An administrator of an institution shall not authorize a postmortem examination described in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-399 without first securing the written consent of the deceased person’s spouse, one of the next-of-kin or nearest known relative, or other person charged by law with the duty of burial, in the order named and as known. A copy of the written consent shall be filed in the office of the administrator of the institution where the inmate died. (1943, c. 87, s. 3; 1983, c. 891, s. 2.)