California News

The California Department of Public Health Vital Records Registration Branch will hold its fall Death and Fetal Death Registration Workshop as a Zoom webinar on October 22, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

CDPH holds the workshops twice a year. They cover Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) and Fetal Death Registration Module (FDRM) system and process updates, plus tips and reminders. They do not replace EDRS/FDRM training and are open to people who do not use the systems directly. Local registrar staff, medical examiner and coroner staff, the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, the Medical Board of California and other interested parties are invited. Sessions are recorded.

Questions go to the EDRS/FDRM help desk at [email protected] or (916) 552-8123.

Source: CDPH Vital Records Registration Branch, notice of September 22, 2026.

The California Department of Public Health has updated its Cause of Death Review Guidelines, according to a notice from the Orange County Office of Vital Records on August 28, which asked partners to begin using them immediately.

The major changes listed in that notice:

• Pneumonia and aspiration pneumonia require an underlying condition, regardless of age.
• Cirrhosis: registrars will ask for the type. Non-alcoholic cirrhosis requires an underlying condition.
• Chronic renal disease or chronic kidney disease requires an underlying cause of death.
• Senile degeneration of the brain requires an underlying cause of death.
• Urinary tract infection or urosepsis requires an underlying condition, regardless of age.

Funeral homes may see more queries on certificates listing these causes without an underlying condition. Certifying physicians may not have received the update directly.

Source: Orange County Health Care Agency, Office of Vital Records, notice of August 28, 2026.

The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau has proposed amending sections 2302, 2310, 2311, 2326.06, 2326.1, 2329.2, 2333.1, 2339.2 and 2370 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations to cover the licensure and regulation of reduction facilities.

AB 351 (Garcia, Chapter 399, Statutes of 2022) requires the Bureau to license and regulate reduction facilities, where natural organic reduction of a human body takes place, and reduction facility managers. The Bureau presented draft text and an application at a stakeholder meeting on July 30, 2025.

The Bureau accepted comments on the proposed text until September 28, 2026. In its May 2026 regulatory update, the Bureau said that if no comments are received, the proposal may go to the Office of Administrative Law for final approval with an implementation date of January 1, 2027, to match the underlying statute.

The notice, proposed language, initial statement of reasons and application form are posted on the Bureau’s proposed regulations page.

Source: Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, Proposed Regulations

AB 2542 (Patterson), which may be cited as Marissa’s Law, amends Health and Safety Code section 7100, the statute that sets who controls the disposition of a person’s remains.

Under the bill, the right of control passes to the next person in the statutory order when the person who would hold it was subject to a domestic violence restraining order protecting the deceased at the time of death. It also passes when the person is a parent of the deceased and giving that parent control would have been contrary to the decedent’s best interests. The bill gives funeral directors and cemetery authorities authority to release remains to the next of kin in those cases.

The Assembly concurred in Senate amendments 75 to 0. The bill was presented to the Governor on September 15.

Source: Senate Judiciary Committee analysis of AB 2542

The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau announced on September 3 that its revised Consumer Guide to Funeral and Cemetery Purchases is available online. A draft was presented to the Bureau’s advisory committee on May 20, 2026.

The announcement does not say whether or when funeral establishments must replace printed copies of the earlier edition.

Source: Consumer Guide to Funeral and Cemetery Purchases (PDF)

The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on October 22, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., by Webex and at the Department of Consumer Affairs, El Dorado Room N-220, 1625 North Market Boulevard, Sacramento.

The Bureau posts agendas at least 10 days before a meeting. Proposed regulations are usually on the agenda. At its May 20, 2026 meeting the committee received the Bureau’s legislative and regulatory updates and a draft of the revised consumer guide.

Source: Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, Advisory Committee

SB 777 (Richardson, Chapter 658, Statutes of 2025) moved the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau’s deadline to convene a workgroup on abandoned cemeteries from July 1, 2027, to March 1, 2026, and advanced its report to the Legislature to June 1, 2026.

The report must summarize the workgroup’s discussions and recommend ways to ensure continued care, maintenance and embellishment of abandoned cemeteries, including whether counties should be required to take responsibility. The bill also set out the workgroup’s membership in more detail.

Source: Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, Legislation Update, May 20, 2026 (PDF)

SB 1312 (Richardson) would authorize the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to establish an advisory committee to help it engage consumers and licensees in its regulatory activities. If established, the committee would have to include at least one member from licensed representatives of the death care industry, members of the public, and representatives of local governments.

Source: Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, Legislation Update, May 20, 2026 (PDF)

The California Department of Public Health Vital Records released a Funeral Home Toolkit on August 6, developed with input from funeral home partners. It covers contacting physicians and nurse practitioners, filing complaints, and the death registration workflow.

CDPH said the toolkit is meant to support compliance with the eight-day registration requirement in Health and Safety Code section 102775. It is to be added to the Help menu in EDRS/FDRM.

Questions go to the EDRS/FDRM help desk at (916) 552-8123 or [email protected].

Source: CDPH Vital Records Registration Branch, notice of August 6, 2026.

The California Department of Public Health Vital Records postponed the final phase of its multifactor authentication rollout for Cal-IVRS, which had been scheduled for August 4, 2026. CDPH said it will announce a new date.

Accounts already using multifactor authentication are not affected and continue to use it as before.

Source: CDPH Vital Records, notice of July 29, 2026.

SB 861 (Chapter 592, Statutes of 2025) requires the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to disclose information on licensed hydrolysis and reduction facilities on the internet, in addition to the licensee information existing law already requires it to post.

Source: Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, Legislation Update, May 20, 2026 (PDF)