Uniform Anatomical Gift – General – Delaware

ANATOMICAL GIFTS
(§§ 16-2710 through 16-2719)

Any individual of sound mind and 18 years of age or more or an agent of such an individual, or an individual not of such age who has parental consent may give all or any part of the individual’s body for any purposes specified in § 2712 of this title, the gift to take effect upon the donor’s death. However, a married minor may make such a donation without parental consent.

“Parental consent” as used in this section shall be defined as the recorded permission by any of the following persons in order of priority stated below when persons of prior classes are no longer living or no longer have contractual capacity and when there is no notice to a donee of an objection, written or otherwise, by a person of the same class:

1. Either parent;
2. A legal guardian;
3. Any individual having legal custody.

A gift of all or part of the body under § 2711(a) of this title may be made by will. The gift becomes effective upon the death of the testator without waiting for probate. If the will is not probated, or if it is declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the gift, to the extent that it has been acted upon in good faith, is nevertheless valid and effective.

A gift of all or part of the body under § 2711(a) of this title may also be made by a document other than a will, including authorizing a statement or symbol indicating that the donor has made an anatomical gift to be recorded in a donor registry or on the donor’s driver’s license or identification card, or a card or other record signed by the donor. If the donor or other person making a gift is physically unable to sign a record, the record may be signed for the donor at the donor’s direction and in the donor’s presence and in the presence of 2 witnesses who must sign the document in the donor’s presence. Delivery of the document of gift during the donor’s lifetime is not necessary to make the gift valid. Revocation, suspension, expiration or cancellation under Title 21 of a driver’s license or identification card upon which an anatomical gift is indicated does not invalidate the gift.
If the gift is made by the donor to a specified donee, the will, card or other document of gift, or an executed copy thereof, may be delivered to the donee to expedite the appropriate procedures immediately after death, but delivery is not necessary to the validity of the gift. The will, card or other document of gift, or an executed copy thereof, may be deposited in any hospital, bank or storage facility or registry office that accepts them for safekeeping or for facilitation of procedures after death. On request of any interested party upon or after the donor’s death, the person in possession shall produce the document for examination.

If the will, card or other document or executed copy thereof has been delivered to a specified donee, the donor may amend or revoke the gift by:

(1) The execution and delivery to the donee of a signed statement;

(2) An oral statement made in the presence of 2 persons and communicated to the donee;

(3) A statement during a terminal illness or injury addressed to an attending physician and communicated to the donee; or

(4) A signed card or document found on the person or in the person’s effects.

Any document of gift which has not been delivered to the donee may be revoked by the donor in the manner set in subsection (a) of this section or by destruction, cancellation or mutilation of the document and all executed copies thereof.

Any gift made by a will may also be amended or revoked in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of wills or as provided in subsection (a) of this section.

Unless a revocation of a gift under this section includes an objection or refusal to make a gift of a part, it shall not prohibit person listed in § 2711(c) of this title from authorizing such a gift.

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