Who Can Make Funeral Plans for You if You Can’t?
Preplanning funerals is included in cremation services in Camillus, NY, but even if you decide not to preplan just yet, you can still decide who can take care of your affairs and make funeral plans and handle your remains when you die.
In New York state, you can complete, at home, The Appointment of Agent to Control Disposition of Remains from to name the person you want to handle all your affairs, your funeral plans, and the disposition of your remains. This ensures that if you’re unable to take care of these things yourself, then someone that you trust will take care of them for you.
However, if you don’t preplan your funeral and you don’t appoint someone who can make funeral plans for you if you’re unable (for example, you have a massive stroke and are unable to communicate or you’re in a coma or you’re simply unresponsive), then New York state law (Public Health Law, Section 4201) will be used to decide who gets control of your affairs and who will take care of your funeral plans and handle your remains.
The law attempts to objectively navigate the immediate family structure to determine who can make funeral plans for you if you haven’t preplanned or appointed someone:
- Surviving spouse
- Surviving children who are 18 or older
- Surviving parents
- Surviving siblings who are 18 or older
- Guardian ad litem
- People 18 or older who would be entitled to a share of your estate, with priority given to the person closest to you relationship-wise
- Duly-appointed fiduciary of the estate
- Close friend or relative who knows your wishes when no one higher on the list is reasonably available, willing, or competent to act
- County chief fiscal officer or appointed public administrator
Families are always tough gigs. While some families get along great, others don’t so much. Look at this list. Are there any family members that fit into these nine areas that you’d prefer to or not to be involved in the decision-making process for your funeral plans and handling your remains?
While your spouse is the first person on the list if you haven’t appointed someone, if they have either predeceased you or you end up dying together in a tragic accident, then the law goes into effect and works its way down the list.
You can see how incredibly complicated it could get, especially if there is a large estate and there are already factions within the family, whether those are within your immediate family or extended family.
Many of the high-profile wrangling of families of celebrities after their deaths comes from the fact that no clear directives were made in advance of death.
Several notable recent examples include actor and comedian Robin Williams’ estate (his widow and his children got into a legal dispute about how his estate was to be distributed), “American Top 40” host Casey Kasem’s estate (his widow and his children are in a legal war over his money and where his final resting place should be), and musician Tom Petty’s estate (his widow and his daughters are fighting for control over the estate).
If you’d like to know more about funeral planning as part of cremation services in Camillus, NY, our compassionate and experienced team at Bagozzi Twins Funeral Home, Inc. is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 2601 Milton Ave., Solvay, NY 13209, or you can call us today at (315) 468-2431.