Arranging to Donate Your Body
From the Nolo Wills & Estate Planning CenterHere are the legal basics of full body donations.
Most medical schools need donations of whole bodies for research and instruction -- and shortages may be especially acute at osteopathic and chiropractic schools. The reason they are called whole body donations is that the donation will be rejected if any of the organs have been removed from the body.
After using a donated body for study or instruction, a medical institution will usually cremate it and bury or scatter the cremains in a specified plot. However, the remains or cremains can be returned to family members for burial -- usually within a year or two. Those who want the body or cremains returned to a friend or family members for the final disposition should specify this when arranging for the donation.
No medical institution is allowed to buy a body, but there is usually little or no expense to the survivors when a body is donated. When a death occurs, most medical schools will pay to transport the body, as well as pay for any final disposition. Ask the nearest medical institution that accepts body donations whether it has specific arrangements for transporting and disposing of bodies to avoid any unexpected charges.
Body donations are usually arranged with a particular institution while the donor is living, but some institutions will accept the donation at death with the written permission of the next of kin.
If you live in a state with no medical school or one that has very strict requirements for whole body donations, you may find out more about your body donation options from the National Anatomical Service, which operates 24-hour phone services: 800-727-0700.
However, you should know that even if you have arranged in advance to donate your body to a medical institution, the institution may reject the donation. This may occur, for example, if:
- you have also donated one or more of your organs and these are taken at your death
- the institution's current supply exceeds its demand and there are no facilities for storage
- you die during surgery, or
- your body is unsuitable for study because it is extremely obese, or you have died due to a number of diseases that render it unacceptable, according to the institution.
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