{"id":12685,"date":"2017-08-04T14:04:38","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T18:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/?p=12685"},"modified":"2020-04-21T15:02:29","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T19:02:29","slug":"control-my-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/control-my-funeral\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Has Control Over My Funeral?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cControl over my funeral\u201d is becoming a developing issue in my practice.\u00a0 Funeral directors have asked me to sign statements that I have such authority when I have buried my wards as a court appointed guardian.\u00a0 Now, family survivors are disagreeing over the disposition of a loved-one\u2019s remains, and inquiries are being made about the law.\u00a0 \u201cWho has control over the funeral?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWho can order cremation over traditional burial?\u201d<\/p>\n

Control Over the Funeral, Disposition of Remains<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Normally, the authority to control the funeral and disposition of the remains is vested in the following order:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Name a Funeral Agent in your Last Will & Testament<\/p><\/div>\n

-Surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner; then<\/p>\n

-A majority of the surviving adult children of the deceased; then<\/p>\n

-The surviving parent or parents of the deceased; then<\/p>\n

-A majority of the brothers and sisters of the deceased; then<\/p>\n

-Other next of kin of the deceased, by degree.<\/p>\n

In this \u201cpecking order\u201d, it is usually the children of the deceased making the decision.\u00a0 This is where the problem occurs, because sometimes, the children cannot agree.<\/p>\n

Another Reason to Have a Last Will and Testament<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

A relatively new law allows you to name a person to control the funeral and disposition of your remains, in your Last Will and Testament.\u00a0 If you name a \u201cfuneral agent\u201d in your Last Will, the statute (N.J.S.A. 45:27-22<\/a>) vests that person with full authority and control. The funeral agent can be anyone whom you believe will follow your wishes; it does not have to be your Executor.\u00a0 You cannot name a funeral agent in any way other than through a Last Will and Testament.<\/p>\n

Control Prior to Probate of the Will<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

A smart person will observe that Wills are not probated until after<\/u><\/em> the funeral.\u00a0 The funeral agent has no authority until the Will is probated, so how does this work?\u00a0 The probate statute, amended in 2004, states that, \u201cPrior to probate, a decedent\u2019s appointment of a person in a Will to control the funeral and disposition of human remains may be carried out in accordance with 45:27-22.\u00a0 If known to them, a person named as Executor in a Will shall notify such a person of their appointment and advise them of what financial means are available to carry out the funeral disposition arrangements.\u201d\u00a0 NJSA 3B:10-21.1.\u00a0 The Funeral Agent named in a Will has authority prior<\/u><\/em> to probate.<\/p>\n

You Need to Take Action<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Avoiding family squabbles during a very stressful time is paramount.\u00a0 An argument over who \u201ccan\u201d act or who \u201chas\u201d legal authority, is unnecessary.\u00a0 Draft a Last Will and name your funeral agent. \u00a0I would be happy to discuss this with you further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cControl over my funeral\u201d is becoming a developing issue in my practice.\u00a0 Funeral directors have asked me to sign statements that I have such authority when I have buried my wards as a court appointed guardian.\u00a0 Now, family survivors are disagreeing over the disposition of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,24,3007],"tags":[904,910,905,909,908,907,219,903,911,45,51,54,912,66,906,123],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}