Submitted by katieg on Wed, 10/19/2011 - 13:21
I am 21 years old. My dad passed away when I was 12. He was cremated, his wife (my stepmother) gave his ashes to his sister my aunt. I went years without knowing where they were. I finally found out a year ago my aunt has the. I have called her, wrote her letters and emailed her and she will not give me my fathers ashes. Is she entitled to them because his wife at the time of his death gave them to her? Or should my sister and I have them? What should I do since she will not give them up?
Remains of deceased
Typically, the remains of a deceased person become the property of the surviving spouse or, if none, the next closest relatives. Presumably, your step mother was free to do with the ashes as she saw fit. In this case, she gave them to your aunt. I do not think you have any legal recourse in this case. I notice you posted your question in our MA Mediation Discussion Forum but, as you may know from reading some of the posts, mediation is a voluntary process. So unless your aunt is willing to discuss the matter, or you are willing to bring a lawsuit to attempt to reclaim the ashes, I'm not sure where you can go with this issue. Sorry.