California Code, Health and Safety Code - HSC § 7304

No embalmer shall embalm a dead body without obtaining written or oral permission of a person who has the right to control the disposition of the remains pursuant to Section 7100, except that prior authorization is not required if embalming is necessary in order to comply with applicable laws or regulations, or is necessary to avoid irreparable deterioration of the dead body, in which case, a good faith effort shall be made to obtain permission.