What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MICHIGAN
A friend of mine (we will call her Jane) passed away on October 8th. She was addicted to drugs and I helped her get clean and straightened out when she lived in my area. I took her in when her own family turned their backs on her. She moved down to Lansing....got hooked up with the wrong crowd and started using again. She was found dead on Oct 8th and was taken to Igham County Morgue where here body still remains. I was working with a aunt and sister to get through all the legality of getting a body released because they needed a signed statement from the next of kin. Her mother is deceased so that would leave her dad as next of kin. He is currently in California and running from the police. You guessed it....drug charges. I was able to reach him over a instant message service and he claimed his name was not on her birth certificate so he is not considered next of kin. We did find a birth certificate and were able to confirm this. So the next thing I am told is then it goes to siblings. So the brother is in prison from drug charges and getting a signed paper from him is a matter of calling and speaking to the warden which the funeral home I was working with was going to do. Then we needed a signed statement also from the sister saying she agreed to release the body of her sister Jane to the funeral home. At first she was going to do this and now she is refusing and said her sister can stay where she is.
We just want to give Jane a proper funeral. I was going to help pay for this and so was the aunt. The aunt set up a gofundme account and had 3 donations when this sister emailed them and said it was a scam. The gofundme account was then deleted. This sister that is holding everything up does not have the money to pay for a funeral. SHe has lost her kids and is a dead beat but for some reason she will not let us proceed with funeral arrangements.
I know I can't do anything because I am not a blood relative but the aunt is. What can she do to be able to get authorization to be able to release this body to a funeral home?
A friend of mine (we will call her Jane) passed away on October 8th. She was addicted to drugs and I helped her get clean and straightened out when she lived in my area. I took her in when her own family turned their backs on her. She moved down to Lansing....got hooked up with the wrong crowd and started using again. She was found dead on Oct 8th and was taken to Igham County Morgue where here body still remains. I was working with a aunt and sister to get through all the legality of getting a body released because they needed a signed statement from the next of kin. Her mother is deceased so that would leave her dad as next of kin. He is currently in California and running from the police. You guessed it....drug charges. I was able to reach him over a instant message service and he claimed his name was not on her birth certificate so he is not considered next of kin. We did find a birth certificate and were able to confirm this. So the next thing I am told is then it goes to siblings. So the brother is in prison from drug charges and getting a signed paper from him is a matter of calling and speaking to the warden which the funeral home I was working with was going to do. Then we needed a signed statement also from the sister saying she agreed to release the body of her sister Jane to the funeral home. At first she was going to do this and now she is refusing and said her sister can stay where she is.
We just want to give Jane a proper funeral. I was going to help pay for this and so was the aunt. The aunt set up a gofundme account and had 3 donations when this sister emailed them and said it was a scam. The gofundme account was then deleted. This sister that is holding everything up does not have the money to pay for a funeral. SHe has lost her kids and is a dead beat but for some reason she will not let us proceed with funeral arrangements.
I know I can't do anything because I am not a blood relative but the aunt is. What can she do to be able to get authorization to be able to release this body to a funeral home?