Rights for deceased to determine arrangements

How does the undertaker get the body? The deceased no longer owns or controls the corpse. In law, I believe, no one owns the corpse but if an executor is appointed then they have duties/entitlements to deal with it. That being said, I think it’s a “wrong” answer as surely advance directions as to what is done with your corpse is an integral part of bodily integrity but it’s hard to get your “rights” vindicated when you no longer exist.

Contracts end on death. Undertaker has no right to enforce the contract. The only thing a deceased who wants a particular arrangement can do is to make it widelky known in advance what they want and put it in the hands of people they trust to do it. If thed eceased does not get on with his next of kin he should disappear and die abroad.

I doubt if the undertaker would take on that role. You could possibly appoint an independent solicitor as executor, but you'll probably be dead and buried before the executor role kicks in.

Maybe it's time to stop running our lives based on what the neighbours might think?

No, they won't. Nor do they have the legal right to. The legal right and responsibility for making funeral arrangements rests with the next-of-kin. They may choose to respect the wishes of the deceased, or they may not; it's their call. The body will not be released to any undertaker without their say-so, and there is nothing the undertaker can do to force the next-of-kin to release the body to him. Even the most dedicated undertaker is not going to break into the hospital morgue in the middle of the night and snatch the cadaver.

An undertaker who has made a prepaid funeral arrangement and then finds himself in the unfortunate position that the next of kin don't want to proceed, who is concerned to protect his reputation, will consider refunding (to the estate) the prepayment for the funeral that he will not now be conducting. There isn't a lot else he can do.

Jesus have you not read the previous posts. The will would not be read for some weeks after the death. The executor won't have any power over the funeral.

At the end of the day the fact is it is the next of kin who will ultimately have the final say in what the funeral arrangements will be. They may either respect the wishes of the deceased, or the may disregard them and do what they feel is right. The deceased has no rights at this point. They are, after all, brown bread.

I'll reiterate - it is the next of kin who has the final say.

Undertakers, regardless of what arrangements they made with the deceased can only follow through on those if the next of kin agrees and is on board.

An undertaker could not challenge a next of kin and say "oh well johnny wanted this and so eff you, I am going doing it". I would be fairly sure that it would be illegal as it is the next of kin's responsibility to manage the funeral. It would also be

Imagine the headline in the local paper "undertaker siezes body from hospice and carries out viking burial against families wishes".

Its one way of making sure you torpedo your reputation built up over generations of undertaking and go out of business.

That article is only concerned with making decisions for a person while they are alive. there is no mention of what happens after the person dies. However it is long held practice that next of kin make funeral arrangements. No funeral director will diverge from this.

The contract for the prepaid funeral doesn't end on death. The deceased's rights under the contract are property rights and, like the rest of his property, they form part of his estate. So, if the family want to go ahead with the prepaid contract, it's still a valid contract and the undertaker is still bound by it, and it can be enforced against him.

We're dealing here with the case where the family doesn't want to go ahead with the contract. They can walk away from it, and abandon the money the deceased has already paid. Or, if the contract has a termination clause, they can invoke it; it might provide a full or partial refund of the payment made. Or, they can approach the undertaking to see whether he will make a full or partial repayment as a matter of goodwill.

If the legal right and responsibility rests with the next of kin - then surely next-of-kin needs to be a legally defined role?

The key question is whether the family is in control, in the situation where the deceased has left specific instructions and funding for a specific type of funeral. Can the family just override this?

The short answer is yes. If the funds have already been provided to a 3rd party and no services have been provided, then that money should be returned to the estate, less any costs already incurred.

That is, if the funeral director has already purchased a leather coffin and hired the circus clowns, then he can deduct those costs and give the rest back to the estate.

Yes. In the exact same way that they can override organ donation wishes even if the deceased has explicitly expressed them.

You're like a dog with a bone.