Source: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-burial-cremation-and-funerals
Timestamp: 2019-09-21 00:21:43
Document Index: 520047376

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 38', '§ 43', '§ 26', '§ 27', '§ 9', '§ 3', '§ 42', '§ 40']

A compilation of laws, regulations, cases and web sources on burial, cremation, and funeral law.
MGL c.7, § 38A
MGL c.7C, § 43
MGL c.9, § 26A
MGL c.9, § 27C
MGL c.117A, § 9
MGL c.190B, § 3-701
MGL. c. 272 § 42
MGL c. 272 § 40
Penalty for disturbing an assembly (funeral)
239 CMR Rules and regulations governing funeral directors and embalmers. 239 CMR 3.09(c) explains whose directions should be followed.
Follow the directions of the deceased person's surviving kin, in the following order of priority: 1. the surviving spouse of the deceased; 2. the surviving adult children of the deceased; 3. the surviving parent(s) of the deceased; 4. the surviving brother(s) or sister(s) of the deceased; 5. the guardian of the person of the deceased at the time of his or her death; 6. any other person authorized or obligated by law to dispose of the remains of the deceased.
This is the primary consumer protection law for funerals
Where there was understandable confusion about whether a body released to parents was the correct body, but in fact there was no error, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had no obligation to tell the family that the autopsy report had been corrected and that the body was, in fact, that of their son.
Magrath v. Sheehan, 296 Mass. 263 (1936)
A husband made no arrangements to bury his wife, and, as a result, a third party made and paid for funeral arrangements. Since there was no money in the estate, the third party could demand the cost of the funeral from the husband. "The duty of a husband to provide a proper funeral for his dead wife and his legal liability to another for reasonable expenses justifiably incurred in providing such a funeral rest upon fundamental concepts of decency and humanity."
Burial & cremation laws in Massachusetts, Nolo.com
Provides answers to common questions about burial and cremation.
Caring for your own dead: Guidelines for burial or cremation without a funeral director, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Eastern Massachusetts. Highlights required forms upon death in Massachusetts. Extremely helpful information about the process, even if you don't plan to do it yourself.
Boston’s other housing crisis: the cemeteries, Boston Magazine, April 2019.
The Boston area is running out of cemetery space and the prices for it are going up. This article also discusses green burial options.
An incomplete but growing list of cemeteries by town that allow for green burial. Many cities/towns require residency as a prerequisite to burial.
Whole-family cemetery directory USA, Green pet burial.
Lists US cemeteries that allow pets and people to be buried together.
Consumer law, 3rd ed. (Mass. Practice Series vol. 35 - 36A), 2010 with 2018 supplement. Funeral Services, section 30:40 - 30:49.
Damages in tort actions, Matthew Bender, loose-leaf. Vol. 1, Chapter 7, Mishandling of dead bodies.
“Discriminating against the dead: how to protect Muslim cemeteries from exclusionary land use mechanisms”, Christopher Cataldo, 58 B.C.L. Rev. 1391 (2017).
Municipal law and practice, 5th ed (Mass. Practice Series vol. 18 – 18C), 2006 with 2018 supplement. Public Cemeteries, section 9.35; Cemeteries and Burial Grounds, section 19.16; Funeral Directors, section 19.17.