California Health and Safety Code 7100: Who Decides Disposition

California Health and Safety Code Section 7100 sets a ranked list of people who have the legal right to decide what happens to a deceased person’s remains, and it puts the cost of those arrangements on whoever holds that right. The highest-ranking available person on the list controls disposition unless the deceased left written instructions that meet the statute’s requirements, in which case those instructions override the list.¹

Who Has the Right to Decide, in Order

When no qualifying written instructions exist, authority passes to the first available person in this sequence:

An agent under a health care power of attorney, but only if that document specifically grants authority over disposition of remains under Division 4.7 of the Probate Code.
The competent surviving spouse.
The competent adult child, or a majority of the competent adult children if there is more than one.
The competent surviving parent or parents. If one parent cannot be located after reasonable efforts, the other may act alone.
The competent adult sibling, or a majority of the competent adult siblings.
The next degrees of kinship (grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and so on), again by majority within the same level.
A conservator of the estate appointed under the Probate Code.
The public administrator for the county.

Anyone charged with the murder of the deceased is disqualified, and the right passes to the next person on the list. Every person who takes control also takes on financial liability for the reasonable cost of the arrangements.¹

One nuance about the health care agent: they don’t automatically owe the funeral bill. They become financially responsible only if they agreed to pay, or if their decisions ran up costs the estate cannot cover.

When Written Instructions Override the List

A person can bypass the priority list entirely by leaving written directions before death. The instructions can appear in a will, a separate document, or any other written form, but two conditions must be satisfied:

The directions must be specific enough to leave no real ambiguity about what the person wanted.
Payment must already be arranged through a trust, insurance policy, commitment from another person, or another binding financial mechanism.

Once both conditions are met, surviving relatives cannot meaningfully alter the instructions unless the deceased signed and dated a statement allowing changes.²

If the deceased funded some but not all of their wishes, the funded portions must be carried out. The unfunded portions are honored only if the estate has enough assets, or if the people who would otherwise control disposition agree to cover the balance.

Instructions inside a will take effect immediately at death. There is no need to wait for probate, and it does not matter whether the will is ever admitted to probate at all.²

How Long You Have to Act

The right to control disposition does not sit open indefinitely. Section 7105 sets deadlines that vary slightly by position on the list:

A surviving spouse has 10 days to act or delegate that authority to someone else.
Everyone else on the list — agent, adult children, parents, siblings, more distant kin, conservator, and public administrator — has 7 days.

If the person with the right does not act or delegate within their window, the right moves to the next level. The same clock applies when the priority holder simply cannot be located after reasonable efforts.³

Moving Forward Without a Full Majority

Adult children, siblings, and same-level kin normally decide by majority. Waiting for a majority, though, can stall arrangements when relatives are unresponsive or unreachable. The statute allows one person at a level to proceed without a majority if two things are true: they made reasonable efforts to notify the others, and they have no knowledge that a majority of them opposes the plan.¹

Good-faith notification with no known objection is enough to move ahead. That single provision often prevents families from ending up in court.

When Equal-Priority Relatives Cannot Agree

If people at the same level of the list cannot reach a decision within seven days, any one of them, or the funeral establishment or cemetery holding the remains, can petition the superior court. The petition is filed in the county where the deceased lived or where the remains are located, and everyone with an equal claim must be named as a party.³

The court then decides who gets control and also names an alternate in case that person fails to act within seven days of the order.

When No One on the List Is Available

Sometimes nobody on the priority list exists, or nobody can be found after a reasonable search. In that situation the funeral establishment or cemetery may handle the remains and recover its usual charges, but only after giving the public administrator written notice and waiting seven days for that office to take responsibility. The notice can be delivered by hand, mail, fax, or telegraph.¹

A funeral home cannot skip to this step because relatives are slow to respond. The statute requires that no one from priorities one through eight can be found or exists.

Paying for the Arrangements

Financial liability under Section 7100 travels with the right to control disposition. If you make the decisions, you owe the reasonable costs, though you can seek reimbursement from the estate.

California probate law protects that reimbursement. Funeral expenses rank third in the statutory order for paying claims against a probate estate, behind only certain government debts and the administrative costs of the estate itself. Funeral bills are paid before credit card balances, medical debts, and most other obligations.⁴

Federal Benefits That Offset Some Costs

Social Security pays a one-time death benefit of $255 to a surviving spouse who was living in the same household as the deceased at the time of death. If no qualifying spouse exists, the payment may go to an eligible child. The amount has not been adjusted since 1954.⁵

If the deceased was a veteran discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, the Department of Veterans Affairs may reimburse burial costs. For deaths not connected to military service, the VA pays up to $978 for burial or cremation expenses and a separate $978 for plot or interment costs when burial occurs outside a VA national cemetery. For service-connected deaths, the burial allowance rises to up to $2,000. A surviving spouse, child, parent, or whoever actually paid the expenses may apply.⁶

1
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 7100
2
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 7100.1
3
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 7105
4
California Legislative Information. California Probate Code 11420
5
Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.390 – Lump-Sum Death Payment
6
Veterans Benefits Administration. Burial Benefits – Compensation