Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0720 Page: 1 of 4
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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT
June 2, 2009
Mr. Charles G. Cooper Opinion No. GA-0720
Banking Commissioner
Texas Department of Banking Re: Whether an agent under a statutory durable
2601 North Lamar Boulevard power of attorney may alter the method of
Austin, Texas 78705 disposition of a person's body previously
specified by that person in a prepaid funeral
contract (RQ-0768-GA)
Dear Commissioner Cooper:
The Texas Department of Banking regulates the sale of prepaid funeral services and
merchandise. See TEX. FIN. CODE ANN. ch. 154 (Vernon 2006 & Supp. 2008). A contract for
prepaid funeral services may provide for the final disposition of an individual's remains. See id.
154.002(13) (Vernon 2006); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0279 (2000) at 3-4 (defining
"disposition" to include burial, cremation, or other method by which a person's remains attain their
final resting place). We are asked to assume for the purposes of our analysis that an individual has
purchased and fully paid for a prepaid funeral contract that specifies the method for disposition of
his or her remains and the individual has also executed a statutory durable power of attorney under
Probate Code, chapter XII, the Durable Power of Attorney Act.' TEX. PROB. CODE ANN. 481
(Vernon 2003). We are to assume that the individual, who purchased the prepaid funeral contract
before the durable power of attorney took effect, has become incapacitated. See Request Letter at
5-6; see also TEX. PROB. CODE ANN. 490(a) (Vernon 2003) (a durable power of attorney may
provide that it is not affected by the principal's subsequent disability or incapacity or that it will
become effective upon the principal's disability or incapacity).2
The first question is as follows:
1. May the agent under a statutory durable power of attorney change the
method of disposition, e.g., from burial to cremation, specified by the
purchaser/principal in a prepaid funeral contract?
1Request Letter at 1-2 (available at http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov).
2We do not address a statutory durable power of attorney that authorizes the agent to make decisions about the
disposition of the principal's remains.
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0720, text, June 2, 2009; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275616/m1/1/?q=%222009%22: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.