Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 07 — MUNICIPALITIES · Chapter 93 — Registrars of Vital Statistics
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-64 (2025)

Disposal of bodies

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The body of each person who dies in this state shall be buried, removed or cremated within a reasonable time after death. The person to whom the custody and control of the remains of any deceased person are granted by law shall see that the certificate of death required by law has been completed and filed in accordance with section 7-62b prior to final disposition of the body. An authorization for final disposition issued under the law of another state which accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into this state shall be authority for final disposition of the body or fetus in this state. The final disposition of a cremated body shall be recorded as the crematory. The provisions of this section shall not in any way impair the authority of directors of health in cases of death resulting from communicable diseases, nor conflict with any statutes regulating the delivery of bodies to any medical school, nor prevent the placing of any body temporarily in the receiving vault of any cemetery. The placing of any body in a family vault or tomb within any cemetery shall be deemed a burial under the provisions of this section. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a class D felony.

(1949 Rev., S. 590; P.A. 79-434, S. 8; P.A. 04-255, S. 6; P.A. 13-258, S. 34.)

History: P.A. 79-434 made it clear that death certificate must be filed before disposition of body and added provision concerning dispositions of bodies brought in from other states; P.A. 04-255 added specification that final disposition of a cremated body be recorded as the crematory; P.A. 13-258 changed penalty from fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years to a class D felony.

See chapter 368i re anatomical donations.

See chapter 368j re cemeteries.

See chapter 368k re crematories.

See chapter 385 re embalmers and funeral directors.

See Sec. 19a-41 re regulations specifying methods of reporting, recording, issuing, maintaining, indexing, correcting and amending vital records and statistics.

See Sec. 19a-504 re removal of bodies from presence of patients in hospitals, rest homes, etc.

See Secs. 53-331 to 53-334, inclusive, re penalties for unlawful embalming, burial and disinterment practices.

Affords no basis for civil liability for funeral expenses. 137 C. 450.

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1986–2022 · leading case: Moraski v. Connecticut Bd. of Examiners of Embalmers & Funeral Directors, 967 A.2d 1199 (Conn. 2009).
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Moraski v. Connecticut Bd. of Examiners of Embalmers & Funeral Directors, 967 A.2d 1199 (Conn. 2009). · cites it 3× “” 5 General Statutes § 7-64 provides: “The body of each person who dies in this state shall be buried, removed or cremated within a reasonable time after death.”
State v. Paige, 343 S.E.2d 848 (N.C. 1986). · cites it 2× “§ 7-64 provided: In all cases in which by statute original jurisdiction of criminal actions has been, or may hereafter be, taken from the superior court and vested exclusively in courts of inferior jurisdiction, such exclusive jurisdiction is hereby divested, and jurisdiction of…”
State v. Samuolis, 278 A.3d 1027 (Conn. 2022). · cites it 2× “It is unclear whether the criminal penalty applies exclusively to the person assigned custody of the body by law.”
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