Florida Funeral Home Sued Over Negligent Handling of Body

When making an estate plan, it is a good idea to include instructions designating an “authorized person” to make any funeral, burial, or cremation arrangements on your behalf. Under Florida law, only such an authorized person can sign any necessary forms and deal with a hospital or funeral home regarding the disposition of your remains. Absent any written instructions, Florida law presumes the decedent’s “next of kin,” typically a surviving spouse or child, may act as this authorized person.

Appeals Court Partly Allows Tortious Interference Claim to Proceed

A recent decision from the Florida Third District Court of Appeal, Molinet v. Van Orsdel Family Funeral Chapels, Inc., illustrates what can happen when there is a lack of instructions from a decedent. This particular case involved the adult children of a decedent suing the funeral home that took possession of their father’s body without the authorization or knowledge of the family.

The decedent himself was described in court records as a “transient” who struggled with alcohol and substance abuse disorders. Just before his death, the decedent was a resident at a substance abuse facility. In September 2022, the decedent required hospitalization. He died three days after his admission.

Upon admission, the decedent provided the name of his former wife as his next of kin. The hospital attempted to contact her after the decedent died, but she could not be reached. The decedent had several adult children, but they had not been in contact with him for some time. More to the point, the hospital did not know about them.

After storing the decedent’s body for about a month, the hospital moved the remains to a local funeral home, the defendant in this case, which contracted with the hospital to provide “overflow” storage. Another month passed and the children finally learned of their father’s death. They contacted the defendant and asked the body be released to their own chosen funeral home.

When the body arrived at the second funeral home, the funeral director advised the children to cremate the decedent’s remains as the body “was not presentable enough for an open casket funeral.” The children took that to mean there had been a significant decomposition of the body.

The children subsequently filed their lawsuit, alleging tortious interference with a dead body and negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED). A Florida judge dismissed both claims at the summary judgment stage. The Third District, however, said the children could proceed with the tortious interference claim.

Regarding the NIED claim, the Third District explained that in this context, the children had to prove the defendant engaged in “willful or wanton misconduct” with respect to the handling of the dead body. Here, there was “no specific evidence of the exact condition” of the body while the defendant stored it, nor any documented proof of decomposition due to improper storage. So there was simply no legal basis to award damages.

With respect to the tortious interference claim, here the children presented a plausible claim under Florida’s Funeral Act, which permits a private party to sue a funeral home for negligently mishandling a dead body. The Act does not require proof of “malicious conduct.” Because the trial court failed to address whether the defendant violated the Funeral Act, the Third District said this claim could proceed for now.

Contact a Bradenton Consumer Protection Lawyer

The Funeral Act is just one of many Florida laws meant to protect residents, or in some cases the families of deceased residents, from negligent or fraudulent conduct. If you have a grievance against a business and would like legal advice from a qualified Bradenton consumer protection attorney, contact Suncoast Civil Law today at 941-366-1800 to schedule a confidential case evaluation.

Source:

flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/download/2483375/opinion/Opinion_2024-1701.pdf