nightraker Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Is it legal for a funeral director to refuse to release a loved ones ashes to relatives until the service is paid for in full? Seems very hard and callous to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaSplit Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 I would guess he's within his rights to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubydazzler Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Not sure about legal, but it seems fair. Unless an instalment plan was arranged beforehand and they agreed to release the ashes before the last instalment was made and they've now reneged on that. If not, and they've carried out what was required to your satisfaction, you pay bill, they give you urn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 They could also view it as being callous for not paying for the deceaseds funeral, but agree with BananaSplit, they should be in thier rights to do this, afterall its not a nice job to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedar Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 It's a business transaction like any other, you pay the money, they give you what you've payed for, what's the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightraker Posted March 22, 2010 Author Share Posted March 22, 2010 When my partner died I was given his ashes straight away, a long time before id finished paying off the funeral expenses. The funeral director my friend used has forbidden her to take her brothers ashes until the final payment is made. From what I can tell it seems to be down to the policy of individual directors, i just wondered if anyone had any experience of the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchresearch Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Manchester funeral director gets debt threats http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8458994.stm Michael Kennedy, a funeral director for nearly 25 years, said a growing number of families were ordering lavish funerals they could not afford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubydazzler Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Manchester funeral director gets debt threats. Michael Kennedy, a funeral director for nearly 25 years, said a growing number of families were ordering lavish funerals they could not afford. Have they never heard of having insurance to cover these inevitable expenses? Not that having doves or a piper is an essential funeral expense. How mawkish, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgksheff Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Was the Funeral Director a member of one of the National Associations? If so they will have a Code of Practice which you can check. Ideally, a written estimate should have been supplied and agreed upon. That should have listed services to be supplied and payment terms. In the absence (in the estimate/terms) of terms to the contrary, the funeral director should carry out all services in the estimate before submitting an invoice and I would expect supply of ashes/urn to be one of those services. Whose name was actually on the application for the cremation? The sister or the Funeral Director? The law clearly states that ashes MUST be given to the applicant or their nominee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubydazzler Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 The law clearly states that ashes MUST be given to the applicant or their nominee.Even if they haven't paid the invoice for the service given? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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