Home COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions Legal Questions

Important Advisories

  • Your local and/or state public health officials may be making recommendations for the care of decedents and/or public gatherings that are more stringent than what the CDC and federal government have recommended. In these cases, you should defer to your state and/or local public health officials.
  • The CDC has advised if you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and/or develop a fever and symptoms, such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your healthcare provider for medical advice. If you are concerned about a potential exposure, this risk assessment for healthcare personnel (HCP) from the CDC may be useful.

COVID-19 Legal Questions

How will death certificates be handled if the government limits workers to essential personnel?

Health department staff, which would certify death certificates and issue various permits, are usually considered essential personnel and may not be impacted by government restrictions. You should check with your local health department to discuss their plan of operation should the COVID-19 situation change in your community.

Should we notify a family if a staff member they met with was diagnosed with COVID-19?

Yes. While there is no legal obligation to do so, you would certainly want to do it to protect their health and the health of others. They should consider self-quarantine for the recommended 14-day period.

Some nursing homes and health care facilities are using sign in sheets. Is this something we should do at funeral homes?

You could use a sign-in sheet so that there is a record of those persons who attended an arrangement conference or a visitation in case you need to later contact them about a possible exposure to someone with the virus. You could also make copies of register books that are signed so you have a record.

How do we stay in compliance with the FTC during times when we may be doing virtual arrangement conferences (e.g., presenting the GPL, signing forms, etc.)? Do you have a source for online forms?

If arrangements are made online or over the phone, there is no requirement in the Funeral Rule for presenting or transmitting price lists to the consumer. The requirement to hand out a price list is only triggered by a face-to-face discussion. Of course, funeral homes can email their price lists or post them online so consumers have access to them when planning a funeral over the phone or electronically.

If funeral arrangements are made, a Statement of Funeral Goods and Services Selected does have to be sent to the purchaser. This can be done by text, email, fax, or by mail. The Funeral Rule does not require the Statement to be signed, although most funeral homes require this so they have a written contract with the family.

All states recognize the validity of electronic signatures by consumers as long as it clear on the document they sign that they are binding themselves to a contractual obligation by applying their electronic signature.

Can we charge a “handling fee” to cover additional PPE and sanitation measures we need to use to protect funeral home staff?

No. The FTC does not permit surcharges for PPE or other measures. You may increase fees on the GPL for embalming and disinfection of unembalmed remains to cover additional costs to the funeral home, but you cannot impose a surcharge.

Could we be held liable is someone gets sick with the COVID-19 virus attending a service?

It’s uncertain at this time, but our opinion is that anyone who goes to a mass gathering at this time does so at their own risk. It would be extremely difficult to claim that an attendee at a funeral did not know of the risk of attending a public gathering given the widespread warnings. Of course, if a funeral home feels that a large funeral poses an unacceptable risk to its staff or clientele it is free to restrict its services. (Note: As of 3/16/20, the White House says that during the next 15 days, all U.S. events of 10 or more people should be cancelled or held virtually.) Any such restrictions should be explained to the family at the earliest opportunity, such as during the first call.

Given HIPPA laws, are healthcare facilities required to disclose highly communicable diseases?

Under HIPPA, all hospitals and healthcare providers have the option, but not the obligation, to disclose the cause of death or the presence of a contagious disease to the funeral home handling the body. A few states mandate the disclosure, but most do not.

Nevada is requiring cremation of COVID-19 patients based on the theory it’s a highly communicable disease like tuberculosis. Do I need to be prepared to cremate all decedents who had COVID-19?

On March 17, Nevada clarified information it previously sent out and stated that “Decedents with COVID-19 can be buried or cremated.”

Currently, NFDA is not aware of any state laws requiring cremation for the remains of a decedent who died of a communicable disease. There may be authority for a State Public Health Department to require cremation in case of communicable disease, but no law mandates it. Stay abreast of any rules and regulations that are required by your state.

At this time, the CDC states that decedents with COVID-19 may be buried or cremated according to the family’s preferences. However, you should “check for any additional state and local requirements that may dictate the handling and disposition of the remains of individuals who have died of certain infectious diseases.”

How do funeral homes handle sick time/paid time off/leave as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic? How does the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) affect these decisions?

With increased absenteeism and school and work closures due to COVID-19 concerns, employers should remind employees of the sick time and other paid time off benefits that may be available to them. Many employers also provide other paid time off benefits, such as vacation or PTO, which employees may use to mitigate the financial impact of time away from work due to issues concerning COVID-19. Employers should take a flexible approach to the application of their paid time off policies to encourage employees to stay home from work if they are ill or if they have an ill family member, as consistent with recommendations provided by the CDC and state and local health agencies.

Some states' family and medical leave laws may also provide income replacement during employees' time away from work to care for their own or a family member's serious health condition related to COVID-19, or to care for a family member who is quarantined due to possible exposure of COVID-19. As many of these paid family leave laws are fairly new and COVID-19 is an emerging issue, please consult employment counsel in your state for specific questions related to state leave laws.

At the federal level, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides protected time off to eligible employees for the serious health condition of the employee or a covered family member. While influenza does not generally qualify as a serious health condition under the FMLA, there may be severe cases of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization or multiple doctor visits. Under these circumstances, an employee may qualify for FMLA-protected leave. In addition, an individual may also have an underlying condition that may provide a medical basis for leave due to COVID-19 concerns, which may be also be covered by the FMLA. Unless covered by a state or local law providing paid leave, FMLA-protected leave need not be paid.

Employers may also encounter asymptomatic employees wishing to self-quarantine out of a concern that they may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus at some point in the recent past. Such incidents should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, but it is worth noting that the CDC classifies someone who has been in the same indoor environment, but has avoided close contact, with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 as being at low risk of contracting the virus.

SESCO Management Consultants, NFDA’s endorsed human resources consultants, offers association members a free hotline for questions about their particular situation. 

Do I need a music webcasting license to live stream funerals on Facebook?

During these challenging times, when federal, state and local guidance and/or mandates are limiting the size of visitations and funerals, webcasting or livestreaming a funeral can be an excellent way for those who cannot be physically present at a service to still partake in the event, 

NFDA offers a webcasting license that covers the copyrighted music in the ASCAP, BMI and SESAC catalogs. It covers services broadcast via funeral webcasting software, as well as other livestreaming platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Zoom, Vimeo and Skype. 

If you do not currently have a NFDA funeral webcasting license, click here for more information and to purchase one. 

List of Webcasting Businesses - Note: NFDA does not endorse these companies. This list is simply being provided for the convenience of funeral professionals. 

NFDA offers sample legal forms that give authorization for funeral homes to webcast funeral services and direction to record funeral services.

NFDA Recommendation: Do Not Use Facebook or YouTube to Livestream Funerals or to Post Recordings of Funerals

Facebook and YouTube have entered into lawsuit settlements with music companies that prevent them from allowing some copyrighted music to be played over their systems. The blocking and muting is done by algorithms. Even though a member has a webcasting license to stream the music in their funeral over the web, Facebook and YouTube will mute it. If the user continues to stream the copyrighted music over their systems, eventually they will block the user from using the system. 

NFDA worked on this issue several weeks ago and was unable to get Facebook to engineer a change. They claimed they were precluded from doing so because of the prior settlement agreements. NFDA advises members use their own websites, or other streaming tools such as Zoom, Vimeo, or other commercial services, which do not have these copyright issues, to stream funerals.NFDA has been notified of the “muting” problem that funeral homes are experiencing when streaming funerals over Facebook. We have been in contact with a BMI representative who explains that several years ago Facebook entered into agreements with song producers to resolve copyright infringement claims. These agreements require Facebook to mute streamings that are broadcast over the Facebook platform if the streaming includes music belonging to the songwriters. He further explained that BMI, ASCAP and SESAC are not parties to these agreements and have no way to modify them. In addition, Facebook cannot modify them unilaterally. So, unfortunately, there is no way to solve the muting problems with Facebook.

In addition to webcasting vendors (find a list here), here are a few articles with alternatives for livestreaming: