Who has Legal Authority

 

Who has the Legal Responsibility: 

 

We've seen it happen time and again. The person making the initial call to our funeral home turns out to be the one with the legal responsibilities of making decisions related to the care of a loved one.

While they may feel that they should be the one to make these choices, the law doesn't recognize them as such - and so their voice can become effectively silenced.

If the deceased has not expressed their wishes through a written document such as a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, or a Last Will and Testament, where the deceased has designated an agent to fulfill their wishes; then the chain of command, formally called the "order of precedence" is commonly as follows:

(1) The right of a person to control the disposition of the human remains of a deceased vests in and devolves on that person in the following order of priority:

 

The person designated as the responsible party, whoever they may be, needs to be present to make decisions, and sign documents. If you are unclear as to who is the responsible person in planning a funeral for your loved one, contact us.


 

The Importance of Designating a Representative:   

                                           

If your loved one has yet to specify who they whish to be in control of their funeral service planning, and they are clear-headed enough to do so, now is the perfect time to take care of that.

This is especially important if they think their relatives will not honour their funeral wishes, or if they are on bad terms with relatives, do not know where they are, or do not have any relatives living.

Appointing a specific person to arrange their funeral who is not a family member is a good way to ensure their final wishes are carried out.