Florida Statute 406.49
“Definitions”
What it means
Part II of chapter 406 — Disposition of Human Remains — runs on eight defined terms, and Florida Statute 406.49 supplies them. The anatomical board is the state board headquartered at the University of Florida Health Science Center. Unclaimed remains are remains no legally authorized person (other than a medical examiner or county commission) claims for final disposition at that person's expense. An indigent person is one whose family income does not exceed 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the household size.
Cremated remains, final disposition, human remains, and legally authorized person all carry their §497.005 meanings. The section also defines nontransplant anatomical donation organizations — the tissue banks that handle body donation outside the transplant system.
- The anatomical board is headquartered at the University of Florida Health Science Center and administers Part II.
- Unclaimed remains = remains no legally authorized person claims for final disposition at that person's own expense; medical examiners and county commissions don't count as claimants.
- Indigent person = family income at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the household size.
- Cremated remains, final disposition, human remains, and legally authorized person take their meanings from §497.005.
- A nontransplant anatomical donation organization facilitates whole-body donation outside the transplant system — consent through final disposition.
How it plays out
Definitions decide outcomes in this part. Whether remains are 'unclaimed' turns on whether anyone with authority will pay for disposition — a family that exists but declines the expense still leaves remains unclaimed within this definition. And because 'legally authorized person' comes from §497.005, the same priority list that governs funeral decisions governs who can claim a body back from the anatomical board. We start every unclaimed-remains question here before touching the operative sections.