California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 7051

(a) A person who removes part of any human remains from a place where it has been interred, or from a place where it is deposited while awaiting interment, cremation, reduction, or hydrolysis, with intent to sell it or to dissect it, without authority of law, or written permission of the person or persons having the right to control the remains under Section 7100, or with malice or wantonness, has committed a public offense that is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code.

(b) This section does not prohibit the removal of foreign materials, pacemakers, or prostheses from cremated, reduced, or hydrolyzed human remains by an employee of a licensed crematory, reduction facility, or hydrolysis facility prior to final processing of remains. Dental gold or silver, jewelry, or mementos, to the extent that they can be identified, may be removed by the employee prior to final processing if the equipment is such that it will not process these materials. However, any dental gold and silver, jewelry, or mementos that are removed shall be returned to the urn, cremated remains container, reduced human remains container, or hydrolyzed human remains container, unless otherwise directed by the person or persons having the right to control the disposition.