Court Opinion

ID: 9734364
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:32:52.085434+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:48.195892
License: Public Domain

WATKINS, Judge:
It is clear that a surviving spouse, if living with the deceased spouse at the time of his death, has the right to determine the details of his burial in the first instance. However, once a body is interred there is great reluctance in permitting same to be moved, absent clear and compelling reasons for such a move. Stevens v. Ganz, 33 Lehigh 452, 49 Pa.D. & C.2d 283 (1970). Thus there is a clear distinction between the rights existing prior to burial and those after burial because after the interment of the body, it is in the custody of the law. Intorre v. Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, 112 Pitts.LJ. 510 (1964). While the interests of the surviving spouse in reinterment is generally stronger than the interest of someone less closely related to the decedent those interests are not the only factors to be considered in determining whether a reinterment will be ordered.
In the instant case there was eveidence that the decendent, being an avid golfer, had expressed a desire to be buried at Whitemarsh Memorial Park which was near a favorite golf course and in the same community where he had moved as a child and been raised. Appellant lives in Lancaster which is approximately a one (1) hour and eleven (11) minutes drive from the Whitemarsh cemetery and had originally agreed to her spouse’s burial there. Her sole objection to Whitemarsh is that it is located a few miles east of where she claims appellee told her it was. Thus, the issue concerns the conflict between the convenience of the widow (one-half hour in travel time more than she thought it would be) and the sanctity of the grave, once established. I feel that the reasons for reinterment advanced by appellant are not sufficient to rebut the presumption that the decedent *156would not desire his remains to be disturbed. See 54 A.L.R.3rd 1037.
I would affirm the decision of the court below.