When someone dies, they tend to leave things behind. One of those things is a family, be that a spouse, children, or possibly parents. One of these people will end up being designated the next of kin and the state of Idaho has very strict guidelines as to how that role will be determined. Another thing someone leaves behind is their body. The body, or human remains, must be dealt with in a manner that is not only seen fit by the next of kin but also adheres to certain laws set forth by the state of Idaho. This article will deal with the relationship between the Coroner’s office and the professionals that help the family make sure that the manner of disposition is not only dignified but also legal. These professionals are known as funeral directors or morticians. They work for funeral homes or mortuaries and are the people that will be handling the human remains after a Coroner’s office has satisfied all of the responsibilities that they may have to the deceased.

 

Funeral homes in Idaho have strict guidelines that allow them to practice as funeral establishments. Along with those codes, funeral director and mortician licenses are granted by the Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licenses. In many areas of Idaho it would simply be impossible for the Coroner’s office to exist without the help of local funeral homes. The smaller, more rural offices simply do not have the manpower or facilities to deal with the transport of human remains and it is not uncommon around the state for the local mortician to also act as the county coroner. The funeral homes in these areas have the refrigeration and space needed to accommodate most coroner investigations. In a case that an autopsy is necessary, a local funeral home (under the county coroner’s jurisdiction) transports the body to a facility where a forensic autopsy can be completed. Many of the surrounding counties utilize the Ada County Coroner’s office to complete the forensic autopsy needed to satisfy a complete investigation.

 

Once an investigation is complete, a coroner’s office will then release the remains to a funeral home or mortuary chosen by the deceased’s next of kin. This can happen in a number of ways and can take varying amounts of time. Sometimes, when a death occurs in a hospital, nursing home or under the care of hospice, the Coroner’s office does not have to investigate the death. These are instances when the person had a known medical history, a doctor that regularly saw the individual and generally has sound and reasonable evidence for their cause and manner of death. These cases are called attended deaths because they occur while under the care of physician. In these cases the remains are generally released immediately to a funeral home. Another aspect of investigation by the Coroner’s office is when someone dies suddenly, usually at home. In this case an investigator will travel to the decedent’s home and conduct interviews with the family and take photographs to document the scene surrounding the death. If it is discovered that the death is natural and there is enough medical history, a medical doctor can diagnose and certify the cause and manner of death by signing the deceased’s death certificate. A funeral home will then be alerted and the remains will be transported to the mortuary. In some cases a funeral home will also be asked to transport the remains to the mortuary with the knowledge that more investigation may need to take place. This happens if the deceased’s physician can not be immediately reached but enough is known about the individual that there is no suspicion of any other manner of death but natural. Finally, if a person dies un-expectantly and has no medical history, or satisfies any of the legal responsibilities outlined by the Idaho Code pertaining to the Ada County Coroner’s office, the deceased will be transported to the Ada County Coroner’s office. Once the investigation has been completed, a funeral home, chosen by the next of kin, will be notified and will transport the remains to the mortuary. If a funeral home can not be chosen or there is no preference as to which mortuary is used in the final disposition, a funeral home will be chosen for the deceased based on a monthly rotation of participating funeral homes. This rotating list is created by the Ada County Coroner’s office on a yearly basis to help ensure that specific funeral homes are not given preferential treatment.

 

After a funeral home has accepted the responsibility of caring for a decedents remains, much of the responsibility of the Coroner’s office has been satisfied. It is at this time that the funeral director will undertake the necessary steps to ensure proper and dignified disposition. One of these aspects is the death certificate. It is the responsibility of the funeral director or mortician to gather the proper information for the completion of the death certificate. This information is procured from the family of the decedent, the physician that attended the death of the decedent, and sometimes, the coroner’s office. Once all of the information is gathered by the funeral home, it can be certified by the State of Idaho and utilized in varying ways. A completed certified death certificate in the state of Idaho acts as a number documents. It first and foremost acts as the legal documentation of the death itself stating the cause, manner, and the time and date that the death occurred. Secondly, the death certificate acts as a burial transit permit which allows a body to be buried in a cemetery or transported across state lines. Thirdly, a completed death certificate can act as an authorization to have the body legally cremated by a licensed crematory. The Coroner’s office is the last official entity to sign this cremation authorization and without that signature a cremation can not take place.  

 

While a funeral home or mortuary does become integral in the legal processes of dealing with the deceased, their primary role is to assist in the proper disposition of human remains. Traditionally this can be achieved in two ways, burial or cremation. Usually these modes of disposition are preceded with customary funeral or memorial methods or rituals that funeral homes are adept at facilitating. Any viewing of the deceased takes place at the mortuary or funeral home as those places are equipped with the professional facilities to do such. The funeral home is also the entity that can assist in the placement of obituaries or death notices in newspapers.    

 

As you can see, there are some very specific duties that the Coroner’s office fulfills and some very specific tasks that the funeral home assists with. Between the two entities, a partnership exists that ends up serving similar goals. In the end, both the Coroner’s office and the funeral home are in place to serve the public through intrinsically difficult situations.