By Frank Flores, founder of FamiliaLista · Updated November 3, 2026

Your funeral wishes, and who has the right to decide (Texas)

In Texas, the person you name in a signed, notarized appointment decides on your burial or cremation. If you don't name anyone, the law goes in order: your spouse, then any adult child, then a parent, then an adult sibling. Naming one person, and writing down what you want, keeps your family from deciding in the hardest week of their lives.

Who decides if you don't name anyone?

Texas law sets the order: the person named in a written instrument you signed, then your surviving spouse, then any one of your adult children, then either parent, then any adult sibling, then the executor or administrator of the estate, then the next of kin. Any one adult child can act, which is why families with several children sometimes disagree. When they do, a probate court settles it, and the funeral home or cemetery can wait for that decision. Source: Tex. Health & Safety Code §711.002.

The Appointment for the Disposition of Remains

Texas law gives a form for naming the person who will control the disposition of your remains, including cremation. You name an agent, and up to two successors, and you can add special directions. You sign it in front of a notary. Your agent signs an acceptance before acting, and by accepting is responsible for the reasonable cost of the burial, with the right to be paid back by the estate. Unless the paper says otherwise, naming your spouse is revoked if you divorce. Source: Tex. Health & Safety Code §711.002.

A medical power of attorney covers health care decisions while you're living. Texas uses this separate appointment for decisions after death. For a service member who dies on active duty, the military's DD Form 93 controls over other papers. Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code §711.002, and our guide to the medical power of attorney in Texas.

Don't let the deadline pass

If the person with the right to decide doesn't make arrangements, or name someone else, by the 6th day after learning of the death or the 10th day after the death, whichever comes first, Texas treats them as unwilling and the right passes to the next person in line. Source: Tex. Health & Safety Code §711.002.

Burial, cremation, or a return to Mexico

Your directions about burial or cremation count when they're in a will, a prepaid funeral contract, or a paper you sign in front of a notary. The person in charge must carry them out as far as the estate or that person can afford. Directions in a will are followed right away, without waiting for probate. If you want to rest in Mexico, read how to bring a loved one home to Mexico. Source: Tex. Health & Safety Code §711.002.

What Texas allows with ashes

Cremated remains can be placed in a crypt, niche, grave or scattering area of a cemetery; scattered over uninhabited public land, a public waterway or the sea; or scattered on private property with the owner's written consent. Take the ashes out of the container before scattering unless it's biodegradable. If no one claims the ashes, the crematory may dispose of them after 120 days. Source: Tex. Health & Safety Code ch. 716 (cremation).

Write down the service you want

• [ ] Church, chapel or funeral home, and who leads the service
• [ ] Rosary, wake (velorio) or Mass, and on which days
• [ ] Music, readings and prayers
• [ ] Clothes, jewelry, and anything to go with you
• [ ] Pallbearers, and who speaks
• [ ] Flowers, or a charity for donations instead
• [ ] The cemetery and plot, or where the ashes go

The obituary

• [ ] The photo you want used
• [ ] Full name, birthplace, and the dates
• [ ] Family to mention, here and in Mexico
• [ ] Work, service, faith and what you loved
• [ ] Where to publish it: the funeral home's site, the local paper, social media

Comparing funeral homes

Under the FTC Funeral Rule, a funeral home must give you prices by phone if you ask and a written General Price List when you visit. You can buy only the items you want, and the funeral home must accept a casket or urn you bought somewhere else, with no handling fee. See how much a funeral costs and prepaid funerals and cemetery plots in Texas. Source: FTC, the Funeral Rule.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.711.htm
• statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.716.htm
• consumer.ftc.gov/articles/ftc-funeral-rule

General information, not legal or financial advice. Rules change; check the official sources above or talk to a licensed professional about your situation.

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