For anyone planning ahead: how to record your wish to be scattered at sea, name the person who will carry it out, and give your family the details that help.
Some people know long before the end that they want to return to the sea. Writing that down is a gift to the people who will be grieving. It spares them guesswork, and it gives your wish legal weight in California.
California lets a person direct in writing how their remains will be handled. Under Health & Safety Code § 7100.1, those directions are to be faithfully carried out when they are clear and specific and when arrangements have been made to pay for them. Directions in a will are to be carried out right away, even before the will goes through probate. A short, plain statement is enough to start: that you wish to be cremated and your ashes scattered at sea off San Diego.
Under § 7100, the first person with the right to control your disposition is an agent you name under a power of attorney for health care, if you give that agent the right and duty of disposition. If you name no one, the right passes to your spouse or registered domestic partner (who has the same rights as a spouse under Family Code § 297.5), then your adult children by majority, and so on. Naming one trusted person can prevent a stalemate later. An estate planning attorney can help you set this up.
A wish no one can find cannot be followed. Keep a signed, dated copy with your will and other estate papers, give a copy to the person you have named, and tell your family where it is. Talk with them about it while you can. See estate planning and the burial location.
If you would like to ask questions about how a ceremony works, call (619) 986-7344. Planning ahead can be done slowly, a piece at a time.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current rules with the cited source or an attorney.