(a) A funeral director shall not enter into a contract for furnishing services or property in connection with the burial or other disposal of human remains until the funeral director has first submitted to the potential purchaser of those services or property a written or printed memorandum containing the following information, if that information is available at the time of execution of the contract:

(1) The total charge for the funeral director’s services and the use of the facilities, including the preparation of the body and other professional services, and the charge for the use of automotive and other necessary equipment.

(2) An itemization of charges for the following merchandise as selected: the casket, an outside receptacle, and clothing.

(3) An itemization of fees or charges and the total amount of cash advances made by the funeral director for transportation, flowers, cemetery, crematory, reduction facility, or hydrolysis facility charges, newspaper notices, clergy honorarium, transcripts, telegrams, long distance telephone calls, music, and any other advances as authorized by the purchaser.

(4) An itemization of any other fees or charges not included above.

(5) The total of the amount specified in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive.

If the charge for any of the above items is not known at the time the contract is entered into, the funeral director shall advise the purchaser of the charge therefor, within a reasonable period after the information becomes available. All prices charged for items covered under Sections 7685 and 7685.1 shall be the same as those given under those sections.

(b) A funeral establishment shall obtain from the person with the right to control the disposition pursuant to § 7100 of the Health and Safety Code, or the person prearranging the cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis and disposition of the person’s own remains, a signed declaration designating specific instructions with respect to the disposition of cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains. The bureau shall make available a form upon which the declaration shall be made. The form shall include, but not be limited to, the names of the persons with the right to control the disposition of the human remains and the person who is contracting for the cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis services; the name of the deceased; the name of the funeral establishment in possession of the remains; the name of the crematorium, reduction facility, or hydrolysis facility; and specific instructions regarding the manner, location, and other pertinent details regarding the disposition of cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains. The form shall be signed and dated by the person arranging for the cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis and the funeral director, employee, or agent of the funeral establishment in charge of arranging or prearranging the cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis service.

(c) A funeral director entering into a contract to furnish cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis services shall provide to the purchaser of those services, either on the first page of the contract for cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis services, or on a separate page attached to the contract, a written or printed notice containing the following information:

(1) A person having the right to control disposition of cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains may remove the remains in a durable container from the place of cremation, hydrolysis, or interment, pursuant to § 7054.6 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) If the cremated remains container or hydrolyzed human remains container cannot accommodate all cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains of the deceased, the crematory or hydrolysis facility shall provide a larger cremated remains container or hydrolyzed human remains container at no additional cost, or place the excess in a second container that cannot easily come apart from the first, pursuant to § 8345 of the Health and Safety Code.

(3) If the person is contracting for reduction services, the estimated volume of the reduced human remains. The person having the right to control the reduced human remains shall be given the option of receiving none, part, or all of the reduced human remains and shall be notified, if receiving none or only part of the reduced human remains, of the location where the balance of the remains will be integrated into the soil.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2027.

(Repealed (in Sec. 24) and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 399, Sec. 25. (AB 351) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2027, by its own provisions.)