Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 62 > Chapter 5 - Funeral Directors and Embalmers

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Alkaline hydrolysis chamber: means the enclosed space within which the alkaline hydrolysis process takes place and that is used exclusively for alkaline hydrolysis of human remains. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• apprentice: means a person who is engaged in learning to practice as a funeral director or embalmer, as the case may be, under the personal supervision and instruction of a duly licensed funeral director or embalmer of this state under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Authorizing agent or agents: means a person or persons legally entitled to authorize the cremation of a dead human body or body parts. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Board: means the board of funeral directors and embalmers. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Body parts: means limbs or other portions of the anatomy that are removed from a living person for medical purposes during biopsy, treatment or surgery. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
• Casket: means a rigid container that is designed for the encasement of a dead human body and that is constructed of wood, metal, or another rigid material. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Casket: means a rigid container that is designed for the encasement of a dead human body and that is constructed of wood, metal or another rigid material, is ornamented and lined with fabric and may or may not be combustible. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• Child: means an individual who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Child custody proceeding: includes a proceeding for divorce, separation, neglect, abuse, dependency, guardianship, paternity, termination of parental rights, and protection from domestic violence, in which the issue may appear. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Commissioner: means the commissioner of commerce and insurance or the commissioner's designee. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Court: means an entity authorized under the law of a state to establish, enforce, or modify a child custody determination. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Cremation: means the heating process by which a human body or body parts are reduced to bone fragments through combustion and evaporation. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Crematory: includes crematorium. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Department: means the department of commerce and insurance. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Disposition directions: means a legible written instrument signed by the decedent and acknowledged by a notary or witnessed by two (2) persons who are qualified adults. See Tennessee Code 62-5-701
• Embalming: means the preservation and disinfection, restoration or attempted preservation or disinfection of dead human bodies by the application of chemicals externally or internally, or both. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Funeral directing: means the:
  (i) Practice of directing or supervising funerals or the practice of preparing dead human bodies for burial by any means, other than by embalming, or the disposition of dead human bodies. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Funeral establishment: means any business, whether a proprietorship, partnership, firm, association or corporation, engaged in arranging, directing or supervising funerals for profit or other benefit, the preparing of dead human bodies for burial, the disposition of dead human bodies, the provision or maintenance of place for the preparation for disposition, or for the care or disposition of human bodies. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Guaranteed pre-need funeral contract: means the pre-need seller, where the contract has been funded in accordance with its terms, shall furnish at the time of death of the contract beneficiary, at no additional charge to the next of kin, the estate of the deceased, or other individual or entity responsible for the funeral, the merchandise and services selected, or the equivalent if the specific merchandise is not readily available, in the pre-need funeral contract. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Insurance company: means any corporation, limited liability company, association, partnership, society, order, individual or aggregation of individuals engaging in or proposing or attempting to engage as principals in any kind of insurance business, including the exchanging of reciprocal contracts between individuals, partnerships, and corporations. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Issuing court: means the court that makes a child custody determination for which enforcement is sought under this part. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Legal tender: coins, dollar bills, or other currency issued by a government as official money. ^{Source: U.S. Mint}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensee: means an embalmer or funeral director who holds a license issued by the board. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Licensing period: means the period of time that a funeral director's or embalmer's license is in effect in this state. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means an individual, corporation, business, trust estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Person acting as a parent: means a person, other than a parent, who:
  (A) Has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six (6) consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one (1) year immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Petitioner: means a person who seeks enforcement of an order for return of a child under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction or enforcement of a child custody determination. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Physical custody: means the physical care and supervision of a child. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• Political subdivision: means a city, town, municipality, county, or metropolitan government within this state. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Pre-need funeral contract: means any agreement, contract or plan requiring the payment of money in advance, whether in a lump sum or installments and whether funded by a pre-need funeral trust or prearrangement insurance policy or combination of a pre-need funeral trust and a prearrangement insurance policy, that is made or entered into with any person, association, partnership, firm or corporation for the final disposition of a dead human body, for funeral or burial services or for the furnishing of personal property or funeral or burial merchandise, wherein the use of the personal property or the funeral or burial merchandise or the furnishing of professional services by a funeral director or embalmer is not immediately required. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Pre-need funeral contract beneficiary: means the person upon whose death the pre-need funeral contract will be performed. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Pre-need funeral trust: means funds set aside in a trust account held by a trustee to provide for a pre-need funeral contract. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Pre-need sales agent: means an individual who has applied for and has been granted, or who engages in conduct requiring, registration to sell pre-need funeral contracts on behalf of a pre-need seller pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Pre-need seller: means a funeral establishment or other individual, firm, partnership, company, corporation, or association that has applied for and has been granted, or that engages in conduct requiring, registration to sell pre-need funeral contracts pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Prearrangement insurance policy: means a life insurance policy, annuity contract, or other insurance contract, or any series of contracts or agreements in any form or manner, issued by an insurance company, that, whether by assignment or otherwise, funds a pre-need funeral contract, the insured or annuitant being the person for whose funeral service the funds were paid. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• Probate: Proving a will
• Processing: means the reduction of identifiable bone fragments after the completion of the alkaline hydrolysis process to unidentifiable bone fragments by manual means. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Pulverization: means the reduction of identifiable bone fragments after the completion of the alkaline hydrolysis and processing to granulated particles by manual or mechanical means. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Qualified adult: means a person who is eighteen (18) years of age or older and of sound mind. See Tennessee Code 62-5-701
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Resomation: means the alkaline hydrolysis process. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Right of disposition: means the right to determine the disposition of the remains of a decedent, including the location, manner, and conditions of disposition and arrangements for funeral goods and services. See Tennessee Code 62-5-701
• Savings and loan association: includes a building and loan association, a federal or state savings and loan association, a federal savings bank, and any other financial institution, the accounts of which are insured by the [former] federal savings and loan insurance corporation (FSLIC) or any successor [repealed] of such corporation. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 36-6-205
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Temporary container: means a receptacle for cremated remains composed of cardboard, plastic, metal or another material that can be closed in a manner that prevents the leakage or spillage of the cremated remains and the entrance of foreign material and that is of sufficient size to hold the cremated remains until they are placed in an urn or scattered. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
• Temporary container: means a receptacle for resomated remains composed of cardboard, plastic, metal, or another material that can be closed in a manner that prevents the leakage or spillage of the resomated remains and the entrance of foreign material and that is of sufficient size to hold the resomated remains until the remains are placed in an urn or scattered. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Trustee: means a state or national bank, federally chartered savings and loan association, state chartered trust company, or, in the reasonable discretion of the commissioner upon the terms and conditions that the commissioner may require, a securities brokerage firm licensed and in good standing with appropriate state and federal regulatory authorities. See Tennessee Code 62-5-403
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Urn: means a receptacle designed to encase cremated remains permanently. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
• Urn: means a receptacle designed to permanently encase resomated remains. See Tennessee Code 62-5-801
• written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
• Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105