Who is the person that
has the
“legal authority”
to make funeral
arrangements?
The
Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, states that
1. The right of a person to control the
disposition of the human remains or cremated remains vests in, and devolved on,
the following persons in order of priority:
a. The person representative named in
the will of the
deceased
b. The spouse of the deceased
c. An adult child of the deceased
d. An adult grandchild of the deceased
e. If the deceased was a minor, a
person who was a legal guardian of the person of the deceased at the date of
death
f. A
parent of the deceased
g. An adult sibling of the deceased
h. An adult nephew or niece of the
deceased
i. An
adult next of kin of the deceased, determined on the basis provided by sections
89 and 90 of the Estate Administration Act
j. The
minister under the Employment and Assistance Act or, if the official
administrator under the Estate Administration Act is administering the estate
of the deceased under that Act, the official administrator
k. An adult person having a person or
kinship relationship with the deceased, other than those referred in paragraphs
(b) to (d) and (f) to (i).
2. If the person at the top of the
order of priority set out in
subsection one is unavailable or unwilling to give
instructions,
the right to give instructions passes to the person who is next
in
priority.
3. If, under subsection on, the right
to control the disposition of
human remains or cremated remains passes to
persons of equal
rank, the order of priority
a. Is determined in accordance with an
agreement between or among them, or
b. In the absence of an agreement
referred to in paragraph (a), begins with the eldest of the persons and
descends in order of age.
4. A person claiming that he or she
should be given the sole right
to control the disposition of the human remains
or cremated
remains may apply to the Supreme Court for an order regarding
that
right.
A funeral
provider, cemetery or crematorium, will not provide burial or cremation
arrangements unless they have received written authorization from the person
who under the above section has the right to control the disposition of the
human remains.
It is therefore imperative that
you state in your WILL the name of the person who shall have the control over
the final disposition. Do not forget to
give a copy of your WILL to the person you are entrusting with the final
arrangements.
Information taken from the booklet "Helpful Information" by the Funeral Service of British Columbia Canada
