Moapa Valley Progress Newspaper

Home

News

Sports

Opinion

Upcoming Events

Legal Issues Related To Funeral Planning

	Jeffery J. McKenna	When you die, who will decide what happens to your body? Who will decide your burial location and the funeral arrangements? If a daughter from an earlier marriage wants her father buried near her mother in Salt Lake City but the daughter’s stepmother wants her husband buried in Overton, whose desire will prevail? Answers to the above questions depend on you. You must make the decisions in writing regarding your funeral and burial before you die. Part of your estate planning should entail addressing these issues.

	State law provides that the person named in your will (an “executor,” or now more commonly referred to as “personal representative”) shall have authority prior to appointment by the court to carry out written instructions of the decedent relating to his body, funeral, and burial arrangements. This means two things. First, you should have a will naming someone as executor or personal representative. Second, you should provide written instructions regarding your burial and funeral arrangements. If you have not left a will naming an executor or personal representative and written directions (whether in your will or some other document), the law is unclear as to who has authority to make those decisions. This uncertainty can and has lead to terrible disagreements between family members. On occasion, family members have discussed with me their desire to change, or their fear that another family member will want to change, the location of burial of a loved one. Significantly, the courts have stated, “It is therefore a sound and well-established policy of law that a person, once buried, should not be exhumed except for the most compelling of reasons.” Because burial decisions have to be made very quickly after death and are almost impossible to change once made, you should set forth your desires regarding your funeral and burial when doing your estate planning. Meeting with a funeral planner at the mortuary of your choice and having your desires set forth in a prearranged plan can be very helpful. Jeffery J. McKenna is a local attorney serving clients in Nevada, Arizona and Utah. He is a shareholder at the law firm of Barney, McKenna, and Olmstead with offices in Mesquite and St. George. He is a founding member of the Southern Utah Estate Planning Council. He can be reached at 346-1615.