§>tatr of MamjjBljte 
STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
DIVISION OF VITAL STATISTICS 
Laws of New Hampshire 
Relating to 
Births, Marriages, Deaths 
and Divorces 
For the Use of Physicians, Clergymen, 
Town Clerks, Boards of Health, 
Embalmers and Funeral 
Directors 
JUNE. 1945 §>tatr of Nnu Bampaljtrr 
STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
DIVISION OF VITAL STATISTICS 
Laws of New Hampshire 
Relating to 
Births, Marriages, Deaths 
and Divorces 
For the Use of Physicians, Clergymen, 
Town Clerks, Boards of Health, 
Embalmers and Funeral 
Directors 
JUNE, 1945 
7283 
6-45—15C She of itampuhtr? 
REVISED LAWS. CHAPTER 337 
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, 
MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS 
1. Statistical Forms. The registrar of 
vital statistics for the state shall furnish to 
sextons, to clergymen and others authorized 
to solemnize marriages, to physicians, town 
clerks and clerks of the society of Friends, 
a copy of this chapter and suitable blanks 
for recording the following facts in rela- 
tion to births, marriages, and deaths: 
I. Birth. The record of a birth shall 
state its date and place of occurrence, full 
Christian and surname (if named), color 
and sex of child, whether living or still- 
born, and the full Christian and surnames, 
color, occupation, residence, and birthplace 
of parents. 
II. Marriage. The record of marriage 
shall state its date and place of occurrence, 
the name, residence and official character 
of the person by whom solemnized, the 
full Christian and surnames of the parties, 
the age, color, occupation, residence, con- 
dition, whether single or widowed and 
whether first or other marriage of each 
party, and the full Christian and surnames, 
residence, color, occupation, and birthplace 
of their parents. 
III. Death. The record of a death shall 
state its date, the full Christian and sur- 
3 name of the deceased, the sex, color, con- 
dition (whether single or married), age, 
occupation, place of birth, place of death, 
the full Christian and surnames and birth- 
places of parents, and the disease or cause 
of death. 
2. Seal of Registrar. The registrar of 
vital statistics shall have a seal, which shall 
be like the seal of the state except that 
the device thereon shall be surrounded by 
the words “The State of New Hampshire, 
Department of Vital Statistics” in the place 
of the words “Seal of the State of New 
Hampshire, 1776.” 
3. Authenticated Copies. Every cer- 
tificate or other official paper executed by 
the registrar under seal, in pursuance of 
authority conferred by law, shall be re- 
ceived as evidence, and may be recorded 
in the proper recording offices in the same 
manner and with like effect as a legally 
acknowledged deed; and copies of papers 
and records in his office, so authenticated, 
shall be received as evidence with the same 
effect as the originals. 
4. Report of Birth. The attending 
physician, midwife or other person in 
charge, who shall attend, assist or advise 
at the birth of any child, living or still-born, 
within the state, shall report to the clerk 
of the town within six days thereafter all 
the facts required by paragraph I of sec- 
tion 1. In case the parents of the child 
reside in some other town than the place 
of birth, the clerk of the town within which 
the birth takes place shall thereupon send 
a copy of the birth record to the clerk 
of the town within which the parents re- 
side, where the same shall be recorded; 
but only the clerk of the town of actual 
4 birth shall be required to transmit a copy 
to the state registrar. 
5. Report of Marriage. Every person 
who solemnizes a marriage shall make a 
record of it and of all the facts required 
by paragraph IT, section 1, and, within 
six days thereafter, shall forward to the 
clerk of the town in which the marriage 
intention was recorded a copy of such 
record. 
6. Town Record, etc. The clerk of 
every town shall keep a chronological rec- 
ord of all births, marriages and deaths re- 
ported to him, and shall, between the sixth 
and twelfth days of each month, transmit 
a copy of such record for the preceding 
month, or for any previous month not be- 
fore reported, to the state registrar. He 
shall also transmit the names, residences 
and official stations of all persons who have 
neglected to make to him the returns re- 
quired by law relating to the subject-mat- 
ter of such records. 
7. Marriage of Nonresident. Whenever 
there is filed with a town clerk a certificate 
of the marriage of any person not a resi- 
dent of the town where such marriage is 
solemnized he shall, within ten days after 
such filing, forward an attested copy of 
such certificate to the clerk of the town 
where each nonresident so married resides, 
as shown by the certificate, whether in 
this or another state. 
8. Notice to Parents, etc. Town clerks 
shall, within thirty days after receiving the 
report of a birth, send a copy of the rec- 
ord to the parents, and state that the birth 
has been duly recorded on the town books, 
and, if the name of the child is not given, 
5 it shall be the duty of the clerk to obtain 
it and complete the record. 
9. Preservation of Returns. The state 
registrar shall cause the returns made to 
him in pursuance of the preceding sections, 
together with the returns of divorces made 
by the clerks of court, to be arranged, al- 
phabetic indexes of all the names contained 
therein to be made, and the whole to be 
bound in convenient volumes and preserved 
in his office. He shall include a general ab- 
stract thereof in his annual report. 
10. Record, Evidence. The town clerk’s 
record of a birth, marriage or death, or a 
duly certified copy thereof, shall be prima 
facie evidence of the fact, in any judicial 
proceeding. 
11. Fees. The town shall pay the fol- 
lowing fees for services required by this 
chapter: To a person who makes return 
of a birth, marriage, or death, twenty-five 
cents; to the town clerk for receiving, 
recording, and returning the facts, fifty 
cents. 
12. Payment by County. The physi- 
cians’ fees for the return of all births and 
deaths occurring at county farms, alms- 
houses, jails and other county institutions, 
and the town clerks’ fees for recording 
the same, shall be paid by the county in 
which said births or deaths occur, at the 
same rates; and the treasurer of any county 
shall, upon the presentation of the bill for 
such services of any town clerk within his 
county, duly approved by the county com- 
missioners, draw his warrant for the same. 
13. Institutional Records. The record 
of all births and deaths occurring at such 
6 institutions shall be kept in separate books 
suitable for this purpose by the clerk of 
the town in which such institution may be 
located, and such records shall be kept 
separate from all other records. 
14. Unreported Facts. The clerk of 
each town shall be paid fifty cents for 
obtaining, recording and returning the facts 
relating to each birth, marriage, or death, 
which has not been officially reported to 
him; and a like sum for obtaining and 
properly inserting in the records and re- 
turns the name of any child which may 
have been omitted from the official return 
o'f a birth made to such town. 
15. Vouchers. The clerk shall append 
to his vouchers, for fees due him for said 
service, a list of the names obtained by 
him under the provisions of the preceding 
section. 
16. Penalties. Any person who wil- 
fully makes or alters any vital statistics 
record, or certified copy thereof, except 
as provided in this chapter, shall be fined 
not more than one thousand dollars or 
imprisoned not more than six months, or 
both. Any person who violates any of the 
provisions of this chapter, or of any rule 
or regulation promulgated thereunder, or 
who neglects or refuses to perform a duty 
imposed upon him by the provisions hereof, 
shall be fined not more than one hundred 
dollars for each offense, for the use of the 
town in which the offense was committed, 
and it shall be the duty of the registrar of 
vital statistics to enforce this section, 
(1943, c. 194, s. 2.) 
17. Rules and Regulations. The regis- 
trar of vital statistics is authorized and em- 
7 powered to make rules and regulations to 
secure uniformity and efficiency in the 
preparation, transcription, collection, com- 
pilation and preservation of facts in rela- 
tion to births, marriages and deaths. Said 
rules and regulations also may include pro- 
visions for so-called delayed certificates of 
birth, the registration of children of un- 
known parentage, the filing of additional 
certificates after the legitimation of chil- 
dren and other matters relative to vital 
statistics. Such rules and regulations shall 
be given such publicity as said registrar 
may deem necessary and shall be bind- 
ing upon the town clerks charged with 
duties under the provisions of this chapter. 
(1943, c. 194, s. 1.) 
18. Certified Copies. A town clerk or 
the registrar of vital statistics shall issue 
to any applicant a certified cony of any 
record in his office relative to births, mar- 
riages and deaths or any part thereof, or 
verification thereof. 
(1943, c. 194, s. 1.) 
19. Fees. A town clerk or the regis- 
trar of vital statistics shall be paid in ad- 
vance, by any person requesting any copy 
or verification as provided in section 18, 
the sum of fifty cents for making search, 
which sum shall include payment for the 
issuance of such copy or verification, pro- 
vided that the fee to town clerks for ex- 
amination of documents and issuance of 
a delayed birth certificate shall be two 
dollars. 
(1943, c. 194, s. 1.) 
20. Governmental Agencies. Certified 
copies, certificates of partial facts, verifica- 
tions or search of the records may be made 
for any federal, state or local governmental 
8 agency by special arrangement without re- 
gard to the provisions of section 19. (1943, 
c.. 194, s. 1.) 
21. Disposal of Fees. All fees collect- 
ed by the registrar of vital statistics under 
the provisions of sections 19 and 20 shall 
be paid into the state treasury. (1943, c. 
194, s. 1.) 
9 REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 338 
MARRIAGES 
Relationship 
!• Degrees Prohibited, Men. No man 
shall marry his father’s sister, mother’s 
sister, father’s widow, wife’s mother, 
daughter, wife’s daughter, son’s widow, 
sister, son’s daughter, daughter’s daughter, 
son’s son’s widow, daughter’s son’s widow, 
brother’s daughter, or sister’s daughter, 
father’s brother’s daughter, mother’s broth- 
er’s daughter, father’s sister’s daughter or 
mother’s sister’s daughter. 
2. Degrees Prohibited, Women. No 
woman shall marry her father’s brother, 
mother’s brother, mother’s husband, hus- 
band’s father, son, husband’s son, daugh- 
ter’s husband, brother, son’s son, daugh- 
ter’s son, son’s daughter’s husband, daugh- 
ter’s daughter’s husband, brother’s son, 
sister’s son, father’s brother’s son, mother’s 
brother’s son, father’s sister’s son or moth- 
er’s sister’s son. 
3. Effect of Marriage. Every marriage 
contracted by parties within the degrees 
prohibited by the two preceding sections 
is incestuous and void, and the issue of 
such marriage illegitimate. 
Age 
4. Marriageable. No male below the 
age of fourteen years and no female be- 
low the age of thirteen years shall be ca- 
pable of contracting a valid marriage, and 
10 all marriages contracted by such persons 
shall be null and void. 
5. Of Consent. The age of consent 
shall be in the male, twenty years and in 
the female, eighteen years. Any marriage 
contracted by a person below the age of 
consent, except as hereinafter provided, 
may in the discretion of the superior court 
be annulled at the suit of the party who 
at the time of contracting such marriage 
was below the age of consent, or at the 
suit of his or her parents or guardian, 
unless such party after arriving at such 
age shall have confirmed the marriage. 
6. Petition by Party Under Age. Jf 
special cause exists rendering desirable the 
marriage of a person resident in this state 
below the age of consent and above the 
ages specified in section 4, the parties 
desiring to contract such marriage, with 
the parent or guardian having the custody 
of such party below such age, if there be 
such parent or guardian within the state, 
may apply in writing to a justice of the 
superior court, or to the judge of probate 
of the county in which one of them who 
is below such age resides, for permission 
to contract such marriage. 
7. Permission. Such justice or judge 
shall at once hear the parties, and, if he 
is satisfied that special cause exists making 
such marriage desirable, he shall grant per- 
mission therefor, which shall be filed with 
the court and shall be certified by the 
clerk or register to the town clerk to whom 
application is made for a certificate; and 
such clerk shall minute the fact of the 
granting of such permission upon the cer- 
tificate issued by him, and upon the record 
thereof preserved by him, and upon all 
11 copies thereof which he is by law required 
to make. 
8. Prohibitions. No town clerk shall 
issue any certificate for the marriage of 
any person below the age of consent, and 
no magistrate or minister of religion shall 
solemnize the marriage of any such person, 
if such clerk, magistrate or minister knows 
or has reasonable cause to believe that 
such person is below such age, unless per- 
mission for such marriage has been given 
as provided herein. 
9. Penalty. Any person violating any 
of the provisions of the preceding section, 
or any person knowingly making any false 
statement as to the age of any person, 
with intent to induce any clerk to issue a 
certificate for the marriage of any person 
below the age of consent, or to induce any 
magistrate or minister of religion to solem- 
nize the marriage of any such person, shall 
be fined not more than two hundred dollars, 
or imprisoned not more than six months, 
or both. 
Defective Persons 
10. Marriage. No woman under the 
age of forty-five years, or man of any age, 
—except he marry a woman over the age 
of forty-five years,—either of whom is 
epileptic, imbecile, feeble-minded, idiotic or 
insane, shall hereafter intermarry or marry 
any other person within this state. 
11. Solemnization. No clergyman, or 
other officer authorized to solemnize mar- 
riages, shall perform a marriage ceremony 
prohibited by the preceding section. 
12. Certificate. No town clerk or other 
12 authorized officer shall issue a certificate 
for such prohibited marriage. 
13. Application to State Board of 
Health, Should any question arise as to 
whether an applicant for such certificate 
is so disqualified, the contracting parties 
shall apply to the state board of health 
which shall thereupon appoint some quali- 
fied person or persons to determine wheth- 
er the contracting parties are epileptic, 
imbecile, feeble-minded, idiotic or insane, 
such determination to be certified under 
oath. 
14. Reports Required. It shall be the 
duty of all superintendents of schools and 
of all who have charge of instruction in 
private schools or state schools annually 
in July to file with the state board of health 
the names of all epileptics, imbeciles, fee- 
ble-minded, idiotic and insane persons who 
have left school or have become fourteen 
years of age during the preceding year. 
It shall be the duty of the superintendents 
of the Laconia state school and of the New 
Hampshire state hospital to file with the 
state board of health the names of all such 
persons discharged or paroled from those 
institutions. The names thus reported shall 
not be made public except so far as is 
necessary for the public welfare. 
15. Applications Referred to State 
Board. It shall be the duty of the town 
clerk or other authorized officer when ap- 
plication is made for a certificate for the 
marriage of any person born subsequent to 
June 1, 1909, suspected as being epileptic, 
imbecile, feeble-minded, idiotic or insane 
to cause the application to be forwarded 
for inspection to the state board of health. 
The state board of health after investiga- 
13 tion shall return the application to the 
town clerk or other authorized officer and 
if it finds that a certificate may not legally 
be granted it shall so notify the clerk and 
the applicants for the license. 
16. Penalty. Any person who know- 
ingly violates any of the provisions of this 
subdivision shall be fined not less than fifty 
nor more than five hundred dollars, or 
imprisoned not more than thirty days, or 
both. 
Diseased Persons 
17. Marriage. It shall be unlawful for 
any person suffering from gonorrhoea or 
syphilis reported to the state board of 
health in accordance with chapter 156, and 
the rules and regulations promulgated 
thereunder, to marry until there is returned 
to said board a satisfactory record by the 
physician in charge of the case that the 
person so registered is free from disease 
and will not infect others. 
18. Duty of Physicians. Every physi- 
cian shall keep a record of an cases of 
syphilis and gonorrhoea that come under 
his observation and care, and shall use 
reasonable means to ascertain the intentions 
of syphilitic or gonorrhoeal patients as to 
marriage. The physician shall warn said 
patients of the legal, moral, and physical 
evils of marriage contracted by them. 
19. Notice to State Board. If the phy- 
sician learns that such a patient intends to 
marry, the physician shall notify the state 
board of health. 
20. Certificate. When it shall be made 
known to any town clerk, by a legally regi- 
stered physician or by any board of health. 
14 that a person desiring a marriage certificate 
has gonorrhoea or syphilis, such certificate 
shall not be issued without the consent of 
the state board of health. 
21. Penalty. Any person failing to 
comply with the provisions of this subdi- 
vision shall be imprisoned not more than 
one year nor less than three months, or 
fined not more than five hundred nor less 
than two hundred dollars, or both. 
Marriage Intentions, Blood Test, 
Certificates, etc. 
22. Notice of Intention. All persons 
proposing to be joined in marriage within 
the state shall cause notice of their in- 
tention, with the full Christian and sur- 
names, color, occupation, birthplaces, resi- 
dences, and ages of the parties, their con- 
dition, whether single or widowed, whether 
first or other marriage of each party, and 
the full Christian and surnames, residences, 
color, occupation, and birthplaces of their 
parents, to be entered in the office of the 
clerk of the town in which they or either 
of them dwell if either of them dwell in 
this state; otherwise in the town in which 
the marriage is celebrated. If there be no 
such clerk in the place of their residence 
the like entry shall be made with the clerk 
of an adjoining town. The clerk shall re- 
cord the notice in a book to be kept for that 
purpose. 
23. Blood Test Required. No applica- 
tion for a marriage license shall be accepted 
by any town clerk until there shall be in 
his possession a statement signed by a li- 
censed physician that each applicant has 
submitted to a Wassermann or Kahn or 
other similar standard laboratory blood 
15 test and that, in the opinion of such physi- 
cian, the person is not infected with syph- 
ilis or in a stage that may become com- 
municable. Such statements shall be ac- 
companied by a record of the standard 
laboratory blood tests made, and this rec- 
ord shall contain the exact name of such 
applicant. The standard laboratory blood 
test shall be performed by the state board 
of health on request of a licensed physician, 
or at a laboratory approved by said board. 
Such test shall be made not more than 
thirty days before the issuance of the mar- 
riage license. 
24. Penalty. Any person violating the 
provisions of section 23 shall forfeit sixty 
dollars for each such offense. 
25. Confidential Report, Optional De- 
struction. The statement and record re- 
quired by section 23 shall be treated as a 
confidential report and shall not be con- 
sidered as part of the marriage record. 
Such statement and record shall be retained 
for a period of two years after the date 
thereof, after which it may be destroyed 
at the option of the official having custody 
thereof. (1943, c. 50, s. 1.) 
26. Certificate. The clerk shall, not 
less than five days from the date on which 
the notice of intention of marriage was 
entered in his office, deliver to the parties 
a certificate, under his hand, embodying 
the facts required in section 22, speci- 
fying the time when the notice was en- 
tered with him, which certificate shall be 
delivered to the minister or magistrate 
who is to officiate, before he shall proceed 
to solemnize the marriage. Said certificate 
shall be valid only for a period of ninety 
days from the date of issue. 27. Shortening Period; Blood Test 
Waived. On application to a justice of 
the superior court, or judge of probate 
within the county where the proposed mar- 
riage is to be solemnized, the court for 
good cause shown may order that the 
period of five days provided in the pre- 
ceding section be shortened, as in the 
order provided, and for like cause may 
waive the provisions of section 23. 
28. Procedure. The procedure upon 
such application shall be as provided in 
section 7. 
29. Fee. The fee of the clerk for mak- 
the record of notice and issuing his cer- 
tificate shall be two dollars, to be paid by 
the parties. 
30. Marriage Outside the State. When 
parties living in this state shall go out of 
it to be married, and shall return to it to 
reside, they shall file a certificate or declar- 
ation of their marriage, including the facts 
required to be stated in the notice aforesaid, 
with the clerk of the town where either of 
them lived prior to their marriage, within 
seven days after their return, under penal- 
ty of ten dollars. 
Solemnization of Marriage 
31. Who may Solemnize. Marriage 
may be solemnized by a justice of the peace 
as commissioned in the state; by any min- 
ister of the gospel in the state who has 
been ordained according to the usage of 
his denomination, resides in the state, and 
is in regular standing with the denomina- 
tion; and, within his parish, by any min- 
ister residing out of the state, but having 
17 a pastoral charge wholly or partly in this 
state. 
32. Special Commission. The secretary 
of state may issue a special license to an 
ordained minister residing out of the state 
authorizing him in a special case to marry 
a couple within the state. The names and 
residences of the couple proposed to be 
married in such special case shall be stated 
in the license, and no power shall be con- 
ferred to marry any other parties than 
those named therein. The fee for such li- 
cense shall be five dollars. The secretary 
of state shall keep a permanent record of 
all such special licenses, which record shall 
contain the names and residences of the 
couple to be married and the name and 
residence of the minister to whom the 
license is issued. 
33. Fee. The persons joined in mar- 
riage by a minister or justice shall pay 
the minister or justice one dollar. 
34. Penalty. If a minister or justice 
of the peace shall join any persons in mar- 
riage without having first received a cer- 
tificate of the town clerk, or shall join 
any persons in marriage with a certificate 
which he knows to be invalid, he shall for- 
feit for each offense sixty dollars. 
35. Unauthorized Person. If a person 
not authorized by this chapter to solemnize 
marriages shall join any persons in mar- 
riage, with or without a certificate, he 
shall be fined not more than three hundred 
dollars. 
36. Effect of Informality. No marriage 
solemnized before a person professing to 
be a justice of the peace or minister of the 
18 gospel shall be void, nor shall its validity 
be affected on account of want of juris- 
diction or authority in such supposed 
justice or minister, or on account of any 
omission or informality in the certificate 
of intention of marriage, if the marriage 
is in other respects lawful and has been 
consumated with the belief on the part of 
either of the parties thereto that they 
were lawfully married. 
37. Exceptions. Nothing contained in 
this chapter shall affect the right of Jewish 
Rabbis who are citizens of the United 
States, residing in this state, or of the 
people called Friends or Quakers, to solem- 
nize marriages in the way usually practiced 
among them, and all marriages so solem- 
nized shall be valid. Jewish Rabbis who 
are citizens of the United States, residing 
out of the state, may obtain a special li- 
cense as provided by section 32. 
Proof of Marriage 
38. Certified Copy. A copy of the rec- 
ord of a marriage, certified by a minister, 
justice, clerk of the people called Friends, 
or town clerk, shall be received in all 
courts and places as evidence of the fact 
of the marriage. 
39. Cohabitation, etc. Persons cohabit- 
ing and acknowledging each other as hus- 
band and wife, and generally reputed to 
be such, for the period of three years, and 
until the decease of one of them, shall 
thereafter be deemed to have been legally 
married. 
40. Civil Actions. In all civil actions, 
except actions for criminal conversation, 
evidence of acknowledgment, cohabitation, 
19 and reputation is competent proof of mar- 
riage. 
41. Criminal Cases. In actions for 
criminal conversation, and in indictments 
for adultery, bigamy, and the like, there 
must be proof of a marriage in fact. 
Legitimation of Children 
42. Where the parents of children born 
before marriage afterwards intermarry, 
and recognize such children as their own, 
such children shall be legitimate and shall 
inherit equally with their other children 
under the statute of distribution. 
20 REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 339 
DIVORCE AND SEPARATION 
Void Marriages 
1. Without Decree. All marriages pro- 
hibited by law on account of the consan- 
guinity or affinity of the parties, or where 
either has a former wife or husband liv- 
ing, knowing such wife or husband to be 
alive, if solemnized in this state, shall be 
absolutely void without any legal process. 
2. Libels. If any doubt exists whether 
any marriage is void, or as to the effect of 
any former decree of divorce or nullity 
between the parties, a libel may be filed 
as in other cases, and a decree of divorce 
or nullity may be made. 
2-a. Jurisdiction. In any proceedings 
for annulment for any cause whether under 
statute or under common law, the court 
shall have jurisdiction to declare an annul- 
ment of a marriage entered into in this 
state even though neither party has been 
at any time a resident herein. (1945, c. 
12, s. 1.) 
Jurisdiction to Grant Divorce 
3. Limitation. The jurisdiction of the 
court to grant divorce is limited to cases 
where there is jurisdiction over the parties 
and of the alleged cause as defined in the 
two succeeding sections. 
4. Parties. Jurisdiction of the parties 
exists in the following cases only: 
21 I. Where both parties were domiciled 
in the state when the action was com- 
menced. 
II. Where the plaintiff was so domi- 
ciled and the defendant was personally 
served with process within the state. 
III. Where the plaintiff was domiciled 
in the state for one year next preceding 
the time when the action was commenced. 
IV. Where the domiciled plaintiff has 
filed a libel the non-domiciled defendant 
may have affirmative relief upon filing a 
cross libel. 
5. Cause. Jurisdiction of the cause for 
divorce exists when it wholly arose or ac- 
crued while the plaintiff was domiciled in 
the state, and not otherwise. 
Causes for Divorce 
6. Absolute Divorce. A divorce from 
bonds of matrimony shall be decreed in 
favor of the innocent party for either of 
the following causes: 
I. Impotency of either party. 
II. Adultery of either party. 
III. Extreme cruelty of either party to 
the other. 
IV. Conviction of either party, in any 
state or federal district, of a crime punish- 
able with imprisonment for more than one 
year and actual imprisonment under such 
conviction. 
V. When either party has so treated 
22 the other as seriously to injure health or 
endanger reason. 
VI. When either party has been absent 
three years together, and has not been 
heard of. 
VII. When either party is an habitual 
drunkard, and has been such for three 
years together. 
VIII. When either party has joined any 
religious sect or society which professes to 
believe the relation of husband and wife 
unlawful, and has refused to cohabit with 
the other for six months together. 
IX. When either party, without suffi- 
cient cause, and without the consent of the 
other, has abandoned and refused, for 
three years together, to cohabit with the 
other. 
X. When the husband has willingly ab- 
sented himself from the wife for three 
years together, without making suitable 
provision for her support and maintenance. 
XI. When the wife of any citizen has 
willingly absented herself from her hus- 
band, without his consent, for three years 
together. 
XII. When the wife of any citizen has 
gone to reside beyond the limits of this 
state, and has remained absent and separate 
from her husband ten years together, with- 
out his consent and without returning to 
claim her marriage rights. 
XIII. When the wife of any alien or 
citizen of another state, living separate, 
has resided in this state for three years 
23 together, her husband having left the 
United States with the intention of be- 
coming a citizen of some foreign country, 
and not having during that period come in- 
to this state and claimed his marital rights, 
and not having made suitable provision for 
his wife’s support and maintenance. 
7. Existence at Filing. No divorce 
shall be granted for any cause except 
adultery, unless the cause shall be in ex- 
istence at the time of filing of the petition 
therefor. 
Procedure 
8. Venue; Notice. All libels for di- 
vorce shall be brought in the county in 
which the parties, or one of them, live, and 
before the superior court; and the notice of 
the pendency thereof shall be given to the 
libelee, personal or otherwise, as the court 
shall order. 
9, Libels. Every libel shall state the 
cause or causes of divorce, and shall be 
signed by the libelant, if of sound mind 
and of the age of legal consent; otherwise 
by the parent, guardian or next friend of 
the libelant. 
10. Insanity of Libelee. If the libelee 
is insane the court may appoint a guardian 
to appear and answer for the libelee, as is 
done for an infant defendant at common 
law. 
11. Evidence of Marriage. Upon a 
hearing for divorce, the admission of the 
marriage by the party against whom the 
process is instituted, general repute, the 
fact of cohabitation, or any other circum- 
stantial or presumptive evidence from 
24 which the marriage may be inferred, shall 
be competent evidence for the considera- 
tion of the court. 
12. Revision of Orders, etc. The court, 
upon proper application and notice to the 
adverse party, may revise and modify any 
order made by it, may make such new 
orders as may be necessary, and may award 
costs as justice may require. 
13. Clerks’ Returns. The clerks of the 
superior court shall, at the close of each 
term in their respective counties at which 
divorces are granted, make return to the 
registrar of vital statistics of the number 
of divorces decreed at that term, the causes 
thereof, the .sex of the libelant, and the 
date of the decree. 
Alimony, Allowances, 
Custody, Etc. 
14. Temporary Orders. After the fil- 
ing of a libel for divorce the superior 
court, or any justice thereof, may, on 
petition of the wife, prohibit the husband 
from imposing any restraint upon her 
personal liberty, or from entering the tene- 
ment where she resides during the pend- 
ency of the libel, and, during such pend- 
ency, may order a temporary allowance to 
be paid to the wife by the husband for 
her support, and, on the petition of either 
party, may make such order respecting 
the custody and maintenance of the minor 
children of the parties as shall be deemed 
expedient and for the benefit of the chil- 
dren. 
15. Support of Children. In all cases 
where there shall be a decree of divorce 
or nullity,- the court shall make such fur- 
25 ther decree in relation to the support, 
education, and custody of the children as 
shall be most conducive to their benefit, 
and may order a reasonable provision for 
their support and education. 
16. Alimony. Upon a decree of nulli- 
ty or divorce, the court may restore to 
the wife all or any part of her estate, and 
may assign to her such part of the estate 
of her husband, or order him to pay such 
sum of money, as may be deemed just, 
provided that in cases in which no children 
are involved, or in which the children have 
reached the age of majority, said order 
shall be effective for not more than three 
years from the date thereof, but such 
order may be renewed, modified or extend- 
ed if justice requires for periods of not 
more than three years at a time; and may 
compel the husband to disclose, under oath, 
the situation of his property; and before 
or after the decree, may make such orders 
and use such process as may be necessary. 
17. Trusteeship. In a case arising un- 
der the two preceding sections the court 
may order the property to be conveyed or 
the money to be paid to a trustee, to invest 
and to apply the income thereof to the 
support of the wife or the maintenance 
and education of the minor children, and 
to pay over the principal sum, or any part 
thereof, as the court may from time to time 
order. 
18. Security. In all cases where ali- 
mony or an allowance shall be decreed for 
the wife or children the court may require 
security to be given for the payment there- 
of. 
19. Allowance for Husband. Upon a 
26 decree of nullity or divorce, the court may 
decree that the husband shall have a part 
of the estate of the wife in the nature of 
alimony, as justice may require 
20. Legitimacy. No decree of divorce 
shall affect the legitimacy of a child born 
or begotten in lawful matrimony, unless 
it shall be so expressed in the decree, and 
children born of a marriage entered into 
in trood faith by the parties thereto shall 
be regarded as legitimate children and their 
legitimacv shall not be affected by a decree 
of nullity, unless it shall be so expressed 
in the decree. 
Change of Name 
21. Decree. In proceedings for di- 
vorce, when the libelant shall have asked 
in the libel to have her name changed, the 
court may, when a divorce is decreed, de- 
cree the change of her name to that which 
she bore before her last marriage. 
22. Return of List. The clerk of the 
superior court for each county shall, at 
the end of each term of court, transmit to 
the register of probate a full and correct 
list of all changes of names that have 
been decreed hereunder. 
23. Publication. The register of pro- 
bate shall return said list to the secretary 
of state, who shall cause it to be published 
as the lists of names changed by the judges 
of probate are, except that the names shall 
be designated when published as names 
changed by the superior court in divorce 
proceedings. 
27 Limited Divorces 
24. Legal Separation. In any case in 
which a divorce might be decreed the su- 
perior court, on petition of the party who 
would be entitled to a divorce, may decree 
a legal separation of the parties, which 
separation shall have in all respects the 
effect of a divorce, except that the parties 
shall not thereby be made free to marry 
any third person, and except as hereinafter 
provided. 
25. Procedure, etc. Upon such peti- 
tion the procedure shall be the same as 
upon libels for divorce, and the court shall 
have the same power in all matters relat- 
ing to restraining orders and decrees, al- 
lowances, alimony, custody of children and 
division or apportionment of the property 
of the parties, as in cases of divorce. The 
name of the wife shall not be changed. 
26. Resumption of Relations. The par- 
ties to such a petition may at any time 
resume marital relations, upon filing with 
the clerk of the superior court for the 
county in which the separation was de- 
creed their written declaration of such 
resumption, signed, acknowledged and wit- 
nessed. Such declaration shall be entered 
upon the docket, under the entries relat- 
ing to such petition. 
27. Effect of Resumption. Such re- 
sumption of marital relations shall termi- 
nate and annul all restraining orders, and 
all decrees relating to alimony or the cus- 
tody of children, but shall not affect any 
decree relating to the division or apportion- 
ment of property. 
28. Returns. The clerk of the superior 
28 court shall make return of all such decrees 
of separation and declarations of the re- 
sumption of marital relations to the regis- 
trar of vital statistics in the manner pro- 
vided for the return of divorces. 
Orders for Support, Etc., When 
Husband is Insane, Etc. 
29. Order on Petition. Whenever the 
husband is insane, or whenever a cause is 
in existence which is, or if continued will 
be, a cause for a divorce in favor of the 
wife, the superior court, upon petition of 
the wife and such procedure thereon as in 
divorce cases, may restrain the husband 
from interfering with the personal liberty 
of the wife, may grant to her temporarily 
or permanently the custody, care, educa- 
tion and maintenance of their minor chil- 
dren and may make to her a reasonable 
allowance out of the estate of the husband 
for the support of herself and children, 
all subject to such limitations and condi- 
tions as the court shall deem just. 
30. Modification. Upon motion and 
notice to the adverse party in the proceed- 
ing, or upon a new petition by either par- 
ty and like procedure thereon, the court 
may modify or revise its orders and de- 
crees. 
31. Temporary Allowance. At any 
time after the filing of a petition for an 
allowance, and before final hearing, the 
court may, on satisfactory affidavits or 
other proofs, order a temporary allowance 
to be paid to the wife by the husband, 
pending the final hearing on the petition. 
32. Enforcement. Upon such petition 
29 an attachment of the husband’s property 
may be made as in case of a libel for di- 
vorce; and the court may make interlocu- 
tory orders therein as in divorce cases, and 
its orders and decrees shall be enforced in 
like manner. 
33. Support of Children. In cases 
where husband and wife are living; apart 
the court, upon petition of either party, 
may make such order as to the custody 
and maintenance of the children as justice 
may require; and all appropriate provisions 
of this chapter shall apply to such pro- 
ceedings. 
30 REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 168 
MORTUARY REGULATIONS 
The Practice of Embalming and 
Funeral Directing 
1. Definition. Words and phrases used 
in this chapter shall be construed as fol- 
lows: 
I. “Board,” the state board of regis- 
tration of funeral directors and embalmers 
appointed under the provisions hereof. 
II. “Persons,” shall include corpora- 
tions, partnerships, associations or other 
organizations. 
III. “Embalming,” the business, prac- 
tice, science or profession of preserving, 
disinfecting and preparing in any manner, 
dead human bodies for burial, cremation 
or transportation. 
IV. “Funeral directing,” the business, 
practice or profession of (a) directing or 
supervising funerals, (b) the preparation 
or disposal of dead human bodies, (c) con- 
ducting or maintaining a preparation room 
or establishment equipped with necessary 
drainage and ventilation, and containing 
the necessary instruments and supplies for 
the preparation and embalming of dead 
human bodies for burial, cremation or 
transportation, (d) conducting or main- 
taining a funeral home or parlor, mortuary 
or funeral chapel from which funerals may 
be held and wherein services may be con- 
ducted. 
31 V. “Embalmer,” any person engaged, 
or holding himself out as engaged in em- 
balming, whether on his own behalf or in 
the employ of another, and shall include 
any person who shall use, in connection 
with his name, the word embalmer, or any 
other word or title intending to imply or 
designate him as an embalmer, or as one 
engaged in embalming. 
VI. “Funeral director,” any person en- 
gaged, or holding himself out as engaged 
in funeral directing or who shall use in 
connection with his name or business the 
words funeral director, mortician, or any 
other word or title intending to imply or 
designate him as a funeral director, under- 
taker, or mortician. 
VII. “Apprentice,” any person engaged 
in embalming under the instruction and 
supervision of an embalmer duly licensed 
and registered under the provisions of this 
chapter and actively engaged in embalm- 
ing in this state. 
2. State Board Constituted. There 
shall be a state board of registration of 
funeral directors and embalmers. Said 
board shall consist of five members as 
follows: The secretary of the state board 
of health, ex officio, and four members to 
be appointed by the governor with the 
advice and consent of the council. The 
secretary of the state board of health shall 
be secretary of this board. 
3. Appointment. All appointees to the 
board shall be funeral directors, shall be 
citizens and residents of the state who 
have had at least five years of practical 
experience in funeral directing and in em- 
balming, and shall have been engaged 
32 therein in this state for a period of at 
least five years. Appointees shall be chosen 
from a list of three names annually sub- 
mitted to the governor and council by the 
New Hampshire Funeral Directors’ As- 
sociation. 
4. Term of Office. The term of office 
of each appointed member shall be for four 
years and until his successor is appointed 
and qualified. 
5. Removal from Office. Any member 
of said board may be removed by the 
governor and council for cause. 
6. Compensation. The members of the 
board shall receive the sum of five dollars 
per day while actually engaged upon the 
business of the board and shall be reim- 
bursed for necessary traveling expenses 
incident to attendance upon the business 
of the board, provided that said compensa- 
tion and expense shall be a charge upon 
the fund herein constituted and further 
provided that in case said fund shall be 
insufficient to pay said compensation and 
expenses the members of said board shall 
have no claim upon the state for said com- 
pensation. 
7. Vacancies. Vacancies in the board 
shall be filled by the governor with the 
advice and consent of the council for the 
unexpired term and said appointment shall 
be made within sixty days from the date 
of such vacancy. 
8. Organization; Quorum. Within thir- 
ty days after appointment and qualification 
of a member, the board shall meet and or- 
ganize by electing a chairman and a treas- 
urer, This organization shall continue un- 
33 til the appointment of a new member. The 
office of secretary and treasurer may be 
held by one member. Three members shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
business. 
9.* Rules and Regulations. The board 
shall have the power to adopt whatever 
rules and regulations it may deem necessa- 
ry for the transaction of its business and 
the management of its affairs, for the 
betterment and promotion of educational 
and other standards and for the regulation, 
conduct and supervision of the general 
business, practice, science or profession 
of funeral directing and embalming. 
10. Secretary, Duties. The secretary 
of the board shall keep a record of ail 
proceedings of the board, issue all notices 
and certificates and attest such papers and 
orders and perform such other duties as 
may be designated or directed by the 
board. He may employ a clerk and ex- 
pend for such employment a sum not ex- 
ceeding five hundred dollars a year. 
11. List of Licensees. The secretary 
of the board shall, on or before the fifteen- 
th day of February of each year, supply 
each registered embalmer and the railroad 
companies within this state with a list of 
all funeral directors then holding certifi- 
cates of registration stating the name, 
business address and registration number 
of each funeral director. The board shall 
keen a register in which shall be entered 
the names of all persons to whom certifi- 
cates are issued, and this register shall be 
open to public inspection at the office of 
the board. 
12. Treasurer, Duties. The treasurer 
34 of the board shall receive and keep a rec- 
ord in detail of all sums collected and 
paid to the state treasurer and all sums 
expended by the board. He shall pay over 
monthly to the state treasurer all moneys 
received by the board under the provisions 
of this chapter. 
13. Qualifications, Embalmers. No per- 
son shall embalm dead human bodies or 
engage or hold himself out as engaged in 
embalming whether on his own behalf or 
in the employ of another, unless he shall 
be at least twenty-one years of age, a citi- 
zen of the United States, be of good moral 
character, shall hold a diploma or certifi- 
cate showing completion of a high school 
course or its equivalent, shall have com- 
pleted a one-year course in apprenticeship 
under the supervision and instruction of 
a duly registered embalmer actively en- 
gaged in embalming in this state and shall 
have completed a full course of instruction 
in an embalming school maintaining at 
that time a standard satisfactory to the 
board, and pass such examinations as the 
board may deem proper tq ascertain his 
efficiency and qualifications to engage in 
embalming, and obtain a certificate of reg- 
istration from the board to that effect. 
14. Funeral Directors. No person shall 
engage or hold himself out as engaged in 
funeral directing, unless he is the holder 
of an embalmer’s certificate, has passed 
such examination as the board may deem 
proper to ascertain his efficiency and quali- 
fications to engage in funeral directing, 
and holds a certificate of registration from 
the board to that effect. 
15. Corporations, etc. An embalmer’s 
or funeral director’s certificate, or both, 
35 shall be issued to a corporation, partner- 
ship, association or other organization only 
if one or more of its officers actively en- 
gaged in the conduct of its business is the 
holder of an embalmer’s or funeral di- 
rector’s certificate, or both, as the case 
may be. 
16. Premises. Funeral directing shall 
be conducted in a fixed place of establish- 
ment. 
17. Inspection. The board may in- 
spect all places where funeral directing is 
conducted or where embalming is practiced. 
18. Examinations. Examinations of ap- 
plicants for certificates of registration shall 
be held at least once a year in the city of 
Concord and elsewhere in the discretion 
of the board. Any person who desires to 
engage in funeral directing or embalming 
shall submit in writing to the board on 
forms provided by it an application for 
registration accompanied by a fee of five 
dollars. The board shall require the ap- 
plicant to submit to such examinations as it 
may deem proper. 
19. In Lieu of Examinations. The 
board shall have the power, in its discretion, 
to accept in lieu of an examination a duly 
authenticated statement of a national 
board of examiners or of a board duly ap- 
proved by the Conference of Embalmers’ 
Examining Boards of the United States, 
Inc., certifying the successful passage of an 
examination conducted by said board or 
boards. 
20. Certificates of Registration. The 
board shall issue to each applicant success- 
fully passing the examination, where an 
36 examination is required, and who other- 
wise satisfies the board of his qualifications, 
a certificate of registration, signed by all 
the members of the board, entitling him 
to practice or engage in the business in 
this state as a funeral director, embalmer, 
or both, as the case may be. 
21. Contents and Display of Certificate. 
Every certificate of registration shall speci- 
fy the name of the person to whom it was 
issued, the address of his place of business 
or employment, and shall be conspicuously 
displayed, at all times, in his place of 
business or employment. Certificates of 
registration shall not be assignable. 
22. Special Certificates. The board 
may by special rule or by regulation issue 
a special funeral director’s certificate of 
registration or a special embalmer’s cer- 
tificate of registration, without examina- 
tion to bona fide nonresident funeral direc- 
tors or embalmers who are qualified and 
duly licensed in each of their respective 
states under such rules and regulations 
as the board may see fit and upon the 
payment of a fee of five dollars. 
23. Expiration. All certificates issued 
under the provisions of this chapter shall 
expire on the thirty-first day of December 
each year unless previously suspended or 
revoked. 
24. Notices of Expiration. On or be- 
fore the fifteenth day of November in each 
year the board shall mail to each holder 
of a certificate of registration a notice of 
the expiration of his certificate and an 
application for the renewal thereof. 
25. Renewal of Certificates. All cer- 
37 tificates of registration may be renewed by 
the holders thereof upon payment to the 
secretary of the board of a renewal fee 
of five dollars. 
26. Application for Renewal. Applica- 
tions for renewal, accompanied by the fee 
of five dollars, shall be filed with the board 
on or before the thirty-first day of De- 
cember each year. Applications filed after 
the thirty-first day of December and on 
or before the fifteenth day of January 
must be accompanied by a fee of five 
dollars in addition to the renewal fee. 
27. Failure to Renew. All certificates 
of registration shall be automatically re- 
voked unless an application for renewal 
accompanied by the above stated require- 
ments is filed by the fifteenth day of Jan- 
uary following its date of expiration. 
28. Educational Meetings. The board 
shall hold at least two educational meet- 
ings annually and at such times and at 
such places as it may determine, which 
meetings all holders of certificates of reg- 
istration issued by the board shall be 
requested to attend. All expenses in- 
curred by the board in connection with the 
meetings shall be certified for payment 
to and by the state treasurer and paid 
upon warrant of the governor from the 
special fund hereinafter provided. The 
secretary shall keep a record of attendance 
at state meetings and also, upon satisfac- 
tory proof thereof, of all holders of cer- 
tificates of registration at all educational 
meetings held outside the state under 
auspices duly recognized and approved by 
the board. 
29. Apprentices. No person shall as- 
38 sist in the embalming of dead human bodies 
for burial or cremation in any manner 
unless he holds a license as an apprentice. 
30. Licenses. Licenses shall be issued 
for a period of three years and shall termi- 
nate three years from the date of registra- 
tion unless sooner ended by death, resig- 
nation, revocation or by ruling or decision 
of the board. Such licenses may be re- 
newed in the discretion of the board. 
31. Rules Governing Apprentices. The 
board may make such rules and regulations 
as it deems advisable for the qualifying 
or supervising of apprentices. No appren- 
tice shall be permitted to advertise or hold 
himself out to the public as a holder of a 
certificate of registration in funeral di- 
recting or embalming. 
32. Suspension and Revocation of Cer- 
tificates. The board shall have power to 
suspend or revoke any certificate of regis- 
tration for violation of any provision of 
this chapter, for violation of any rule or 
regulation duly adopted by the board, for 
gross incompetency, for unprofessional con- 
duct, or for other cause deemed sufficient 
in the judgment of the board; provided, 
however, that prior to such suspension 
or revocation the holder thereof shall have 
notice in writing of the charges against 
him and shall have reasonable opportunity 
to be heard in his defense. 
33. Power to Conduct Hearing. Thd 
chairman of the board shall have power to 
summon any person to appear and testify 
at any hearing of said board and to ad- 
minister oaths and examine all witnesses. 
34. Decision of Board. The SUSpen- 
39 sion or revocation of a certificate of reg- 
istration shall become operative and abso- 
lute thirty days after a decision is rendered; 
provided, however, that if during said 
period an appeal is taken said decision 
shall not become operative until confirmed 
by the court. 
.35. Appeal. Any person aggrieved by 
any decision or ruling of the board may, 
within thirty days after receiving notice 
of said decision or ruling, appeal there- 
from to the superior court by filing therein 
his petition stating his reasons therefor and 
the superior court shall have power to 
review the entire proceedings taken and 
held by the board and hear and make final 
disposition thereof. 
36. Reinstatement. Any certificate sus- 
pended or revoked may be reinstated or 
reissued to the original holder thereof 
upon such terms or conditions, if any, as 
the board may see fit. 
37. Deceased Funeral Director. The 
board may by a special rule or by regula- 
tion permit the continuance of the business 
of a deceased funeral director duly regis- 
tered as such by the board, under the active 
supervision of a person or persons holding 
the required certificate or certificates, for 
the benefit of the widow and family, for 
the estate or for persons interested in the 
estate of the decedent during such a period 
of time and in such manner and under such 
conditions as the board may determine. 
38. Burial Associations Prohibited. It 
shall be unlawful for any person to engage 
in, promote or participate, directly or in- 
directly, in any scheme or plan in the 
nature of a burial association or in a so- 
40 called chain of burial or funeral establish- 
ments. 
39. Securing of Business. It shall be 
unlawful for any funeral director or em- 
balmer, or the agents or representatives 
thereof, directly or indirectly, to pay or 
cause to be paid any sum of money or other 
valuable consideration for the securing of 
business. 
40. To Render Account. The board 
shall account whenever requested, to the 
governor and council for all receipts and 
expenditures in detail. 
41. Accidental Deaths. No person shall 
inject into any cavity or artery of the 
body of any person who has died from an 
accidental or sudden death, or under sus- 
picious circumstances, any fluid or sub- 
stance until a legal certificate of the cause 
of death has been obtained from the at- 
tending physician or medical referee, nor 
until a legal investigation has determined 
the cause of death. If a criminal cause 
of death is alleged or suspected no fluid 
or other substance shall be injected into 
a body until the cause of death is legally 
established. 
42. Embalming Fluids. The sale or 
use for embalming purposes of any fluid 
containing arsenic, zinc, mercury, copper, 
lead, silver, antimony, chloral, or cyanogen, 
or any compound containing any of these, 
or any poisonous alkaloid, is prohibited, 
and all brands of embalming compounds 
used within the state shall be subject to 
test and approval by the state board of 
health. 
43. Transfer of Body. The body of 
41 any deceased person may be transferred 
to another town for preparation or for 
burial or cremation only under the direction 
of a funeral director: provided that death 
was not sudden, or the result of violence, 
and provided that such body shall be 
returned to the town in which death oc- 
curred within thirty-six hours, or a permit 
for permanent removal, as required by this 
chapter, has been secured within said time. 
44. Transfer by Whom. Such trans- 
fer shall be made under the direction of 
a funeral director, and he or his repre- 
sentative shall leave with the institution 
from which or the person from whom 
such body is received, on forms supplied 
by the state board of health, the name of 
the funeral director, the name of the per- 
son making the transfer, his address, the 
funeral director’s license number, and the 
date and hour such body was delivered 
to him. 
45. Transfer to Other Town. Any 
body for which a burial or removal permit 
has been secured, in accordance with the 
provisions of this chapter, may be taken 
through or into another town for funeral 
services without additional permits. 
Burials 
46. Death Certificate. Whenever a per- 
son shall die, or a stillborn child shall be 
brought forth, the physician attending at 
the last sickness or bringing forth shall 
fill out and deliver to the funeral director, 
or to the town clerk, a certificate, duly 
signed, setting forth, as far as may be, 
the facts required in the record of a death, 
according to chapter 337. 
42 47. If No Physician. If the deceased 
person did not have the attendance of a 
physician in his last sickness the town 
clerk may issue and sign the certificate of 
death, upon presentation of such facts as 
may be obtained of relatives, or persons 
in attendance upon the deceased person 
during the last sickness or present at the 
time of death, and the permit for burial 
shall be issued upon such information. 
48. Death Out of State. If the de- 
ceased was a resident of this state and 
died in some other state, but is buried in 
this state, the clerk of the town where 
the interment is made shall make a rec- 
ord of the death, as required by chapter 
337, section 1, and shall transmit a copy 
of said record to the state registrar as 
required by section 6 of said chapter. 
49. Burial Permits, Obtaining. It shall 
be the duty of the funeral director to add 
to the death certificate the date and place 
of burial, and having signed the same, to 
forward it to the clerk of the town, and 
obtain a permit for burial. In case of a 
contagious or infectious disease the cer- 
tificate shall be made and forwarded im- 
mediately. 
50. Duplicates. If the deceased is to 
be buried in a town other than that in 
which the death occurred the town clerk 
issuing the burial permit shall, within six 
days, forward a duplicate of the record 
of death to the clerk of the town where the 
interment is made, who shall record the 
same; but no return of said duplicate 
record shall be made to the state registrar 
unless called for. 
51. Required. No interment of the 
43 dead body of a human being, nor disposi- 
tion thereof in a tomb or vault, shall be 
made without a permit, nor otherwise than 
in accordance with it. No disinterment, 
except as otherwise herein provided, of the 
dead body of a human being shall be made 
without a permit therefor from the state 
board of health, countersigned by the lo- 
cal health officer, nor otherwise than in 
accordance with such permit. Such dis- 
interment permit shall not be required for 
removal of such dead body from a tomb or 
vault for the purpose of burial, for rein- 
terment of dead bodies after discontinuance 
of a public cemetery, as provided in sec- 
tions 9 and 10 of chapter 68 of the Re- 
vised Laws, nor in case where an autopsy 
has been ordered by a county solicitor or 
the attorney general. No person shall 
assist in, assent to or allow, an interment 
or disinterment to be made until a permit 
has been obtained as provided in this sec- 
tion. Any person who shall violate the 
provisions of this section relative to dis- 
interment shall be punished as provided in 
section 15, chapter 442, of the Revised 
Laws. 
(1943, c. 157, s. 1.) 
52. Return. It shall be the duty of 
every funeral director, or other person 
having charge of a burial place, who shall 
receive the permit, to preserve and return 
it to the clerk of the town within six days 
after the burial. 
53. In Cities. Boards of health in cities 
shall have charge of granting permits for 
the burial of the dead; and no interment 
or removal from the city, of the dead body 
of any human being, nor disposition thereof 
in any tomb or vault, shall be made with- 
out a permit from said boards or their 
44 duly appointed agent, nor otherwise than 
in accordance with said permit. 
54. Prerequisites. No such permit shall 
be issued until there has been delivered to 
the board a satisfactory written statement 
containing the facts required by section 
46 hereof, together with the certificate of 
the attending physician, or, in absence 
thereof, other evidence as required by 
section 47 hereof. Upon the receipt of 
such statement and certificate, the board 
shall forthwith countersign the same and 
transmit it to the city cleric for registra- 
tion. 
55. Sub-registrars. The town clerk 
may appoint suitable persons, not exceeding 
two in number, as sub-registrars, who are 
authorized to issue burial permits based 
upon a death certificate, as hereinbefore 
provided, in the manner required of the 
town clerk. The appointment of sub-regis- 
trars shall be made with reference to lo- 
cality, as the convenience of the inhabitants 
of the town may require. 
56. Record. The record of death upon 
which the permit is issued shall be for- 
warded to the town clerk within six days 
after it is received. 
57. Special Fund. All funds paid over 
to the state treasury by the treasurer of 
the board shall be held in a special fund 
to be paid out upon warrant of the gover- 
nor for the purposes of this chapter. 
58. Penalty. Any person who shall 
violate any provision of this chapter, or 
any rule or regulation prescribed by the 
board hereby created, shall be fined not 
less than ten nor more than fifty dollars 
45 or imprisoned not less than ten nor more 
than sixty days. 
59. Separability. If any provision of 
this chapter is declared unconstitutional, 
or the application thereof to any person 
or circumstances is held invalid, the validi- 
ty of the remainder of the chapter and the 
application of such provision to other per- 
sons and circumstances shall not be affected 
thereby. 
46 EXCERPTS 
REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 147 
THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 
8. Vital Statistics. The board shall ap- 
point the registrar of vital statistics for 
the state who, under the supervision of the 
state health officer, shall have charge of 
the vital statistics of the state and shall 
enforce the provisions of law in relation 
to them. (1945, c. 129, s. 1.) 
REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 252 
THE PRACTICE OF CHIROPRACTIC 
17. Duties. Practitioners of chiroprac- 
tic shall be subject to the provisions of the 
law relating to contagious and infectious 
diseases and to the granting of certificates 
of deaths, as physicians are. 
REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 436 
MEDICAL REFEREES 
16. Return of Death. He shall make 
a return of the death to the city or town 
clerk, as required by the laws of the state, 
said certificate containing all the facts 
necessary to complete the record as far as 
possible, as well as a personal description 
of the deceased for identification. 
47 REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 59 
CHOICE AND DUTIES OF 
TOWN OFFICERS 
9, Copies. The town clerk shall fur- 
nish, to any person requesting: it and 
tendering pay therefor, an attested copy 
of any public record in his custody; and 
for neglect or refusal to do so he shall be 
fined twenty dollars. 
10. City and Town Clerks Association. 
Town and city clerks shall be entitled to 
receive the actual expenses incurred by 
them in attending the yearly meeting of 
the New Hampshire City and Town Clerks 
Association, the same to be audited by the 
selectmen of towns and the finance com- 
mittee of cities respectively and paid out 
of the town or city treasury. 
53. Deposit with Clerk. All books, rec- 
ords, papers, vouchers, and documents 
which shall be in the possession of any 
officer, committee, or board of officers of 
the town, and which are not needed else- 
where by them in the discharge of official 
duty, shall be deposited in the office of the 
town clerk, and shall be there kept and 
preserved by him as public records of the 
town. Provided that, if the office of the 
clerk is not equipped for the safe keeping 
of the said public records, the clerk may, 
with the approval of the selectmen, deposit 
such records in some other safe and suit- 
able place. 
54. Care and Preservation. The se- 
lectmen shall cause all books of public rec- 
ord belonging to the town to be well and 
strongly bound, and all papers and docu- 
ments to be filed and arranged in an order- 
48 ly manner convenient for reference and 
examination, and shall provide suitable 
fireproof safes or other means for their 
care and preservation, all at the expense 
of the town. 
55. Copying Records. The selectmen 
may authorize and direct the town clerk 
to make, in suitable books, true copies of 
any of the public records of the town 
which have become so faded, worn out or 
otherwise defaced that in their judgment 
it is necessary they should be copied in 
order to insure the preservation of a 
proper record of the facts or instruments 
recorded. The town clerk shall attach 
thereto certificates of their correctness, 
and showing when, by whom and under 
what authority they were made, and shall 
also preserve the originals. Such copies 
shall have the same force and effect as 
the originals, and copies made therefrom 
may be used in evidence the same as if 
made from the originals, without showing 
the loss of the originals. 
56. Inspection. No town officer hav- 
ing the custody of its public records or 
documents shall loan the same or permit 
them to be taken from the place where they 
are usually kept except when necessary 
for the discharge of official duty or upon 
the summons of a court of competent au- 
thority; and they shall be open at all 
proper times for public inspection and ex- 
amination. 
58. Delivery by Clerk. Whenever a 
town officer goes out of office he shall de- 
liver to his successor all records, books, 
pamphlets, papers and other things in his 
possession pertaining to the office!. REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 442 
DIGGING UP DEAD BODIES 
15. Disinterments. If any person, ex- 
cept as otherwise provided in section 51 
of chapter 168 of the Revised Laws, shall 
dig up, remove or carry away any human 
body or the remains thereof, or shall con- 
ceal the same, knowing; it to have been 
illegally dug up, he shall be imprisoned 
not more than one year, or fined not more 
than two thousand dollars, or both. (1943, 
c, 157, s. 2.) 
REVISED LAWS, CHAPTER 68 
9. Discontinuance. Whenever there is 
a public necessity for the discontinuance of 
any public cemetery, park or common and 
the removal of the remains of persons 
buried in such cemetery, the same may be 
discontinued by a three fourths vote of the 
legal voters present and voting at any 
town-meeting holden for the purpose, or 
by three fourths of each board of the city 
councils present and voting. 
PUBLIC CEMETERIES 
10. Reinterment. The selectmen may, 
at the expense of the town, disinter all 
the remains of persons buried in such cem- 
etery and reinter the same in the unoccu- 
pied part of some public cemetery within 
the town, such reinterment to be in the 
place designated by the nearest surviving 
relatives of the deceased person, if any is 
designated; such removal shall be done 
prudently and with proper care and atten- 
tion. 
50 INDEX 
Birth, Marriage and Death 
Registration 3-9 
Copies, 
Authenticated 4 
Certified 8 
Forms 3 
Fees, for certified copies 8 
Disposal of 9 
Paid by county 6 
Paid by towns 6 
Paid by Governmental Agencies 8 
Institutional Records 6 
Marriage 
Nonresident 5 
Parents’ Birth .Notification 5 
Penalties 7 
Records of town 5 
As evidence 6 
Reporting of 
Birth 4 
Marriage 5 
Rules and Regulations 7 
Unreported Facts 7 
Vouchers 7 
Burials 42-46 
Death, Certificates 42 
Duplicate certificates 43 
No Physician 43 
Out of State 43 
Permits for burial 43-45 
Obtaining, in towna 43 
“ in cities 44 
Prerequisites 45 
Required 43 
Return 44 
Sub-registrars 45 Separability 46 
Violations, penalty 45 
Chiropractic 50 
Cemeteries, Public 50 
Discontinuance 50 
Reinterment 50 
Death Registration, See Birth 
Registration 3-9 
Disinterments 50 
Divorce and Separation 21-30 
Alimony, allowances, custody, etc. 25-27 
Causes for divorce 22-24 
Change of name 27 
Jurisdiction to grant divorce 21-22 
Limited Divorces 28 
Orders for support, when husband 
is insane, etc 29-30 
Procedure 24-25 
Void Marriages 21 
Marriage Laws 
Age 10-12 
Marriageable 10 
Of consent 11 
Penalty for violation 12 
Permission 11 
Petition by party under age 11 
Prohibitions 12 
Blood test—See Intentions, Blood 
test 15-17 
Defective Persons 12-14 
Applications to State Board .... 13 
Certificate 12 
Marriage 12 
Penalty for violations 14 
Reports Required 13 
Solemnization Prohibited 12 Diseased Persons 14-15 
Certificate 14 
Duty of Physician 14 
Marriage 14 
Notice to State Board 14 
Penalty 15 
Intentions, Blood Test, Certificates 15-17 
Blood Test Required 15 
Certificate of Marriage 16 
License Fee 17 
Marriage Outside State 17 
Notice of Intentions 15 
Penalty 16 
Waivers 17 
Legitimation of Children 20 
Marrage Registration—See Birth 
Registration 3-9 
Proof of Marriage 19 
Relationship 10 
Solemnization of Marriage 17-19 
Medical Referees 47 
Mortuary Regulations 
Accidental Deaths 41 
Apprentices 38-39 
Board, Constituted 32-33 
Accounts 41 
Burial Association Prohibited 40 
Certificates 36 
Contents and Display 37 
Expiration 37 
Reinstatement 40 
Renewal 37 
Special 37 
Suspension and revocation 39 
Deceased Funeral Director 40 
Definitions 
Apprentice j 32 
Board 31 
Embalmer 32 
Embalming 31 Funeral Directing 31 
Funeral Director 32 
Persons 31 
Educational Meetings 38 
Embalming Fluids 41 
Examinations 36 
Hearings 39-40 
List of Licensees 34 
Premises 36 
Qualifications, Embalmers 35 
Rules and Regulations 34 
Securing of Business 41 
Secretary 34 
Transfers, of body 41 
By whom 42 
To other town 42 
Treasurer, Duties 34 
Special Funds 45 
Records, Public 48-49 
Registrar, Appointment 47 
Preservation of Returns 6 
Town Officers, choice and duties .... 48-49