receives the disclosure and fails to arrange removal carries the same liability.⁴

Disposition of the Ashes

You choose what happens to the cremated remains. Common options on the form include:

Personal pickup by you or a named person.
Shipping to an address you provide.
Interment at a cemetery, whether burial or niche placement.
Scattering. Texas permits scattering over uninhabited public land, public waterways, the sea, or on private property with the landowner’s permission.
Retention at home.

By choosing a disposition you also take responsibility for carrying it out.²

Personal Items and Viewing

If any personal items, jewelry, or clothing will accompany the body, you list each one and tell the crematory whether to return it, cremate it with the remains, or discard it. You also indicate whether a viewing or service with the body present will happen before the cremation, and give the date and time.³

Confirming Identity

Because cremation is irreversible, someone has to confirm the identity of the person being cremated. You may view the body and sign an identification confirmation yourself, or you may authorize the funeral home to identify the deceased on your behalf using a photograph or another method. The form records who performed the identification, how, and when.³

Signing and Getting the Form to the Crematory

Once every section is complete, you sign attesting that the information is accurate. The funeral director who arranged the cremation signs as the required countersignature. A notary is not required.²

The crematory needs two things before it will accept a body: the signed authorization form and a death certificate or other death record indicating the remains may be cremated. A burial-transit permit qualifies.⁵⁶ In practice, the funeral home collects your signed form and handles delivery to the crematory. Some funeral homes accept secure electronic signatures, though the original signed form must reach the crematory before cremation.

The 48-Hour Wait

Texas requires at least 48 hours between the time of death on the death certificate and the start of cremation. The waiting period runs regardless of whether the authorization form is finished.⁷

A Justice of the Peace or Medical Examiner in the county where the death occurred can sign a written waiver, most often when a religious or cultural practice calls for rapid disposition. To request one, contact the Justice of the Peace who handled the death call, or ask the county sheriff’s dispatcher to connect you with the on-call JP. Have your name, the decedent’s name, your relationship, and your contact information ready.⁷

If the Ashes Go Unclaimed

The form itself carries a notice that if the authorizing agent does not claim the cremated remains, the crematory may dispose of them under state law starting 121 days after the cremation date. Choosing personal pickup or shipping on the form and following through is the practical way to avoid this outcome.²

What You Can Ask For Before You Sign

Federal law backs you up during the arrangement conference. The FTC Funeral Rule requires every funeral provider to give you a General Price List when you ask about arrangements. That list itemizes every good and service with its price. You have the right to select only the items you want, not a package. Any provider that offers cremation must make alternative containers available, so you are not required to buy a casket for a direct cremation. The only charge a funeral home can require regardless of your selections is the non-declinable basic services fee. Complaints about a provider go to the Texas Funeral Service Commission and the FTC.⁸

1
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 711.002 – Disposition of Remains; Duty to Inter
2
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 716.052 – Cremation Authorization Form
3
Texas Funeral Service Commission. Cremation Authorization and Disposition Form
4
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 716.154
5
State of Texas. Texas Health and Safety Code 716.051
6
Legal Information Institute. 22 Texas Administrative Code 205.11 – Prerequisites for Cremation
7
Legal Information Institute. 22 Texas Administrative Code 205.7 – Waiting Period for Cremation
8
Federal Trade Commission. Funeral Industry Practices Rule