§ 6-69. Burials; cremations

(a) Funeral director must give timely notice. In order for the municipality to be liable for a burial or cremation expense, the funeral director must notify the administrator prior to the burial or cremation or by the end of the next business day following the funeral director' receipt of the body, whichever is earlier (22 M.R.S.A. § 4313(2)). This contact by the funeral director shall begin the process of developing an application for burial/cremation assistance on behalf of the deceased. It is the funeral director's responsibility to make a good-faith effort to determine if the family or any other persons are going to pay all or part of the burial expenses. If family members or others are unable to pay the expenses, and the funeral director wants the municipality to pay all or part of the expenses, the funeral director must make timely contact to the municipal administrator. In addition, the funeral director may refer legally liable relatives to the administrator so that a timely determination of financial capacity may be accomplished.

(b) Application for assistance shall be calculated on behalf of the deceased. For the purposes of determining residency, calculating eligibility and issuing general assistance for burial or cremation purposes, an application for assistance shall be completed by the administrator on behalf of the deceased.

With regard to residency, the municipality of responsibility for burial expenses shall be the municipality in which the eligible deceased person was a resident at the time of death as residency is determined under section 6-30.

Although legally liable relatives may be asked to provide information regarding their income, assets, and basic living expenses, that information will not be construed as an application for general assistance inasmuch as living persons are not eligible for burial assistance. To clarify this point of law, although legally liable relatives have a financial responsibility to pay for the burial or cremation of their relatives, that financial responsibility only exists to the extent the legally liable relatives have a financial capacity to do so. Therefore, legally liable relatives who are eligible for general assistance, by virtue of their eligibility, have no legal obligation to pay for the burial or cremation of their relatives. For these reasons, all general assistance issued for burial or cremation purposes shall be issued on behalf of, and in the name of, the deceased.

(c) The financial responsibility of certain family members. Grandparents, parents, siblings, children and grandchildren of the deceased, who live in the state or own property in the state, are financially responsible for the burial or cremation of the deceased to the extent those relatives, individually or as a group, have a financial capacity to pay for the burial or cremation either in lump sum or by means of a budgeted payment arrangement with the funeral home. Accordingly, at the request of the administrator, all legally liable relatives must provide the municipal administrator with any reasonably requested information regarding their income, assets, and basic living expenses.

(d) Consideration of the financial responsibility of family members. Generally, when the administrator can make a finding that one (1) or more of the deceased's legally liable relatives have an obvious and demonstrable financial capacity to pay for the burial or cremation, by lump sum payment or by means of a reasonable payment arrangement, the municipality will not grant the requested burial or cremation assistance. When the administrator is unable to make such a finding, the following proration of familial responsibility will be implemented.

(e) Proration of familial responsibility. A proration of familial financial responsibility will be used when no legally liable relative possesses an obvious and demonstrable capacity to pay for the burial or cremation, but one (1) or more of the financially liable relatives is found to have a financial capacity to make a partial financial contribution, or the administrator is unable to determine the financial capacity of one (1) or more of said relatives.

Under these circumstances, each legally liable relative is considered to be responsible for his or her pro rata share of the total municipal contribution that would exist if no legally liable relatives had a financial capacity to contribute. Furthermore, and as long as all other eligibility factors have been satisfied, the municipality will provide as a burial or cremation benefit the aggregate of all pro rata shares less the share of any legally liable relative who refuses to cooperate with the administrator by providing information or documentation reasonably necessary to determine that relative's financial capacity, and less any share or part of a share attributable to a legally liable relative who can financially contribute or partially contribute toward the burial or cremation to the extent of that relative's share.

(f) Ten days to determine eligibility. The administrator may take up to ten (10) days from the date of contact by the funeral director to issue a written decision regarding the amount of the municipal contribution toward the burial or cremation. The ten-day eligibility determination period from the date of contact by the funeral director shall be used as necessary to make third-party collateral contacts, verify the listing of legally liable family members and determine their respective financial capacities to contribute to the burial or cremation, contact the personal representative of the deceased's estate, if any, and other related administrative tasks. The administrator shall not use this ten-day period allowed by law to unreasonably delay the municipality's decision.

(g) The municipal obligation to pay when legally liable relatives or others can contribute. The figures provided in this section are the maximum benefits provided by the municipality when no contributions toward the burial or cremation are available from any other source. To the extent any legally liable relatives of the deceased have a financial capacity to pay for the burial or cremation, that financial capacity shall be deducted from the maximum burial costs allowed by this section. In addition, any other benefits or resources that are available, such as Social Security burial benefits, veterans' burial benefits, or contributions from other persons, will be deducted from the maximum amount the municipality will pay, except there will be no deduction from the municipal benefit level with respect to any contribution provided for the purpose of publishing an obituary notice up to an aggregate contribution limit for this purpose of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) when a paid receipt demonstrating the purchase of an obituary notice is provided to the administrator.

(h) Burial expenses. The administrator will respect the wishes of family members with regard to whether the deceased is interred by means of burial or cremated. See appendix H for the maximum levels of assistance granted for the purpose of burials.

(i) Cremation expenses. In the absence of any objection by any family members of the deceased, or when neither the administrator nor the funeral director can locate any family members, the administrator may issue general assistance for cremation services. See appendix H for the maximum levels of assistance granted for the purpose of cremations.

(Ord. of 4-28-2008, Art. VI, § 6.9)

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It should be noted that Appendix H referenced above is not set out at length herein, but is on file and available for inspection in the office of the town clerk.