TALLAHASSEE - Sen. Jim King's best friend, a black Labrador Retriever named Valentine, was there when he first campaigned for office and there through the deaths of his parents.

So King wants her there when he dies, her ashes ensconced alongside him in his casket.

But in most of Florida's licensed cemeteries, that's not allowed -- and King wants it changed. As families disperse and traditions evolve, funeral directors say they're facing a host of new hang-ups, and lawmakers are working this session to adapt funeral industry regulations to the changing times.

Allowing cremated pets to be buried with their owners is just one possibility lawmakers are pondering in the industry called ``death care.''

Valentine ''was probably one of the most loving, incredible breathing things that I've ever known,'' said King, a Jacksonville Republican, adding he's had many dogs since she died nine years ago. ``None captured my spirit and my soul like she did.''

Legislation before the House and Senate would also give more protection to funeral homes from estranged family members who sue over a loved one's cremation.

And another provision would make it illegal for hospices to enter the funeral business, a combination the bill sponsor called a ``gross conflict of interest.''

Notions about death and its memorialization are changing, said Jan Scheff, executive director of the Independent Funeral Directors of Florida. More people, especially baby boomers, are throwing out tradition and demanding individualized services.

One aspect of that trend is allowing more room for pets in the afterlife.

Many licensed cemeteries have bylaws that forbid human and animal co-burials out of a traditional reverence for human remains. To satisfy the increasing demand for pet accompaniment, some of these cemeteries have carved out separate plots for the burial of pets, said Ross McVoy, a lobbyist for the Funeral & Cemetery Alliance of Florida. But, he pointed out, `It's not the same as being together for eternity.''

At a Senate committee meeting Monday, King proposed an amendment to allow cemeteries to bury urns containing pets' ashes along with their owners.

''It's become kind of the Fido and Felix amendment,'' King said.

It passed without objection, though McVoy said some families who already have loved ones buried may protest a break of the no-pets promise.

In Florida, burial is becoming a less popular option. Cremation now accounts for more than 50 percent of final dispositions. Funeral directors say that statistic, coupled with the breakdown of the nuclear family, explains why funeral homes are increasingly finding themselves in the middle of family feuds.

Bill McQueen, a spokesman for the Cremation Association of North America and owner of a St. Petersburg funeral home, said disagreements over whether a loved one should be cremated or buried have become more common and are particularly prevalent in Florida, where families are often separated by state lines.

Cremation poses more of a problem than burial because it's irreversible, McQueen said. Even though people can stipulate that they want to be cremated in their wills, funeral homes are still likely to bury them if the family opposes cremation and is footing the bill.

''Dead people don't sue us,'' McQueen said. ``Living people do.''

The legislation heard Monday would help buffer funeral homes from lawsuits by explicitly authorizing them to honor the deceased's wishes. It would also allow them to rely on authorized relatives when they claim to be the only survivors, freeing funeral homes from worrying about the estranged relative who might challenge the cremation after the fact.

Lawmakers also want to prevent hospices, which take care of the dying in their last days, from doubling up on profits by running funeral homes. The union of the two industries emerged as a possibility in December, when a Fort Myers-based hospice applied for a funeral license. Though Hope Hospice retreated after a firestorm of criticism across the nation, bill sponsors say the issue is ominous enough to warrant legislation banning it.

Sponsor Sen. Victor Crist, a Tampa Republican, said such a combination of services would be a ''gross conflict of interest'' that would lead customers to wonder which side of the business the company was more loyal to -- hospice or the funeral.

''It is not two that you'd want to be together,'' Crist said. ``We draw the line between professions where we think conflicts could be generated.''

He said he's more concerned about it since the Legislature allowed for-profit hospices to enter the state last year.

Hospice organizations and the powerful funeral lobby support the bill. They worry the combination could ruin their reputations.

''The concern is that it's going to damage the very good name of hospice and create a whole lot of consternation when it's not necessary,'' said Paul Ledford, executive director of Florida Hospices and Palliative Care. ``There's just an inherent conflict of interest for hospice programs to own a funeral home.''

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