burial wishes

What is the name of your state? CA.
Scenerio: Dead persons will ask that they be buried at a specific location. Are the next of kin required by law to honor such request?

We talked about this in a recent thread. Find it, and look at Health and Safety Code Section 7100 et. seq. for more details.

normg65 said:

What is the name of your state? CA.
Scenerio: Dead persons will ask that they be buried at a specific location. Are the next of kin required by law to honor such request?

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A dead person can't ask However, the answer is no.

aanubis said:

A dead person can't ask

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Agree.

My wishes are in my Advanced Health Care Directives/POA along with all the other important things (i.e. end-of-life decisions, life support decisions, nomination for guardian with alternate nominations, etc.)

The executor is demanding that I give her my grandmothers remains so they can be placed, according to her wishes. The problem I have w\executor is they did not follow the wishes of my grandmother concerning her funeral. I live in WA. and would like to take her remains with me, so I can be sure her pre-death desires are kept. Am I obligated to give up the remains? I am the only surviving decendent.

what is the relationship between executor and you and grandmother

normg65 said:

The executor is demanding that I give her my grandmothers remains so they can be placed, according to her wishes. The problem I have w\executor is they did not follow the wishes of my grandmother concerning her funeral. I live in WA. and would like to take her remains with me, so I can be sure her pre-death desires are kept. Am I obligated to give up the remains? I am the only surviving decendent.

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Got it now, you left out an apostrophe on person's.

How do you have your grandmother's remains? Do you really mean that you have her cremated remains? A person's wishes are always subject to what the survivors remember, unless in writing. Even if in writing, it's difficult to enforce.

Momm2500 asked a valid question regarding the relationships. An executor not having a degree of next of kin relationship can't trump next of kin. If you are truly the "only" surving next of kin, you are probably able to do as you wish. CA has a few funky requirements regarding death. Consult the funeral home, and / or an attorney.

Although the internet has many masters, I lean toward tecate for all information legitimate for trusts and estates. Read the statutes.

The executor is her sister.

here is who will have the authority:

1. The first question is whether the decedent (the person who died) was married.

A. If the decedent was not married, the estate is distributed as follows:
1. To the decedent's children, who take in equal shares if they are in the same generation.
2. If there are no children or other issue (issue is the legal term for children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.) living, the estate goes to the decedent's parents.
3. If there are no parents living, the estate is distributed to the "issue of the parents." If the decedent had brothers or sisters, they will inherit the estate.
4. If there are no brothers or sisters, the decedent's grandparents will inherit the estate.
5. If there are no grandparents, then the "issue of the grandparents" will inherit the estate. This could include the decedent's aunts and uncles, or if there aren't any aunts and uncles, the decedent's cousins.
6. If there are no cousins, Probate Code section 6402 provides that the estate will be distributed to "next of kin in equal degree," generally meaning more distant cousins.

normg65 said:

The executor is her sister.

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and from the op 6/9 at 12:53 pm: I am the only surviving decendent.



HUH? Make up your mind. You can't state on the 9th that you are the only living decendent and then on the 10th admit your grandmother has a sister!

Any more relatives you want to throw into the mix? I will qualify my next statement with the fact that I am not familiar with CA law, however, I am certain you are NOT legal next of kin as a grandchild regarding final disposition following death. Her sister is! I have experience in 3 others states upon which I am basing that statement.

To the other helpful posters, being an executor has nothing to do with human remains or cremains as those are quasi-property. You can't own either and that is why it follows specific next of kin. An executor cannot trump legal next of kin, except if they, by blood, are legal next of kin.

So, how many other relatives are there really?

I didn't know that siblings were decendents. She has several brothers and sisters, no spouse. I am the only issue of a predeceased child(my father). I apologize

tecate said:

We talked about this in a recent thread. Find it, and look at Health and Safety Code Section 7100 et. seq. for more details.

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Rougly 10 days ago, tecate provided the means to answer the question. Have you checked it yet? Here ia a link:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=hsc&codebody=&hits=20

normg65 said:

I didn't know that siblings were decendents. She has several brothers and sisters, no spouse. I am the only issue of a predeceased child(my father). I apologize

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For a death, not for an estate: legal next of kin.

Repeat after me: legal next of kin

Legal next of kin.

People do and have confused the two. If you are now following momm2500's listing, note that it mentions probate. Probate has nothing to do with decisions regarding human remains.

Legal next of kin

I think I understand. Here's the deal - My grandmother's sister picked the ashes up from the funeral home and gave them to me, 4 months ago. Now she wants them back. Are they mine or hers? Thank you for your help and putting up with my ignorance.