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  6. Administrative procedures and transfer

Administrative procedures and transfer

MORF

  • To offer your body to science, simply return the completed and signed pledge form sent to you by the body donation secretariat. It is advisable to mention, if possible, the name and address of a contact person who, at the time of death, will contact the body donation service in order to make the promise effective.
  • By return of post, the body donation service sends a certificate of receipt of the pledge, a file reference under which it is included, and a donor card, which should be kept near the identity papers and which includes all the contact details of the body donation secretariat.
  • In the event of death, the family or the trusted person designated by the donor should contact the body donation office by telephone to announce the death. It is then necessary to contact a funeral company which will ensure the transfer of the body to the University and then the burial or cremation at the end of the work.
  • The University can, if necessary, inform a funeral director. However, the donor and his or her family remain free to designate the firm of their choice to perform the funeral duties. All contacts made with these companies are the sole responsibility of the donor's family or of the donor himself/herself if he/she anticipates them. The University is not involved in the definition and cost of the services requested.
  • In general, the funeral home will undertake for the family, with the local administration, all the practical steps necessary to organize the transfer of the body to the University. In addition to the conventional death certificate, a transfer permit to the University is required.
  • The transfer of the body to the University must be done as soon as possible after the death. If the death occurs, as it often does today, in a hospital, the body will be kept in cold storage.
  • Because of the necessity of the rapid transfer, if the family wishes to organize a religious service or a farewell ceremony for friends and relatives, this will have to be done, unfortunately most often, with the body not present.