Who legally owns cremated ashes UK?
Table of Contents
Who legally owns cremated ashes UK?
In the Williams case it was clearly stressed that a body or the cremation ashes cannot be owned. The surviving relatives or the Executor can only have a right to custody of the body or the ashes but this does not mean that the person "owns" them.
Does next of kin have to pay for funeral UK?
The only exception is if the estranged relative is your child – in such cases you have a duty to bury or cremate them under common law if you can afford it – but there is no legal obligation to pay for a funeral ceremony.
What happens to ashes if not collected?
In December, the National Association of Funeral Directors published guidelines stating that unclaimed ashes must be stored for at least five years, with efforts being made to locate the rightful recipient, before a funeral company could dispose of them.
How long can you keep cremated ashes?
If you place cremated remains in an urn and seal it tightly, it may last for centuries. In fact, this can be a storage problem for funeral homes that have to deal with unclaimed remains. It is a common practice for funeral directors to wait for families to collect a relative's ashes, no matter how long it takes.
