New York Disinterment Laws

The term interment refers to the conveyance of human remains to their final resting place. When you learned the word as a vocabulary word in middle school English class, your textbook probably said that it was a synonym for burial. As a legal term, interment has a slightly broader meaning. It is a synonym for final disposition of remains. The remains in question can be a deceased person’s body, or else the ashes of a cremated body. The body or ashes can be buried underground or entombed above ground, or the ashes can even be scattered. Disinterment refers to the removal of the remains from their resting place, presumably for reinterment somewhere else. It is a rare occurrence, although it is common enough that New York law has pronounced on how and when it can be done. If you have questions about final disposition of remains or disinterment and reinterment, contact a Bronx estate planning lawyer.

Only the Medical Examiner Can Make the Unilateral Decision to Disinter a Body

Final disposition of remains is supposed to be final. You cannot simply move the coffins of your deceased ancestors from one cemetery to another multiple times, just because you get enough money to afford a fancier cemetery. Some types of interment are simply impossible to undo. If the decedent’s ashes have been scattered, there is no way to gather them up and scatter them somewhere else. It is, however, possible to move an urn full of ashes or even to dig up a coffin and bury it in a different burial plot.

The most common reason for disinterment is when the Medical Examiner orders it because the court has ordered an autopsy. If there are questions about the decedent’s cause and manner of death, the family usually agrees to delay the burial until an autopsy is complete. Sometimes, though, an investigation into the person’s death continues after the burial, and later developments in the investigation can lead to the conclusion that an autopsy is necessary. When this happens, the Medical Examiner issues written instructions to the undertaker or cemetery director to disinter the body.

Written Permissions Required for Disinterment

Sometimes disinterment happens at the request of the decedent’s relatives. This can happen if the cemetery buries the person in the wrong plot or when a dispute resolves in probate court, reaching the conclusion that the valid version of the will is the one that designates the decedent’s final resting place as somewhere else besides where he or she is currently buried. For a family-initiated disinterment to go forward, all the closest surviving relatives of the decedent must express their consent in writing. The process is more complicated than it seems, so to prevent litigation over wrongful burial or wrongful disinterment, you should hire a lawyer if there is any discussion of disinterment of a deceased person’s remains.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

An estate planning lawyer can help you draft an estate plan that avoids ambiguities about interment.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCrules/0-0-0-52943