1. Subject to subsection 2, and unless prohibited by section 142C.3, subsection 4 or 5, an anatomical gift of a decedent‘s body or part for purposes of transplantation, therapy, research, or education may be made by any member of the following classes of persons who is reasonably available, in the order of priority listed.

 a. An agent of the decedent at the time of death who could have made an anatomical gift under section 142C.3, subsection 1, immediately before the decedent’s death.
 b. The spouse of the decedent.
 c. Adult children of the decedent.
 d. Parents of the decedent.
 e. Adult siblings of the decedent.
 f. Adult grandchildren of the decedent.
 g. Grandparents of the decedent.
 h. An adult who exhibited special care and concern for the decedent.
 i. Any persons who were acting as guardians of the decedent at the time of death.
 j. Any other person having the authority to dispose of the decedent’s body.
lawyer at desk

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 142C.4

  • Adult: means an individual who is eighteen years of age or older. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Agent: means an individual who meets any of the following conditions:
     a. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Decedent: means a deceased individual whose body or part is or may be the source of an anatomical gift and includes a stillborn infant. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Document of gift: means a donor card or other record used to make an anatomical gift, including a statement or symbol on a driver's license, identification card, or hunting, fishing, or fur harvester license, or an entry in a donor registry. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • gift: means a donation of all or part of the human body effective after the donor's death, for the purposes of transplantation, therapy, research, or education. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Hospital: means a hospital licensed under chapter 135B, or a hospital licensed, accredited, or approved under federal law or the laws of any other state, and includes a hospital operated by the federal government, a state, or a political subdivision of a state, although not required to be licensed under state laws. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Part: means an organ, an eye, or tissue of a human being, but does not include the whole body of a human being. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Person: means a natural person. See Iowa Code 154A.1
  • Person: means person as defined in section 4. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Physician: means an individual authorized to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic medicine and surgery under the laws of any state. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Procurement organization: means an eye bank, organ procurement organization, or tissue bank. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Reasonably available: means able to be contacted by a procurement organization without undue effort and willing and able to act in a timely manner consistent with existing medical criteria necessary for the making of an anatomical gift. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Recipient: means an individual into whose body a decedent's part has been transplanted or is intended for transplant. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Iowa Code 142C.2
  • Technician: means an individual determined to be qualified to remove or process parts by an appropriate organization that is licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law and includes an enucleator. See Iowa Code 142C.2
 2. a. If there is more than one member of a class listed in subsection 1, paragraph “a”, “c”, “d”, “e”, “f”, “g”, or “i”, entitled to make an anatomical gift, an anatomical gift may be made by one member of the class unless that member or a person to whom the gift may pass under section 142C.5 knows of an objection by another member of the class. If an objection is known, the gift shall be made only by a majority of the members of the class who are reasonably available.

 b. A person shall not make an anatomical gift if, at the time of the death of the decedent, a person in a prior class under subsection 1 is reasonably available to make or to object to the making of an anatomical gift.
 3. A person authorized to make an anatomical gift under subsection 1 may make an anatomical gift by a document of gift signed by the person making the gift or by the person’s oral communication that is electronically recorded or is contemporaneously reduced to a record and signed by the recipient of the oral communication.
 4. Subject to subsection 5, an anatomical gift by a person authorized under subsection 1 may be amended or revoked orally or in a record by any member of the prior class who is reasonably available. If more than one member of the prior class is reasonably available, the gift made by a person authorized under subsection 1 may be:

 a. Amended only if a majority of the reasonably available members agree to the amending of the gift.
 b. Revoked only if a majority of the reasonably available members agree to the revoking of the gift or if they are equally divided as to whether to revoke the gift.
 5. A revocation under subsection 4 is effective only if, before an incision has been made to remove a part from the donor‘s body or before invasive procedures have begun to prepare the recipient, the procurement organization, transplant hospital, or physician or technician knows of the revocation.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 142C Contents