Funeral homes

What should I do when a client tells me a family member is at your office?

Call our office at (801) 816-3850 and tell us you are working with the family. Tell us if there are any cultural practices or rites that the family would like us to follow. 

We will give you an estimated day and time of when the body will be ready to be transported from our office to your facility. We’ll also call you when the body is ready for transport. 

How do I transport a body from your office?

We will call you when the body is ready for transport. We’re open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, so you can pick up the body as soon as it’s ready. Do not come to our office before we call you. 

Our address is: 

Utah Office of the Medical Examiner
4451 South 2700 West
Taylorsville, UT 84129

Drive around the east side of the building. Use the intercom to tell us your name, funeral home, the name of the person who has authorized you to transport the body, and their relationship to the deceased. 

What happens to personal property that’s taken to the OME? 

We release the deceased person’s personal items to you when you pick up the body unless law enforcement needs them for evidence. It’s up to the family if they would like any items destroyed, such as ruined clothing.

What information do I fill out on the death certificate?

Your facility will submit most of the information on the death certificate. Our office only submits the cause and manner of death. We submit this information within 5 days of the death. 

What if information on the death certificate is missing or incorrect? 

Call us at 801-816-3850 if you find incorrect or missing information on the death certificate. We will correct the information as quickly as we can.

When do I need to get permits from your office?

A permit must be obtained when family is requesting the decedent be cremated or transported out of state. (Utah Code 26B-8-230).   

How do I get a permit for cremation or to transport the body out of Utah? 

Mark cremation or removal as the disposition in the death certification system, EDEN. This will move the person’s death certificate record to our queue for review.  By law, death certificates must be reviewed by the OME before a person is cremated or transported out of state.Most of the time, we review records within a few days. 

You can check if the person’s records have been approved for cremation or transportation by looking for the following information in EDEN:

• The disposition is marked as “cleared by” with the medical examiner investigator’s initials. 
• The “pending medical examiner review" checkbox is unchecked. 

You can print the permit directly from EDEN after the death certificate has been reviewed and cleared for cremation or removal. . 

How do I get a permit to transport a body out of the United States? 

You may be asked to show an International Transport/Contagious Disease Letter before you transport a body outside of the United States.This letter certifies that the deceased’s body doesn’t have any contagious diseases and can safely be transported across international borders. 

If you need this letter, call us at 801-816-3850 and tell us if there are specific items we need to verify. We will review the deceased’s death certificate and write the letter if there aren’t any concerns. We’ll coordinate how to send the letter to you (such as by mail, email, or picking it up in-person).